Kyle Zars: Recommended for an APOL scholarship by York High School band instructor Curtis Merrill and APOL member/percussionist Russ Knutson, multi-percussionist Kyle Zars received his first of two APOL $500 awards in the summer of 2002 as he finished his senior year.

    His audition tape showed his talents on bells and castanets with the Classical Symphony Orchestra, tympani with the Protégé Philharmonic Orchestra, an improvised drum set solo and a snare drum contest solo and three xylophone solo excerpts on “Flight of the Bumble Bee”, “Gypsy Dance”, “Dance Macabre” and “Porgy & Bess”.

    He has served as percussion section leader all four years of high school, is rapidly developing advanced keyboard and mallet skills, is lead drum set player in the school’s big band, has purchased his own set of tympani, plays in a student rock group and a jazz combo and has regularly attended summer music camps.

    Kyle received his second $500 scholarship award in the fall of 2002 as he went off to college.

    Max Zbiral-Teller: Max was recommended to us by Evanston High School music instructors Kat Eggleston and David Fodor and received the first of his two $500 APOL scholarships in the fall of 2002.  His second $500 award was presented in the spring of 2003.

    Multi-percussionist Zbiral-Teller, in his application, detailed many  school and community groups in which he has served involving activities as diverse as paleontology, film production, soccer playing and hammered dulcimer playing.  He has produced his own performance CD, been honored by two professional honor societies and received leadership award from the high school history department and the Congressional Youth Leadership Council in Washington, D.C.

    His list of dozens of public performances is equally diverse from festivals, religious institutions, and cultural institutions to retirement homes and neighborhood pubs.  At many of these, he organized the players, arranged the music as well as performed.