In Saturday’s (4/19) Winnipeg Free Press (Canada), Maureen Scurfield writes about a fundraising effort underway at the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, through which area businesses and individuals “adopt” orchestra musicians to raise money for the WSO’s Spring for Music performances at Carnegie Hall in May. Participating businesses and individuals include “Peter Jessiman of Bison Transport, business guru Hartley Richardson and his wife, Heather, Diane Gray of CentrePort and Mariette Mulaire, president and CEO of the World Trade Centre Winnipeg. Ambassador to the U.S. Gary Doer is jetting in from Washington, D.C., and … Mayor Sam Katz and family are all going…. Travellers are extending their trips to hit the theatres and sign up for sightseeing tours—many through the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA), which partnered with WSO for this big travel event. To raise money for the Carnegie Hall gig, the WSO offered ‘adoptions’ of all the orchestra members and guest artists at $300 to $5,000 a pop. Schroeder says every one of them has new ‘parents’ now. Conductor Alexander Mickelthwate’s prestigious adoption cost a whopping $15,000, happily paid by Marcel Desautels, a music-loving philanthropist originally from Winnipeg. When Schroeder called him, he just said, ‘Yes indeed!’ ”
Posted April 22, 2014
