<B>Billionaire To Fund NYU Fellowships</B> <P>By VERENA DOBNIK, Associated Press Writer <P><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>A billionaire pledged more than $23 million on Monday to finance an international performing arts program at New York University.<P>``Crucial to the development of the arts is the nurturing of its next generation of leaders, as well as its artists,'' Alberto Vilar told a luncheon audience at NYU, where his gift will provide tuition, housing, and travel funds for 20 fellows by the year 2005.<P>As a child growing up in Cuba, the 60-year-old Vilar recalled, ``I really believe that I had a music gene.'' But his father refused to get him a violin.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><BR><A HREF="http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010430/en/vilar_fellowships_1.html" TARGET=_blank><B>More...</B></A><BR>