At Peabody there is a scholarship named after Alfons Schenuit for an outperforming student 

Alfons above

Burial Site for Alfons and Rosalie is New Cathedral Cemetery site 378

My Great Grandfather Alfons Schenuit:  Alfons was married to Rosalie Dambmann and they’re the parents of Frank Schenuit the famous tire manufacturer from Baltimore and my mother’s (MJ) grandfather and my Great Grandfather.  Alfons was born on July 3^rd 1863 and was ranked as one of the leading and most distinguished musicians not only in Baltimore but in the Nation.  He was the son of Henry and Mary Schenuit and was one of eleven children.  Alfons Father, “Henry”,  was also a great musician as well and Alfons received his early music education Henry his dad. 

Alfons came to Baltimore from Pittsburg and opened a music school here called the Maryland School of Music.  Alfons was not only an able teacher but also a composer.  He was the organists of the Baltimore Cathedral as well as at Eutaw Place Temple and was the first to introduce the opera into his privately owned music school, producing the Pirates of Penzance at the lyric theater in 1909 .  He married at 29 years of age to Rosilie Dampmann of Baltimmore and they had two sons Alvin (died early) and Frank my grandfather.  

Frank, his son went on to become an extremely successful business man in Baltimore and A niece (Irma Schenuit Hall) also carried on the musical abilities (both mentioned on tab to left)   

Alfons created and was the director fo the Maryland School of Music and he was also the director at the Baltimore Cathedral.  

 

 

 

Below are photos of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary also called the “Baltimroe Basilica” and the “Eutaw Place Temple” where my grandfather was the Head Organists and at the Basilica he was the head organists for 42 years wow.  Peabody has a $100,000 grant in the name of Alfons Schenuit = yea 

the Basilica below and wow and we recently went there for a concert by the Baltimore Symphony and Morgan State University  and you can see the old organ pipes below at the Basilica 

and the recital below 

 

and a photo of the beautiful Basilica and organ pipes below 

Alfons was also the head organist at The Eutaw Place Temple below and you can see the organ pipes on the second photo

 

The Baltimore Basilica below, was the first Roman Catholic Cathedral built in the United States and was one of the first major religious building constructed in the Nation after the adoption of the constitution and is a national shrine and It is considered the masterpiece of Ben Latrobe  the “Father of American Architecture”both are wonderful places and you can see the organ pipes below at the Baltimore Basilica 

I went to the Basilica  again where my great grandfather was the organist for 42 years for a wonderful performance by the Baltimore Symphony and Morgan State University Choir below  

I recently went to a Peabody concert at a private venue to honor students that outperform  and here are the photos. There is a $100,000 scholarship named after Alfons Schenuit for an outperforming student!!!

At the Peabody Institute Concert above the performers were awesome and were:  Claire Hou-Piano,  Aaron Thomas -Guitar,  Ashley Kim-Piano,  Sean Jones -trumpet,  Richard Johnson -Piano

Peabody Scholarship below 

After his mother died three years ago, Bob Travers found a history book among her belongings that mentioned Alfons William Schenuit, Travers’ great-grandfather who studied at the Peabody Institute in the late 1800s. Moved by Schenuit’s impressive accomplishments in music, Travers — a dedicated philanthropist with his wife, Arden, through their family’s foundation, the Travers Family Foundation — was inspired to support Peabody students through Launch Grants in the name of his great-grandfather, a celebrated organist.

Alfons Schenuit’s musical journey began in Pittsburgh, where he studied music with his father, a well-known musician, and became an organist at a local church at the age of 12. As an adult, he moved to Baltimore, studied at Peabody, and later opened the Maryland School of Music, the state’s first private music school. Schenuit, who was also a composer, performed as an organist at the Baltimore Cathedral for 42 years. Travers’ research has shown that his great-grandfather was the first to introduce opera to Baltimore through his 1909 production of Pirates of Penzance at the original Lyric theatre.

These accomplishments led Schenuit to be included in the book The Free State of Maryland, V4: A History of a State and Its People, 1634–1941, where the authors write, “[A] history of Baltimore’s development in the field of art would not be complete without reference to Alfons William Schenuit, who for many decades ranked with the most distinguished and leading musicians not only of this city but of this section of the country as well.”

 

A desire to lift up others who achieve musical excellence is also what drew Travers to support the Launch Grant program. Peabody students apply for these highly competitive grants in their Pitching a Creative Idea class, part of Peabody’s Breakthrough Curriculum, which is designed to give students the business and marketing skills they need to succeed as professional musicians. The Mary Jean and Oliver Travers Foundation’s generous gift of $100,000 will be used to create the Alfons William Schenuit Endowed Scholarship to provide a Launch Grant for one student annually into perpetuity. The closing of the School below