When Vincent “Vinny” P. Longhi Jr. ’78 started to consider ways to give back to Syracuse University, he thought about his father, Vincent Sr., and his son, Matteo.
His father died from a massive heart attack in 1960, when Vinny was just 7 years old. Matteo Longhi G’15 followed in his father’s footsteps and spent three graduate years at Syracuse, where he earned master’s degrees in violin performance and music education.
To honor both his father and to support Syracuse University students like his son who want to excel as musicians and teachers, Longhi created the $135,000 Vincent Paul Longhi Sr. Endowed Scholarship for students in the College of Visual and Performing Arts’ and School of Education’s (SOE) dual bachelor of music degree in music education.
The Longhi Scholarship is combined with a 50% match through The Syracuse Promise scholarship fundraising initiative, bringing the total amount to more than $200,000.
It was important to Vinny Longhi (pronounced Long-ee) that the scholarship benefits students who want to become music teachers because he spent his entire career as a special education teacher, and Matteo is now a music teacher in the Syracuse area.
“In both my case and Matteo’s, Syracuse was a place where we fulfilled our potential through some special teachers,” Vinny says. “If it weren’t for Syracuse, maybe it would be a little different story. So, this is just something to give back.”
Through music education students, the scholarship also will give back to the Syracuse community. John F. Warren, Professor of Music and Director of the Setnor School of Music at Syracuse, says that through the efforts of Associate Professor and former Chair of the Music Education program John Coggiola and Associate Professor and current Chair Wendy Moy, the program has had 100% placement for graduates in recent years, and many of them, like Matteo, are now building renowned music programs in schools throughout Central New York.
“I want to express my gratitude to Vinny and his family for paying it forward because that’s exactly what it is, creating opportunities for students to get fantastic training and have this great experience at Syracuse,” Warren says. “Then they go out into the schools and produce wonderful musicians, but most importantly, wonderful people.”
A Positive Environment
Vinny grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Yonkers, a suburb of New York City. His entire extended family lived in Yonkers, and while he does not have a lot of memories of his father, he does remember that Vincent Sr. was a gregarious man who was the life of the party at their large family gatherings.
“Syracuse was a place where we fulfilled our potential through some special teachers.”
Vinny Longhi Jr. ’78
The family lived on a tight budget and his father, an upholsterer, didn’t have life insurance. So, when Vincent Sr. passed away, Vinny and his mother, Tullia (Pecora) Longhi, went to live with her parents in a four-family home in South Yonkers.
“That’s the reason the scholarship is named after my father, because he really didn’t have anything to look back on in terms of recognition of his life,” Vinny says.
His mother supported the family by working as a dental hygienist for the Westchester County dental clinic, and Longhi entered Syracuse University in 1972. He initially wanted to become a journalist, but he had second thoughts after his freshman year and took a few years off before returning with the goal of becoming a teacher.
In the SOE’s groundbreaking special education program, Vinny says he was guided by several prominent mentors, including former Dean Burton Blatt, a pioneer in humanizing services for people with intellectual disabilities and namesake of the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University; Blatt’s wife, Ethel D. Blatt G’77, who trained special education undergraduate students; Professor and Director of Special Education James F. Winschel, Jr. ’71, G’73, who later became the School’s Associate Dean for Administration; and Professor and Dean Emeritus Douglas P. Biklen G’73, Ph.D.’73.
“It was a very positive environment, and with the people I mentioned along with the special education professors and others, I found them very warm and supportive,” Vinny says.
Vinny spent more than 40 years as a special education teacher at public schools in Yonkers and Pearl River, New York. He and his wife, Kwang Ja Lee—whom he met while working for the Peace Corps in Seoul, South Korea—had three children: Matteo; Caterina, a violinist with the Cincinnati Symphony, who studied at The Julliard School; and Mariantonia, a schoolteacher in Michigan.
The Gift that Keeps on Giving
Growing up, Matteo Longhi recalls his mother loved music and played guitar and piano, but neither she nor her husband were trained musicians. But they encouraged their children to take music lessons, and Matteo became a talented violinist who honed his skills with the New York Youth Symphony in Manhattan.
“It’s the impact on the current students, but it’s also the impact that they’re going to have on their students. And this gift will make that possible.”
Professor John F. Warren
After receiving a music degree in violin performance from Ithaca College, Matteo was interested in becoming a teacher, and a friend who was attending Syracuse for violin told him about the University’s dual master’s in Music Education program.
He spent three years at Syracuse–two for the teaching degree, one for the violin performance degree–and like his father, he had an impressive list of trusted mentors: Coggiola, who made sure he was on track for his certification; Associate Professor of Music and Director of Orchestral Activities James Tapia, who provided graduate assistants such as Matteo with real-world opportunities in the community; Assistant Professor of Violin Harumi Rhodes (now at the University of Colorado-Boulder); and string pedagogy teacher Murial Bodley, who is a well-known orchestra teacher in the Syracuse area.
Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence and SOE Dean Kelly Chandler-Olcott Ed.D. says Matteo “was the most outstanding student in a very strong class that semester.” In a letter of recommendation, Chandler-Olcott wrote, “He is one of only two students over my nearly 20-year career as a teacher educator for whom I offered to write a letter of recommendation, rather than the other way around.”
After graduating from Syracuse, Matteo spent five years leading the grades 7-12 orchestra at Chittenango middle and high schools before joining West Genesee High School in Camillus, where he is Director of Violin and Orchestral Studies in a district that has been nationally recognized among the “Best Communities for Music Education” for 17 consecutive years.
“I had teachers I always liked and respected in high school, and your teacher on your primary instrument is an important figure in your development,” Matteo says. “I think there’s something nice about working with young students and giving them an outlet to participate in music and have this artistic experience.”
No one understands that teacher-student connection more than Vinny Longhi, and with the help of the Vincent Paul Longhi Sr. Endowed Scholarship there will be a new wave of students like Matteo who will leave the music education program at Syracuse University to make the world a better place through music.
“I know it’s kind of corny, but it’s the gift that keeps on giving,” Warren says. “It’s the impact on the current students, but it’s also the impact that they’re going to have on their students. And this gift will make that possible.