Portland State Magazine Winter 2017

WINTER 2017 PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE 19 R eynolds High School senior Viet Block was unsure about where to attend college. Having started violin at age 6, she was an accomplished musician looking to make performance her career. Block turned to her music teacher, celebrated violinist Carol Sindell, for advice. “Carol encouraged me to go to PSU, so I could get the individual attention I needed, compared to a conservatory,” says Block. Now 22, she has earned a bachelor’s in music performance from PSU and is enrolled in the master’s program. This past year, she was one of four students to receive the inaugural David E. Wedge Estate Scholarship in the School of Music. “I would not be able to afford the cost of tuition and focus on my music full time if I had not received this scholarship,” says Block, who is also a core member of the Portland Columbia and the Vancouver symphony orchestras and plays with the Oregon East Symphony. Block’s scholarship is from the estate of the late David Wedge, a PSU alumnus who earned a bachelor’s degree in applied science in 1969. He and his first wife, Jeanne (Godwin) Wedge ’67, MA ’70, managed apartments as part of their firm, Wedge Investment. Jeanne, who earned her PSU degrees in English, had a passion for jazz. She returned to PSU at the age of 67 to pursue a music degree. Tragically, she died from ovarian cancer in 2005 before she could finish the program. In addition to the School of Music scholarship, which honors Jeanne, Wedge directed his estate to also benefit the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science, leaving more than $9 million to be divided equally between the school and college. Wedge died in 2014 at the age of 69. With the Wedge estate gift, the PSU School of Music will provide eight to 10 music scholarships each year for the next 15 years. “It’s an incredible investment in the school’s future,” says Bonnie Miksch, the school’s director, who expects to be able to recruit “the best of the best undergraduate and graduate students,” thanks to the gift. For Block, who came to the United States from Vietnam as a baby with her Vietnamese mother and American father, the scholarship not only offers financial ease but also serves as motivation to be the best. “When I start to feel undeserving or overwhelmed, I remember other people believed in me and my abilities enough to help me. I must always continue to further my craft and share my music with others in order to thank them.” The gift of music The David E. Wedge Estate Scholarship is helping violinist Viet Block earn a master’s degree in music performance while she continues to play with local symphony orchestras. T H E I M P A C T O F G I V I N G