Aaron P. Dworkin, a music educator in Detroit, will receive a $500,000 grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Chicago-based philanthropy announced last week in naming the winners of what are popularly known as its “genius awards.”
Mr. Dworkin, 35, is the only precollegiate educator from the group of 25 winners who earned the MacArthur fellowships this year. He is the president of the Sphinx Organization, which works to enhance music education in schools and promotes the participation of African-Americans and Latinos in classical-music programs.
The organization runs the Sphinx Preparatory Music Institute, a 20-week music-history and -performance program for students ages 11 to 18 in the Detroit public schools.
As a MacArthur fellow, Mr. Dworkin will receive his stipend in quarterly installments over the next five years.
