If you are an active 802 member who has earned an award, please notify the editor of Allegro, Mikael Elsila, at melsila@local802afm.org. We will recognize you as space allows.

Veronica Parrales

Veronica Parrales, a cellist and graduate student in performance at Hunter College, was nominated by Local 802 for a $1,000 scholarship from the Music Performance Fund. Jay Blumenthal, 802’s financial vice president, awarded Parrales the check on June 30.

The Music Performance Fund was created in 1948 under agreements between the recording industry and the AFM, to present admission-free, live instrumental performances. Each AFM local administers funds through the MPF, and each month in Allegro we print the names of musicians who have won MPF funding.

For more information on next year’s MPF scholarship, call Marybeth Jacobsen at (212) 391-3950, ext. 310. For more information on applying for MPF funding for your project, call Olga James at (212) 245-4802, ext. 152.

James J. Petercsak

James J. Petercsak, a percussionist and an 802 member since 1966, was recently honored by the Percussive Arts Society with its lifetime achievement award at the organization’s annual convention in Louisville. Petercsak is a faculty member at SUNY (Potsdam). The Percussive Arts Society is the international professional organization for percussionists and contains over 8,000 members worldwide.

Petercsak’s award is only the third such given by the organization and recognizes his leading role in the development of percussion educators in the United States and Canada.

Petercsak holds the rank of distinguished teaching professor at SUNY (Potsdam) and has served as the percussion faculty member at the university’s internationally known Crane School of Music since 1967. He has been recognized as a University Scholar and a United University Professionals Best Award winner.