Justin Veatch Fund Awards Six New Music Scholarships 2025
- Jeffrey Veatch
- Jun 28
- 4 min read
The Justin Veatch Fund has awarded six new music scholarships to graduating high school students from five high schools. The recipients, selected from a highly competitive field of seventeen applicants from 13 schools, are Laurel Aronian of St. Luke’s, Christopher Cilauro of John F. Kennedy, Will Harris of John Jay, Brandon Ramon of Pleasantville, Nicolo Tortorella of Tuckahoe, and Madison Varriale of John Jay.
79 music scholarships awarded since 2009
Each year, The Justin Veatch Fund awards music scholarships to graduating high school students who live within a 40-mile radius of Yorktown Heights. The scholarships honor the legacy of Justin Veatch, a Yorktown High School senior who died from an accidental drug overdose in 2008. “It’s hard to believe we’ve been awarding these scholarships for 17 years,” says Elena Veatch, Justin’s sister and JVF board member. “It’s been immensely healing to see something so positive for our community come out of our family’s tragedy.”
Awards program at Yorktown Town Hall
The recipients received their awards–an engraved working metronome and a check for $1,200–in a program at 6pm, Wednesday, June 11th at Yorktown Town Hall. New York City based singer-songwriter-music producer Kenny White was keynote speaker who also performed a couple of his songs at the end of the awards program.
The 2025 Award Recipients
Laurel Aronian, graduating from St. Luke’s School in New Canaan, CT, is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who plans to attend Harvard University to study music and cognitive science. Aronian says she wants to use music to combat the mental health crisis she sees in her generation. She’s taken part in programs at Interlochen Center, The Julliard School, and Berklee College of Music as well as studying electroacoustic composition at The Tanglewood Institute. One of her teachers calls Aronian “one of the hardest working and most thoughtful students she’s encountered in 13 years of teaching.”
Christopher Cilauro, graduating from John F. Kennedy Catholic School, plans to attend Iona University. While his major will be media and strategic communication, Cilauro says music will continue to play a major role in his life. He says he was drawn to rhythm and sound at an early age. What began with tapping out rhythms on household objects turned into a passion for playing the drums. Deeply involved in his community, he has played at church events, as a band member in school concerts, as part of a pit orchestra in musicals, and was asked to participate in the Northern Westchester Honors Band. Cilauro also sings as part of his school’s chorus and drama club and has taken the stage in productions with the Port Chester Council for the Arts.
Will Harris, graduating from John Jay High School, plans to attend Dartmouth College. An avid piano player since he began taking lessons at age four, he says he would not be himself without music which includes an interest in music production and recording. Harris says music is a good complement to his interest in neuroscience which will be his college major—taking a break to work on a new song or playing for friends and family brings good balance to his life. His piano teacher for the past ten years says Harris enjoys being pushed to expand his musical abilities, has good sight reading skills, and an ear for complex harmonies as well as being open to new genres.
Brandon Ramon, graduating from Pleasantville High School, will be attending Five Towns College in the fall. His favorite instrument is the clarinet which he hopes to perform with at a professional level, especially in jazz ensembles. Ramon says private lessons taught him how to practice more efficiently. He was accepted into The Lagond Music School’s Power through Performance program which he credits for elevating his musical skills. Ramon spent his senior year as part of Pleasantville High’s Advanced Jazz Ensemble and was first chair clarinetist in the Pleasantville concert band.
Nicolo Tortorella, graduating from Tuckahoe High School, will be attending The University of Notre Dame. He plans to split his major between music and science. Tortorella says his passion for biochemistry and molecular biology has driven him to academic research but his passion for music is equally intense. He plans to continue playing violin in college and beyond, specifically in pit orchestras and world music ensembles. Drawn to the intensity of Klezmer and the music of Appalachia, Tortorella says the highlight of his performative experience so far has been playing the fiddler in the musical Fiddler on the Roof.
Madison Varriale, graduating from John Jay High School, is studying classical voice and will be attending The Julliard School in August. She says at an early age she discovered singing brought her joy and helped her to communicate better with others. Varriale aspires to become a professional classical opera soprano. Singing opera, she says, is more than having great pitch, but also a talent for researching and depicting the context of each musical piece. One of her teachers says Varriale’s warm-toned, lyrical voice is mature beyond her years both musically and technically. She was one of twenty students globally who took part last summer in the inaugural Julliard Summer Voice Program.
The Justin Veatch Fund is a 501(c) 3 organization and a registered New York State charity.
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