ROBERT YUNICH ’61

Trinity-Pawling Robert Yunich

Bob Yunich ’61 has a strong conviction that music should be enjoyed as part of everyday life or, in the words of Leonard Bernstein, “I can’t live one day without hearing music, playing it, studying it, or thinking about it.” Yunich also believes that young people need to realize the musical universe extends beyond current popular music.

After graduation from Trinity-Pawling in 1961, Yunich earned a BA from Columbia University and an MBA from Harvard University. He spent most of his career in the financial services industry. Although a passion for music blossomed through a required course in Music Humanities that Yunich took at Columbia, which led to a lifetime appreciation of a broad range of compositions dubbed ‘classical’ music and the performing arts, particularly opera and Broadway musicals.

Yunich believes in the power of music and the performing arts as a means of enriching the students’ academic life and experience at Trinity-Pawling. Therefore, through a generous gift this year, Yunich and his wife Joanne have established a Musician-In-Residence Program at the School. The Joanne J. and Robert H. Yunich Musician-In-Residence Program aims to inspire students towards careers in music and the performing arts, encourage further study of the arts after graduation, or simply help them discover an appreciation for a variety of music genres.

The Musician-in-Residence Program will be built around the Pawling Concert Series, now in its 45th year. The series started in 1973 and is supported by the New York State Council on the Arts.  Trinity-Pawling School provides the venues for the five different concerts performed each year. In addition to providing all students the opportunity to attend at least one of the concerts, the Musician-In-Residence Program will allow students to engage personally with one of the performing groups. The selection for the Musician-In-Residence Program this year will be Davina & the Vagabonds. With great critical acclaim, Davina (Sowers) and the Vagabonds have become one of the most exciting acoustic ensembles on the international stage, having performed throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. With influences ranging from Fats Domino and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band to Aretha Franklin and Tom Waits, the band draws from the last 100 years of American music. The group will be on campus April 26, 2019.

Thank you, Bob and Joanne for your generosity and sharing your love of music with the boys of Trinity-Pawling!

by Judy Redder