KINGSTON, R.I. – October 3, 2011 – Richmond resident Zachary Friedland has been named this year’s recipient of the James Ladewig Scholarship in Music History at the University of Rhode Island. A 2008 graduate of Chariho High School, he is now a senior at URI pursuing Bachelor of Music degrees in music education and music composition.

Friedland plays percussion with the URI Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, and Percussion Ensemble, and he also serves as a drum major for the URI RAM Marching Band. In addition to his responsibilities as a student and performer, he is currently the Vice-President of Service for the URI chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi, the National Honorary Band Fraternity. Friedland has enrolled in seven music history courses while at URI, including four at the upper-level in the Symphony and the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic eras. Pressed to choose a favorite musical period, he picks the Romantic era, and Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Gershwin, Stravinsky, and Copland are his favorite composers.

The James Ladewig Scholarship in Music History was created by students, colleagues, and friends in recognition and thanks for the teaching and research work of James Ladewig, a URI professor of music history for more than 25 years. The scholarship is awarded annually to an undergraduate student at URI in recognition of academic excellence in and enthusiasm for the study of music history.

Ladewig is responsible for expanding the URI music history curriculum from the traditional classical repertory to include world music, jazz, and popular music.

A specialist in the Renaissance and Baroque eras, in particular instrumental and keyboard music of Italy, Ladewig has published numerous scholarly articles. He is editor of the 30-volume series, Italian Instrumental Music of the Sixteenth and Early Seventeenth Centuries: Previously Unpublished Full Scores of Major Works from the Renaissance and Early Baroque (New York & London: Garland Publishing). He has now served for over ten years as Treasurer and a member of the Board of Directors of the American Musicological Society.