The Fort Collins Symphony in Colorado has received $120,000, the largest gift in its history, to benefit the Wilfred (Will) Schwartz Conductor’s Endowment Fund. The gift came from the estate of Dr. Karl Carson, the mayor of Fort Collins from 1968 to 1973, and his wife, Wilma Carson. The endowment is named for Wilfred Schwartz, who founded the Fort Collins Symphony in 1949 and served as its conductor for 50 years. In 1996, Karl and Wilma Carson established the Wilfred Schwartz Conductor’s Endowment Fund at the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado, to honor Schwartz. “The Symphony Board is honored that Dr. Tom Carson, Dan Carson, and LuAnn Carson Ball fulfilled their parents’ wish with this gift to help ensure the Fort Collins Symphony continues to flourish,” said Maury Dobbie, the orchestra’s board president, in a press release. Karl Carson died in 2007, and Wilma Carson died in 2014.
Posted September 11, 2015
