Hannah Byers Wins Thomas Karolyi Orchestra Scholarship

Thomas Karolyi was a trendsetting orchestra teacher and director and an exceptional musician in his own right. One of J. Taylor Finley Junior High School’s founding faculty members in 1965, he instructed, encouraged and guided thousands of musicians during his storied career.

Mr. Karolyi passed away in September 2018 after battling lung cancer. He was 82 years old and still performing and entertaining crowds as a musician. His family, friends, former faculty colleagues and students contributed thousands of dollars to create a scholarship in the gifted musician’s memory.

The first annual $1,000 award was presented by Mr. Karolyi’s widow, Felicia in 2019 to Arielle Harvey, who went on to study at CUNY Queens College’s Aaron Copland School of Music. The 2020 scholarship was garnered by Julien Rentsch, who studying at Northwestern University. The 2021 award went to Grace Wildermuth, who is studying at Vanderbilt University. University of Pennsylvania sophomore Cassidy Casabona garnered last year’s award.

The 2023 Thomas Karolyi Memorial Scholarship was presented to New York University bound Hannah Byers by high school music teacher Andre Rizzuto at this year’s senior departmental awards ceremony.

An Advanced Placement Scholar with Honors, Ms. Byers plans to study music technology at NYU. She noted “it’s very easy to sacrifice your own desires in order to fit in with the crowd.” But she feels the key to her success has been being true to herself and pursuing her own passion. She believes that by being different and being herself, she has been able to reach a greater level of happiness.

Ms. Byers also won Huntington’s 2023 National School Orchestra Award, claiming a plaque and $300 stipend.

A member of seven separate academic honor societies, Ms. Byers participated in the chamber orchestra, Key Club and stage crew. She is proud to say that she has written, recorded and produced her own songs; 16,000 streams across 23 countries as of this past spring. A mental advocate for the Noisy Brain Project and a student teacher and dance student, the teenager is exceedingly well rounded.

It’s a safe bet that Ms. Byers and Mr. Karolyi would have hit it off. His 31 year Huntington UFSD teaching career was an unbridled success story. He established the chamber orchestra, the all-district orchestra concert and the intergenerational concert as well as the Tri-M Music Honor Society, which continues to thrive to this day.

Thomas Karolyi

Born in January 1936 in Budapest, Hungary, Mr. Karolyi first evaded the Nazi killing machine when Germany occupied Hungary, hiding with his parents in a darkened basement room for weeks at time.

He later escaped suffocating religious persecution in Hungary when the Soviet Union invaded the country in 1956 and crushed a popular rebellion. Mr. Karolyi immigrated to the US and became an American citizen, later earning undergraduate and graduate music education degrees at City University of New York-Queens College.

Mr. Karolyi began his career at Finley in September 1965 when the school first opened its doors. His deep voice and heavy Hungarian accent added to the aura that always seemed to envelope him. He had a perpetual spring in his step. He walked fast through the hallways.

As a strings teacher, orchestra director and violinist, few could match Tom Karolyi. He performed throughout his life and right up until the time of his death. His smile, quick wit and hearty laugh will always be remembered by his colleagues.

Over the years, Mr. Karolyi taught at Finley, Robert K. Toaz Junior High School and Huntington High School. He split time between Finley and the high school from 1988 until his retirement in July 1996, serving as orchestra director at both schools.

Mr. Karolyi’s file in the Huntington UFSD personnel office is packed with accolades from fellow teachers, department supervisors and principals regarding his students’ performances at concerts and special events through the years.

The veteran music teacher’s “great rapport” with his students and his ability to “bring out the best in them musically” is a constant theme that runs throughout the missives placed in Mr. Karolyi’s file.

Huntington music teachers past and present, most notably those who have worked with strings students and orchestras across the district were exceedingly saddened to hear of Mr. Karolyi’s passing. He lived in the Huntington area and regularly attended district concerts.

Mr. Karolyi helped establish the Tri-M Music Honor Society in the district and served as its faculty advisor. He spent countless hours helping students prepare for NYSSMA auditions. As vice president of the Long Island String Festival, he played a key role in the organization and in the running of its festival.

Always a consummate professional, Mr. Karolyi had a certain boyishness to his nature. It’s that perpetually young at heart teacher that Huntington UFSD will never forget.