In Thursday’s (6/14) Grand Rapids Press (Michigan), Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk writes, “Helen DeVos, longtime patron of the Grand Rapids Symphony, has been honored with the Gold Baton Award by the League of American Orchestras.” The award is given in recognition of outstanding service to the field of orchestral music. “DeVos, who served on the League’s board of directors from 1982-1992 and continues as an Honorary Member, was presented the Gold Baton at the League’s 2012 National Conference held last week in Dallas. The League of American Orchestras has been supported for more than 30 years by the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation. In 2007, Jesse Rosen, then-incoming president of the League of American Orchestra, called DeVos ‘a philanthropist’s philanthropist’ for her 10 years of work on the board of the organization formerly known as the American Symphony Orchestra League. … DeVos was a member of the Grand Rapids Symphony’s board of directors from 1971-1991 and continues as an Honorary Member. In 1974, DeVos and her husband, Amway Corp. co-founder Rich DeVos, were the founding sponsors of the orchestra’s DeVos Quartet, contributing $40,000 to elevate four chairs of orchestra to full-time positions and paving the way for the community orchestra to become a professional ensemble. In 2002, the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation contributed an unprecedented $5 million to the orchestra’s endowment fund.”
Posted June 14, 2012
