Founded in 1996 by Aaron P Dworkin, an accomplished violinist, MacArthur Fellow and the recipient of Newsweek's 2006 Giving Back Award, the Sphinx Orchestra is a 25-musician ensemble comprised of alumni winners of the prestigious Sphinx Competition for emerging pre-professional African-American and Latino musicians.  Hailed by the New York Times as "first rate in every way,"  the mission of the Sphinx Organization is to increase the participation of blacks and Latinos in music schools, as professional musicians and as classical music audiences.