Help Ian sing Mozart in His Hometown (Mozart's)

Our young friend Ian Rakunas is a singer of extraordinary gifts and even more extraordinary promise - he is exceptionally gifted but (more important, and more rare!) he is willing to work hard.

In spring he will graduate from a prestigious Bachelor of Music program in Vocal Performance and then begin Master's level study in the fall. For the summer in between he has been awarded an internship at the renowned Austrian-American Mozart Academy in Mozart's own hometown of Salzburg, Austria. He's being offered the role of Guglielmo in Mozart's "Cosi Fan Tutte," one of the four leads.

The tuition is very expensive, especially as Ian anticipates grad school, but the festival is offering a scholarship covering nearly HALF of his tuition and lodging. We want to make this literally-once-in-a-lifetime chance a reality for Ian by raising enough money to cover travel (airfare, ground transportation, etc.) and his additional meal expenses. These will total about US $7,550 at the current Euro/US Dollar rate of exchange - airfares alone will cost between 2,000 and 3,500 dollars.

Ian and his mom Colleen are beloved and respected figures in the theatre and music communities of Traverse City, Michigan. Together they have weathered, in an absurdly short time, the death of Ian's father, a move, and all the costs of (so far) three and a half years of undergraduate study at a private conservatory. They've done this through dedication and hard work. Please help us help make this next chapter in Ian's journey a grand and accessible reality instead of a sadly missed opportunity.

Any size gift can help make this happen. Please consider a donation.

Maryscott O'Connor and Guy William Molnar of Traverse City