“A prominent Los Angeles tech entrepreneur and former board president of the L.A. Philharmonic announced Wednesday that he will give $20 million to the orchestra, half of it going to endow the top leadership position now held by Deborah Borda,” reports David Ng in Wednesday’s (12/10) Los Angeles Times. “David Bohnett’s pledge was made in recognition of Borda’s successful tenure at the Phil. It will create the David C. Bohnett Presidential Chair and be used to underwrite at least part of the compensation of the orchestra’s current and future president and chief executives. Borda called the gift ‘an unexpected honor.’ ” The other $10 million will “launch the David C. Bohnett Presidential Fund for Discovery and Innovation. The fund is intended to aid the orchestra in new audience development, including the exploration of new digital platforms and applications. Bohnett, a Chicago native who has spent most of his adult life in L.A., founded the GeoCities website and sold it to Yahoo.… The Phil endows its music director position, held by Gustavo Dudamel, and creative chair for jazz, held by Herbie Hancock. It also endows 18 musician positions within the orchestra.”
Posted December 11, 2014
Pictured: Gustavo Dudamel conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Photo by Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times
