Tuesday, July 18, 2000
$2.5M gift to NKU will support string program
By Janelle Gelfand
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Arts patron Patricia Corbett made a $2 million personal gift Monday to launch a musical program at Northern Kentucky University by the time classes resume Aug. 23.
The the largest single gift ever to an NKU program will establish an endowment for the Corbett String Quartet in Residence, held by the award-winning Amernet String Quartet. The ensemble — violinists Erez Ofer and Marcia Littley de Arias, violist Yoram Youngerman and cellist Javier Arias — was quartet in residence at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music until June, when its contract ended.
The presence of an internationally recognized string quartet may draw new students, make an impact on Northern Kentucky school music programs and give NKU a higher profile in the arts in the Tristate.
“It will enhance the whole picture on that side of the river,” Mrs. Corbett said. “It's going to be great for the quartet to have a home, and for all of us not to lose
them.”
The gift from Mrs. Corbett is one of many she and the Corbett Foundation have made in the past 45 years. Philanthropists J. Ralph Corbett and Patricia A. Corbett established The Corbett Foundation in 1955 with the fortune they earned from their door chime company, NuTone. Since then more than $55 million has been donated to the arts, medicine and education.
To provide operating expenses for NKU's Patricia A. Corbett String Program, an additional $500,000 over the next five years will come from Mrs. Corbett, the Corbett Foundation and the Amernet Society, a nonprofit organization devoted to music education and appreciation.
“The schools in the immediate area don't have any string programs or orchestras,” said Gail Wells, dean of NKU's College of Arts and Sciences. “We hope we will be preparing teachers who will start those programs.”
Quartet members will perform on the NKU campus in the Corbett Chamber Music Series and teach string students, who will be eligible for Corbett Scholarships. Currently, the university has 150 music students.
“We hope to promote the good values of classical music and to share music with the Northern Kentucky community,” said Mr. Arias, a cellist. “Chamber music is a wonderful way to develop a musician. Hopefully one day, we'll have an NKU orchestra. I think the possibilities are wonderful.”
As part of the program, the quartet will perform music education outreach in area schools in the Corbett Concert Series.
“There are lots of children playing instruments, but they have nowhere to continue (in Northern Kentucky),” Mr. Arias said.
A string program has been discussed for more than a decade, but lacked funding, said David Dunevant, chair of NKU's music department. “We have vocal, choral and wind band programs, but the aspect of strings and orchestra has been missing.”
NKU will hold a gala celebration to introduce the new program on October 21.
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