$1M gift, endowed chair are music to TSO's ears

Tucson Symphony Orchestra has added $1 million to its 10-year-old endowment fund and created the first endowed chair in the orchestra’s 87-year history.

The two moves are courtesy of sizable gifts that came this summer.

• The orchestra in late June received the final payment of a $1 million gift from the estate of William R. Matthews Jr. that will be added to the endowment fund, which TSO officials estimated is around $4 million. Matthews’ heirs announced the estate gift in 2014.

• The TSO also received a $400,000 donation from the Connie Hillman Family Foundation to endow the principal trumpet chair in perpetuity. That fund will be invested and revenues will be used to underwrite part of the principal trumpet salary, said TSO President and CEO Mark Blakeman. “That will have a real impact on the bottom line of the organization, but what I think is really exciting about it is the way in which they chose to invest in the TSO,” Blakeman said. “They want to invest in the musicians.”

Conrad Jones, the principal trumpet player since the 2013-14 season, is the first recipient of the Connie Hillman Family Foundation endowed chair.

The foundation is hoping the gift will serve as “an example for other people that may want to similarly endow a chair,” said foundation spokesman Larry Adamson.

Blakeman said the TSO is joining that effort by launching its “Partner With a Player” program to encourage donors to support individual musicians. Donors will sign on to support a specific musician for a season and will get unique perks with their gift, including having their name attached to the seat and a chance to sit onstage next to the musician during rehearsals as well as for a portion of a concert, Blakeman said.

“It really builds a bridge, and makes it a really personal and unique opportunity for the donors to get to know someone in the orchestra,” he said.

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Connie Hillman, the daughter of a businessman, moved to Tucson in 2000 and was a fan of the city’s arts and culture. Hillman died in 2011 at the age of 59.

“Connie had an interest in the arts in Tucson, and wanted to set an example of what people can do. All of the support will be spent in Tucson,” Adamson said. “She was a very quiet, reserved person, and probably would cringe if she knew her name was being put out there.”

The foundation was established 2½ years ago, and is valued at about $10 million, according to the organization’s 2013 federal tax forms.

Adamson said the TSO gift is the foundation’s largest to date. Other benefactors have included the Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona, the Tucson Museum of Art and the St. Luke’s Home.

In addition to the endowed chair, the Connie Hillman Family Foundation last season sponsored the TSO concert with guest violinist Pinchas Zukerman and his pianist wife Amanda Forsyth. This season, the foundation is sponsoring pianist André Watts’ performance of Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 2 with TSO in February.

“The plan is to be a supporter of a major artist each year,” Adamson said. “The initial discussion was being able to do something special, i.e. support some major performer in Tucson.

“We get great guest artists, but they are not necessarily the biggest names. The idea was to help (TSO) annually to bring in a major artist.”