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Yerko Difonis had a full scholarship at Rutgers from 2020 through 2022, according to a GoFundMe launched by Jerry Falk for the masterful musician’s student loan debt.
Difonis is now striving for a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Classical Piano Performance, and if successful, he “may also be the first blind and partially deaf person in the United States to achieve such a feat,” Falk writes.
But Difonis, a Chilean native, lives in the Garden State on an F-1 student visa and “does not have access to student loans commonly available to American citizens,” Falk describes.
While Difonis’ doctorate program has been funded by a “generous benefactor,” he is still saddled with more than $5,000 in student loan debt and can't register for classes in the Fall until and unless it's fully paid off, Falk says.
“This debt is keeping him from registering for classes for the fall semester of 2023,” writes Falk. “Yerko would be very grateful for any help towards paying off this debt.”
More than $2,300 had been raised of Tuesday, June 13.
Want to hear Difonis in his prime? A two-minute video clip of his Chamber Recital held in March can be seen here — sit back and prepare to be wildly amazed.
Click here to donate on GoFundMe.
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