“The Corbett Foundation—which gave more than $70 million to arts and education in the region over the last 60 years—is shutting its doors, effective immediately,” writes Janelle Gelfand in Tuesday’s (8/26) Cincinnati Enquirer. “J. Ralph and Patricia Corbett established the family foundation in 1955 with the fortune they earned from their door chime company, NuTone. From Ohio to Kentucky, the Corbett name graces many prominent arts venues, including the Corbett Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, Corbett Tower in Music Hall.… The dissolution has been planned for decades…. Trey Devey, president of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, said, ‘The Corbetts were absolute geniuses in how they built something and had an idea, and many years later, we’re still benefiting from those ideas.’ By injecting $2 million to build Riverbend Music Center in 1984, they provided an ongoing revenue source for the symphony…. At the symphony, the Corbett generosity paid for European tours, Cincinnati Pops and symphony national television broadcasts and recordings. For the May Festival, the Corbetts underwrote recordings, a PBS broadcast and trips made by the chorus to Carnegie Hall.”
Posted August 28, 2014
