“Capital Region arts and cultural organizations will reap a windfall of more than $9 million from the estate of Heinrich Medicus, the Swiss-born RPI physics professor and philanthropist who died in February,” writes Steve Barnes on Sunday’s (10/29) Times Union (Albany, NY). “The biggest bequest, of at least $7 million, goes to the Albany Symphony Orchestra, which Medicus patronized for many years, as an audience member and donor.… The will … specifies that $7 million go into the orchestra’s endowment. The symphony will also be the beneficiary of half of the undesignated residuals from Medicus’ estate.… The bequest prohibits the ASO from spending the principal sum, specifying that it be invested and proceeds used to fund orchestra operations and programs. The ASO’s annual budget is about $2.3 million; its previous endowment, about $500,000. ‘It was tremendously wonderful news,’ said Anna Kuwabara, ASO executive director. ‘The gift gives the symphony an incredibly solid foundation from which to expand.…’ The symphony will honor Medicus by naming its top artistic position, music director, in his honor. Longtime ASO conductor David Alan Miller, to whom Medicus was a close friend and artistic adviser, now holds the title Heinrich Medicus Music Director.”
Posted November 1, 2017
