Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Wilmington, N.C. - For the second time this semester, the University of North Carolina Wilmington Department of Music has received a $1 million endowment.

The endowment, created by a donor who wishes to remain anonymous, supports student scholarships and provides funds for other music department expenses, such as recruiting guest artists and maintaining performance and practice spaces. The university has named the Beckwith Recital Hall, the state-of-the-art music performance venue in the Cultural Arts Building, in recognition of the gift.

"The impact of this gift will be mainly felt in scholarship support for music students," according to Frank Bongiorno, chair of the music department. "We will be able to provide four times the scholarship support for students with this gift than we can with our current scholarships. The more scholarships we offer, the more competitive we are in attracting the best and brightest students."

In August, the C.D. Spangler Foundation of Charlotte, N.C. granted $667,000 to UNC Wilmington to establish the Thomas S. Kenan III Distinguished Professor of Jazz in the Department of Music. With a $333,000 match from the state, the professorship in jazz will be endowed at $1 million, the first such professorship in the Department of Music. The position will be used to recruit a nationally/ internationally recognized jazz performer and teacher specializing on a jazz rhythm section instrument, such as piano, bass or drums.

In October, the music department also received a significant gift from Ann Skiba, UNCW Board of Visitors member, to establish the Jazz Festival Endowment in memory of her husband Günther, a jazz aficionado. The Skiba Jazz Rehearsal room in the Cultural Arts Building is named in his memory.

"These gifts recognize the success the music department has had, and position our students and faculty to achieve even more as musical scholars and performers," Bongiorno said. "The latest endowment will allow us to offer much-needed scholarships to our students, the Günther Skiba endowment will support our annual guest artist jazz festival and our commitment to educational outreach in the state, and the Thomas S. Kenan III Distinguished Professor of Jazz will fund our national/international educational presence in jazz.

"Each of these significant gifts will allow the UNCW Department of Music to further develop its mission and activities in the three major areas we emphasize: academic support for our students, cultural enrichment for UNCW and the Wilmington community, and educational outreach to southeastern North Carolina. We are very grateful to all of the donors involved for their generosity."

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For the media:

The first concert in the newly-dedicated Beckwith Recital Hall, scheduled for 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2007, will feature performances by music department honors students. The concert is free and open to the public.

Media contact:

Dana Fischetti, manager of news and media relations, 910.962.7259 or fischettid@uncw.edu.