Category 1 Research Grant   
Category 2 Travel Grant

Download the application form / guidelines
Click above to download the 2020 forms.
​
SIXTY YEARS ON, A LIVING MEMORIAL REMAINS
​
It happened in 1955. Summer holiday period.  Hume Highway. Car, driver, two passengers.  The car swerved off the road and hit a tree.  A common event, a tragedy, more frequent then than today. Two young men died. The woman passenger survived.

The accident ended the life of Bernard Lustig, a brilliant young barrister, winner of the University of Melbourne’s Supreme Court Prize. He was the older son of Adolf and Kate Lustig, German refugees from Nazism who fled to Australia before the war. As the war ended Adolf helped found the first B'nai B'rith lodge in Melbourne. 
 
Bernard followed in his father’s footsteps as a lawyer, although Adolf’s career in Munich was cut short by the Nuremberg Race Laws.  Bernard also became interested in B'nai B'rith in 1951, becoming a founding member of B'nai B'rith Youth Melbourne and one of its earliest presidents.
 
His death generated a thought among the members of the BBY committee.  Let’s establish a scholarship in his memory.  Too ambitious, said some.  But anyone who knew the late Pauline Richter (later Pauline Glass) would testify that this was a young woman who was motivated, capable and persistent.  She won the day.
 
With financial contributions from B'nai B'rith Melbourne Lodge and its Women’s Chapter, the youth group set up a fund later that year, and awarded the first scholarships, to assist capable Year 12 students about to embark on a university course in 1956.
 
Six decades have passed, and the scholarship is now the oldest continuing B'nai B'rith project and the longest running scholarship in the Victorian Jewish community.  As with any project that survives for so long, it has had to change with the times.  The first scholarship was worth ₤50. Today, winners receive $2500. Winners are decided by a long-serving group of trustees comprising senior academics and representatives of the Lustig family.
 
The administration has changed.  BBY Melbourne no longer exists:  the scholarship is now a B'nai B'rith Victoria project.  Instead of treasurers handling a couple of cheques, the scholarship receives some of its funding from an investment fund managed by the B'nai B'rith Charitable Fund (and from numerous individual donors).  
 
Information technology has wrought changes too.  Originally, applicants sent hand-written letters in response to an AJN ad. Now there are detailed guidelines and an extensive application form, submitted by email. Nearly all communications among the trustees are handled electronically.
 
The purpose of the scholarship has also altered since its early days.  The scholarship is now offered in two categories: as a research grant to master’s and doctoral thesis candidates, and as a travel grant to outstanding student leaders at university level, to fund overseas travel to participate in leadership development programs.
 
Some recent winners have travelled to Israel to participate in short courses at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Another worked as a deputy speech-writer for the Israeli Mission at the United Nations in New York. A young medical practitioner was assisted to pursue post-graduate research at Harvard University. The major winner in 2017 was a school counsellor researching for a master’s degree in psychology.
 
Applications open in March each year and close at the end of April. Intending applicants should send an email to the B'nai B'rith Victoria Office, council@bbvic.org, requesting a copy of the guidelines and an application form.

The B'nai B'rith Showcase is a member of, and has accreditation with,
The Association of Eisteddfod Societies of Australia Inc.

This is the only Jewish Showcase in Australia and fulfills a specific need - it does not replicate what any other Jewish organisation is doing.  Jewish musicians are enabled to compete in an officially recognised Showcase; as most are held on Shabbat, this competition acts as a bridge through all streams of Judaism - covering Primary, Secondary and Tertiary levels (ages 8 - 25).
 
Register now and you too can be part of this exciting event!

​Please see the attached files on the right for sign up information or phone the B'nai B'rith Office on ​
​(03) 9523 0888 or email showcase@bbvic.org ​

Online Showcase 2020 – To all potential contestants, their parents, and music teachers,

The changes we have all experienced as a society due to corona-virus have made us all rethink our daily lives. For the Showcase committee, we are concerned about our core business: Showcase: fostering Jewish musical talent.
We know that our children are going through a challenging time.  Schools were shut and students instructed to spend their days in an online classroom from their bedrooms. Sporting teams and clubs stopped meeting, training and playing.
Children and young people have been having online music lessons. I think there are many young people out there trying to keep up with their music.
Showcase is a key B’nai B’rith project. The Showcase committee was established in 1985 to encourage young people to continue their musical pursuits. We are committed to continue that work.
The Showcase committee recognised that we must adapt to changing circumstances. We did not cancel Showcase 2020. The Showcase committee has created Online Showcase 2020 as a companion to Showcase 2020.

How to enter Online Showcase 2020
1. Go to our webpage at https://www.bnaibrith.org.au/our-projects/showcase.Download the Information Booklet, Entry form and Consent Form. 
2. Register your entry by Friday 26 June. Late entries will not be accepted.
3. Receive your acknowledgement and access rights to the Showcase channel.
4. June 26-July 24 Online Heats will take place. The channel will be open for entrants to upload video recordings of their performances to the Showcase channel.
5. July 24-August 14 our adjudicators will assess the performances. Entrants and competitors will receive adjudications, participation certificates and awards to celebrate their talent, according to the adjudicators’ decision.
6. August 14-Sept 10 awardees will be contacted and the Finals Concert organised.
7. September 13 at 1.30 pm the Finals Concert. Substantial prizes are offered for Section winners and the Overall winner.

While all entrants are requested to participate in Online Showcase 2020, we are living in a rapidly changing environment. With stage 3 restrictions anticipated in July, if venues are opened, the Showcase committee could reconsider its options and offer entrants a live heats and finals option. Keep a watch on our webpage for up to date information.
Dear teachers, families and friends, we have found a way to adapt to changing circumstances.

The Showcase committee is a volunteer group comprising of retired professionals. If you have the expertise to support us to run an Online Showcase 2020, please let us know via the website. We welcome your opinion and your feedback.
Over the next few weeks, we are trialing our online channel to prepare for the Heats to be held in July. If you would like to participate in this trial to help us test the quality of online performance on the channel, please let us know through our
website: showcase@bbvic.org or the B’nai B’rith office phone 95230888.

​This week the booklets, flyers, website and advertising have been updated. Please fill in the two forms, Entry Form and Consent Form, and encourage Online Showcase 2020 to find a new way to foster Jewish musical talent.
Music can help raise everyone’s spirits.

Judy Firestone
Chair of Showcase 2020

Our Solo Sections are:
Vocal: Classical
Vocal: Contemporary
Hebrew and Yiddish Vocal
Strings: Classical
Piano: Classical
Piano: Contemporary
​Woodwind and Brass
Guitar

In 2019, B’nai B’rith Vic celebrated its 27th year of holding the Jewish Youth Eisteddfod and
rebranded its name to ‘Showcase: Fostering Jewish Musical Talent’.
Its first chairperson was Rosalie Maller and its second was Esther Gross, who guided the project through until 2012, when ill health forced her retirement. Until then, it remained a special project of B’nai B’rith Unit Re’ut.
Andrew Kolb took over the chair of the Eisteddfod in 2014, and retired at the end of 2019.
During those 6 years, the Eisteddfod grew to 8 Heats namely: Classical Vocal, Contemporary Vocal, Hebrew and Yiddish Vocal, Woodwind, Classical Strings, Guitar, and Classical and Contemporary Piano.
It was also exciting to see a rapid rise in school ensemble participation.
There were performances from Melbourne’s four Jewish day schools: Mount Scopus Memorial College, Bialik College, King David School and Leibler Yavneh College.
Showcase is made possible by the generosity of the many donors and sponsors, including B’nai B’rith Victoria, the Pratt Foundation and Glen Eira City Council.
The Australian Jewish News kept people informed of our activities via advertising and featured articles.
The Rt. Hon. Sir Zelman Cowen was our distinguished patron. After his death, Lady Anna Cowen AM accepted the offer to become our new patron. This year, she will be joined by Mr
Doug Heywood OAM as Joint patron.
2020 is not like any other year that we have previously faced. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to try new options: Zoom meetings and Online Showcase 2020.
Who could have predicted this only 3 months ago? 2020 will certainly be a different type of Showcase without ensemble participation.
On behalf of the Showcase Committee I would like to thank our new chair Judy Firestone.
We cannot do this without community help and support. Together we can be triumphant.

​Andrew Kolb
Chair of Showcase (formerly Eisteddfod) 2014-2019