“Nina Baroness von Maltzahn, who steps down at the end of the month as the Curtis Institute of Music’s board chair, has made a grand parting gesture: A $55 million one,” writes Peter Dobrin in Thursday’s (5/12) Philadelphia Inquirer. “Maltzahn’s donation is the largest single gift Curtis has received since Mary Louise Curtis Bok established the school as tuition-free in 1928…. Said Curtis president Roberto Díaz: ‘It is such an incredible vote of confidence.’ The money will go into the Curtis endowment [to set] the stage for a fund-raising campaign to underwrite programs and ensure the endowment is of a sufficient size to keep the school tuition-free…. Curtis will recognize the largesse by naming two key initiatives in her honor: the Nina von Maltzahn String Quartet Program; and Curtis on Tour, the Nina von Maltzahn Global Touring Initiative…. ‘I just love this place,’ said … Maltzahn, who describes her arrival to the Curtis family—first to the board of overseers in 2008, and then the board of trustees in 2010—as love at first sight…. The school undertakes a new strategic plan that calls for raising several hundred million dollars by Curtis’ centenary in 2024.”
Posted May 12, 2016
