2026 Scholarship Winner

Eleanor Solomon is an outstanding student at Red Hook High School, number 1
among 128 students. She has had a passion for music since fourth grade, when she
started playing the flute. Among the instruments she plays are the piccolo, tenor
saxophone, alto saxophone, and clarinet. She is the prinicpal flutist in the Red Hook
High School Concert Band and plays tenor saxophone in the Jazz Ensemble. She also
plays in the Red Hook High School Concert Band and played a featured solo with the
band at their winter concert.
Outside of school, she was accepted into the Bard College Community Orchestra and
takes flute lessons privately. She has played solos like Mozart’s Flute Concerto No. 2
in D Major, but also French and German Romantic compositions.
Eleanor volunteers at Red Hook Music events by teaching elementary students to
play the flute at at the Instrument Try-Out Night and playing at community events
like the Budget Expo, The Elmendorph Holiday Open House, and the VFW Civilian
Military Ball.
This past summer, Eleanor spent a month traveling solo in Southern Germany. She
started to learn German in sixth grade and has been fascinated with the language. As
an advanced German student in 8 th grade, she arranged for additional German
lessons with a high school student to do extra readings and grammar. In May 2025,
she passed the International Baccalaureate German Language Exam with the top
score of 7.
In Germany, Eleanor volunteered on local family farms, one near Traunstein and one
near Malsch, and she was able to immerse herself in German culture, learning more
about Germany’s history, traditions and politics. She met German teenagers who
also played music, some fellow flutists among them, and they bonded over their
shared interest in music.
Ellen plans to major in biochemistry to earn a Ph.D. and to do research. She wants to
continue to study both music and German at Cornell University or McGill University
(in Canada).

CONGRATULATIONS, Eleanor!