Columbus Symphony Receives $8 Million Gift

The Columbus Symphony today announced the single largest gift in the organization’s history—an $8 million legacy gift from the estate of Anne Melvin, long-time friend, board member, and passionate champion of the Columbus Symphony.

The Symphony is expected to receive additional funds when Anne’s estate is fully settled, which will add to the this incredibly generous endowment gift.

“Over her lifetime, Anne was the single largest donor to the Columbus Symphony,” said Columbus Symphony Board Chair Lisa Barton. “We dearly miss her passion, tenacity and can-do spirit. She inspired our board, music directors, staff and musicians alike. She believed that live symphonic music was an essential element of life within central Ohio and we are dedicated to making her proud of our artistic and financial success.”

Melvin’s gift will serve as the cornerstone to the Columbus Symphony’s endowment, helping to provide a consistent base of support for CSO programming and operations, and supporting the organization’s long-term sustainability. Fundraising for the endowment to date has secured $12.8 million towards CSO endowment funds, including the Melvin bequest. The Columbus Symphony has launched the Music. Inspired. / Future. Inspired. campaign, with a goal to raise $25 million for the CSO Endowment Fund, with a long-term goal of $50 million. All CSO endowment funds are housed at The Columbus Foundation.

“Our goal may seem ambitious, but it is an amount consistent with endowments of other orchestras of our size around the nation,” said Columbus Symphony Development Committee Chair Ross Bridgman. “A $50 million endowment will provide a level of security to help ensure that future generations continue to benefit from the CSO’s exceptional performances and enriching programs.”

Anne Melvin’s daughter, Anne T. Melvin, stated, “The Columbus Symphony was one of the great loves of my mother’s life; music was part and parcel of who she was. She was such a fierce advocate for the Symphony that for many years, she thought all support should be current-use-only to support today’s needs. Gradually, she came to believe that the way to ensure the long-term health of this great civic organization was to have both immediate gifts, and also the kind of bedrock, dependable support only an endowment can provide.”

For further information on the Columbus Symphony’s endowment efforts, please visit www.ColumbusSymphony.com.

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The 2017-18 season is made possible in part by state tax dollars allocated by the Ohio Legislature to the Ohio Arts Council (OAC). The OAC is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally, and economically. The CSO also appreciates the support of the Greater Columbus Arts Council, supporting the city's artists and arts organizations since 1973, and the Robert W. Stevenson, Preston Davis, and Kenneth L. Coe and Jack Barrow funds of The Columbus Foundation, assisting donors and others in strengthening our community for the benefit of all its citizens.

About the Columbus Symphony Orchestra

Founded in 1951, the Columbus Symphony is the only full-time, professional symphony in central Ohio. Through an array of innovative artistic, educational, and community outreach programming, the Columbus Symphony is reaching an expanding, more diverse audience each year. This season, the Columbus Symphony will share classical music with more than 200,000 people in central Ohio through concerts, radio broadcasts, and special programming. For more information, visit www.columbussymphony.com.

Contact:         Rolanda Copley

                        (614) 719-6624

                        rcopley@capa.com