Help Christian attend University of Missouri

Christian will soon begin the second semester of his sophomore year at the University of Missouri St Louis (UMSL) and he's doing well! He's been on the Dean's List twice and has just finished an intense three weeks at the summer International Cello Institute on the campus of St. Olaf College in Northfield MN. As you may remember, Christian is a very talented cellist from Nigeria who taught himself to play the cello, and now has had a year and half of lessons with Professor Kurt Baldwin at UMSL.  It took him a while to control his Rheumatoid Arthritis, diagnosed soon after he arrived in St. Louis. He had to find the right medicine for him, as well as change his eating habits completely to support his health. He now can count on feeling well enough to practice his cello, recently as much as 6-7 hours a day!! He won't have time to practice quite so much soon, because he will, like the first three semesters, have a full load of classes as well as his part-time work/study job at UMSL's Touhill Performing Arts Center.

His tuition is $24,000 per semester and an anonymous benefactor is paying $10,000 of that. We would love to raise the other $14,000 each of five remaining semesters, plus enough money to cover a modest living arrangement and the cost of food, (estimated at roughly $11,000 a year, based on published UMSL student housing costs). That's a total of $125,000 for the rest of his undergraduate education. Christian is a hard-working, dedicated, kind-hearted, sweet young man. Can you help us continue the job of keeping him at the University of Missouri St. Louis to study music and finish his college degree? We thank you SO much, and would love to provide you with regular updates on his activities and progress. Also, if you can share this campaign with your communities, you help us more than you can imagine. Christian is benefitting greatly from his education, and is extremely grateful to all of you who have been helping him thrive here in the US and at school.

We have a video interview of him with pianist Patti Wolf and an accompanying short excerpt of a performance at the International Cello Institute. If you would like to see it, please contact us at [email redacted]. Again, thank you, thank you, thank you!!