“For the second time in six months, the Tucson Symphony Orchestra will have received a sizable donation to endow a musician’s chair,” writes Cathalena E. Burch in Wednesday’s (1/27) Arizona Daily Star. “The TSO announced that the Diamond Foundation … will donate $1 million to the orchestra to endow the concertmaster’s chair. The first recipient of the Joan B. Diamond Concertmaster Chair will be current concertmaster Lauren Roth, who joined the TSO in 2013.… The Diamond Foundation first began discussing the gift with TSO officials several years ago.… They resumed talks when Mark A. Blakeman joined the orchestra as CEO and president in 2014. ‘With Mark’s arrival, he pretty much picked up the pace and has been out in the community and trying to engage the community with the symphony more,’ ” said Helaine Diamond Levy, executive director of the Diamond Family Philanthropies. “ ‘It is especially gratifying to have supporters like the Diamond family recognizing the value of our greatest asset: our professional core of musicians,’ Blakeman said in a written statement.… Last August, the Connie Hillman Family Foundation established a $400,000 endowment for the principal trumpet chair.”
Posted February 1, 2016
