Palisadian Kevin Schwarzwald, a physics and public policy major at the University of Chicago, was one of 30 undergraduate students selected to study green technology in China this summer, as part of the Wanxiang Ambassador Fellows program.
The program is part of the Obama Administration’s 100,000 Strong Initiative, a national effort to increase the number and diversity of American students studying in China.
Schwarzwald, who is also an accomplished musician, visited the Wanxiang America Corporation headquarters in Elgin, Illinois, in June, before traveling to Hangzhou, where he is staying at the Wanxiang Polytechnic College.
The six-week program includes field trips to a solar farm, an electric vehicle factory and an energy-storage station; clean energy and sustainability studies; and visits to the Wanxiang laboratories.
“The students who have been selected for the Wanxiang Ambassador Fellows program are all exceptionally talented and driven individuals, coming from varying backgrounds and with a wide range of academic and professional interests,” said Meredith Daw, executive director of the University of Chicago Career Advancement Center.
After completing the program in China, Schwarzwald will fly from Shanghai to Vienna, where he will complete a four-week music internship in Austria. He plays violin and piano.
Schwarzwald, who won the 2010 Mr. Palisades contest, also received this year’s David L. Fulton Prize for Orchestral Excellence at the University of Chicago.
The award is given to a student who has been a member of the University Symphony for at least one full season, and “who has consistently demonstrated the highest level of musical accomplishment on his/her instrument, as well as extraordinary commitment to the orchestra during that tenure.”
When Schwarzwald was a seventh grader at Paul Revere, his original composition for string ensemble, “Why Not Peace,” won the National PTA Reflections Contest and premiered with a chamber orchestra in Austria in 2006.
Schwarzwald was a member of the Jr. Philharmonic Orchestra of California from 2006 to 2011 and performed at Disney Hall, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion/L.A. Opera, the Shrine Auditorium and the Kodak Theater.
In December 2009, the orchestra premiered a symphonic piece “Epos.”
As 15-year-olds, Schwarzwald and Palisadian Philip Golub performed in Bad Ischl, Austria, playing compositions by Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Brubeck, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and Antonio Carlos Jobim.
The next year Schwarzwald, who attended Harvard-Westlake, was one of 80 high school students selected nationwide for the GRAMMY camp, hosted by USC’s Thorton School of Music. He was subsequently invited to perform with Keith Urban at the UCLA Tennis Center for an audience of 6,000.
While in Los Angeles, Kevin has been a member of several Latin, jazz, blues and rock groups, and performs regularly at the House of Blues Sunset Strip. He has also played with his father, the acclaimed award-winning saxophonist Reinhold Schwarzwald, and Grammy-nominated keyboardist Patrice Rushen.
At the University of Chicago, Schwarzwald plays in the symphony orchestra, the Dirt Red Brass Band and the Lindalë Quartet. He also studies privately with Austin Wulliman.
His mother, Petra, is a neurofeedback specialist and yoga teacher.
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
