The Fred Fox School of Music at the University of Arizona received a $2 million donation Wednesday to endow its Graduate String Quartet.
It is the second multimillion-dollar gift to the school since February, when Alan and Daveen Fox gave $20 million in horn player Fred Fox’s honor. Fred Fox is Alan’s father and has a long relationship with the school and UA horn professor Daniel Katzen.
Wednesday’s gift came from retired businessman Sheldon Danielson, who designated that $1.5 million be used for the Graduate String Quartet and to add a double-bass player into the mix; and $500,000 go to fund the established endowment for the Jeffrey Haskell Recording Studio. Money generated from the fund will be used to maintain, upgrade and purchase equipment used for recordings by UA music students.
Danielson is a retired businessman who has worked in electronics, physics and other fields, said Fred Fox School of Music Director Ed Reid. He also had taken writing classes at the UA.
“He enjoys the arts and likes what we do and started being a patron” late last year, Reid said. “I think it’s a testament to the faculty, staff and students when people see what we’re doing and how hard we’re working and the product that’s coming out of here from the sleepy little town of Tucson. They are seeing something remarkable.”
The $500,000 added to the Haskell Recording Studio endowment brings that fund closer to Reid’s $1 million goal. It now has just over $600,000, he said.
