“Capping the celebration of its 100th anniversary, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music on Wednesday announced a gift of $46.4 million from the William K. Bowes, Jr. Foundation, among the largest donations ever to an American music school,” writes Thomas May in Wednesday’s (4/25) New York Times. “The gift will help fund construction of a $185 million, 12-story building on a site just south of San Francisco City Hall. Designed by Mark Cavagnero Associates and scheduled to open in 2020, it will include two concert halls, rehearsal spaces, high-tech studios and classrooms, and will provide housing for the student body.… Founded in 1917 by Ada Clement and Lillian Hodghead, the San Francisco Conservatory is the oldest independent music school on the West Coast, with luminaries like Yehudi Menuhin and Isaac Stern among the alumni of its youth program. While the school has long emphasized risk-taking and an expansive view of the field, [David H.] Stull has pushed it and its curriculum toward the future since becoming president in 2013. Its program in Technology and Applied Composition (TAC), which began offering courses in 2015, has been forging a new identity for the 21st-century composer.”
Posted April 25, 2018
Pictured: Rendering of the Ute and William K. Bowes, Jr. Center for Performing Arts at 200 Van Ness Avenue (view from the north)
