Somers Benefit Concert Will Honor Cancer Victim

SOMERS, N.Y. – Somers High School graduate Hanna Monte was 20 when she succumbed to cancer in March 2011.

Monte played the cello in the high school orchestra and was one of the six founding members of Students Taking Action Today, a humanitarian student group that organizes fundraisers, food drives, Christmas gift drives and other events to benefit the needy.

Monte was particularly devoted to the LaCarpio Refugee Camp, a refuge for displaced Nicaraguans in Costa Rica. Somers students learned about the camp from the school’s orchestra director, Anne Harris, who has been involved in supporting the camp since 2004. 

“The Costa Rican government is not very welcoming to the Nicaraguans,” Harris explains, “so they make it hard for the kids to go to school. When I told my students about it, they became passionate about getting involved.”

As an ongoing tribute to Monte, her family has established the Hanna Scholars Fund to help support the education of academically promising girls at the camp. Five of these girls have completed ninth grade and are now eligible to travel out of LaCarpio to pursue a high school education.

On June 22, Monte’s older sister, Irie, who played violin in the high school orchestra, will appear at the second annual Hanna Monte Benefit Concer at the Katonah Library. A 2012 graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of Music and Performing Arts, Monte will perform solo violin works by Mozart and Vitali, accompanied by David Chang at the piano.

The “Good For Kids” concert begins at 6:30 p.m. June 22, and will end at about 9 p.m. Wine and hors d’oeuvres will be served. Suggested donations are $20 for adults, $10 for students, at the door. All proceeds will go the the Hanna Scholars Fund.

The Katonah Village Library is at 26 Bedford Road, Katonah.

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