Calvin_HicksThe Calvin Hicks Memorial Award for the Study of Music has been established in the name of writer, educator, and activist Calvin Hicks at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School (CRLS). Each year, this award will be available to a CRLS student demonstrating a love for and commitment to music. The student may study any instrument, voice, or musical theory and may be at any stage of their musical development — from beginner to virtuoso.

Donate to the Calvin Hicks Memorial Award for the Study of Music

Calvin L. Hicks was a writer, educator and activist who dedicated his life’s work to improving the lives of young people and the communities within which they live. Mr. Hicks served as a faculty member in the Department of Modern American Music at the Longy School of Music, Director of The Office of Community Collaborations and as a member of the liberal arts faculty at The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC).

We know that many a dream is deferred due to lack of financial access. Finding one’s passion and developing skills outside of the academic curriculum often makes the difference between excelling and failing in school.

Mr. Hicks operated from the understanding that our histories are not totally accessible to historians; we are revealed by poetic and artistic knowledge that can become a shaping influence in our lives.

Music and the arts — their importance in our lives, their importance in understanding history and its upheavals that have lasting generational impact — were of paramount interest to Mr. Hicks. As an outgrowth of that interest, he established several Institutes at the New England Conservatory, including the study of African-American Secular and Sacred Music and the Memory and Society Institute. In this position, he also secured thousands of scholarship dollars for countless local community members to study music at NEC.

Please join us in our effort to continue the work of Mr. Hicks. Help us to build this unique opportunity, and open doors that until now have too often remained closed to deserving students in our community.

Donate to the Calvin Hicks Memorial Award for the Study of Music
  • Donations may be made online by clicking on the button above.
  • Donations may also be made by check.  See the e-check option by clicking the button above or mail a check payable to FOCRLS with “Calvin Hicks Award” on the memo line to:  FOCRLS, P.O. Box 39-1541, Cambridge, MA 02139.