“Welcomes don’t get much warmer than this,” writes Ronni Reich in Wednesday’s (9/15) Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey). “When Jacques Lacombe opened his first season as music director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra at a sold-out gala [last night], President and CEO André Gremillet announced the orchestra had raised $25 million toward a $32 million fundraising campaign that quietly began 20 months ago. Top donations include $3 million from Prudential, $2.5 million from Ruth and Mike Lipper (Ruth Lipper is co-chair of the NJSO board) and $2.5 million from Josh and Judy Weston, long-time supporters of the orchestra. The campaign, dubbed ‘An Incomparable Sound, A Cultural Treasure,’ was launched on the back of the Lippers’ and Westons’ contributions and attracted five additional seven-figure gifts and 14 six-figure gifts. The campaign—and those gifts—were timed to coincide with Lacombe’s official arrival. … This is the first time the orchestra has received such large gifts together… The funds will be split among operating costs: $25 million will go to salaries, guest artist fees, education programs, commissions and other concert-related expenses, while the other $7 will be applied to building the organization’s endowment.”
Photo: André Gremillet at a New Jersey Symphony gala with Ann Cummis (left) and Montclair State University President Susan Cole.
Credit: New Jersey Symphony
Posted September 15, 2010
