Almost two decades after the money for it was donated, a world-class organ can finally be built. The largest donation in the history of the College of Music and Dramatic Arts is making dreams come true for University opera students.
The $4 million donation, by John Turner and Jerry Fischer will create the John G. Turner and Jerry G. Fischer Center for Opera at LSU. Turner and Fischer, supporters of many different art programs worldwide, including Germany and London, have also donated to around 20 initiatives in the College of Music and Dramatic Arts, as well as created several funds specifically for the University’s Opera program.
While their donation will renovate the LSU School of Music Opera Hall, it also means Paula Manship’s 1999 donation of $1 million can finally be used. Manship’s donation, intended to create a world-class organ, couldn’t be implemented because the hall required massive structural changes and there was no space available to house an organ of that size.
Cullen Sadler, Marketing Coordinator for the LSU College of Music and Dramatic Arts said that the donation is really going to help the opera program’s standing.
“With John and Jerry’s gift, we’re finally able to realize Paula Manship’s vision of creating a world class concert organ here,” Sadler said. “It’s a very complex and lengthy process to build one, and I think it’s something that will set our venue apart from any others.”
While the college is still figuring out how to implement its ideas, they think things will progress very quickly, especially in regards to the opera program’s scope. Right now, the University’s opera program puts on three to four full-scale opera productions a year. With the donation, Sadler said he feels these productions will be enriched.
“I don’t think it was ever a case where the opera was running out of money, but this has enabled us to be way more flexible in the future,” Sadler said. “As the art form evolves and as we seek to engage in new projects, and opera itself as a medium has started to change and evolve in the modern era, so this endowment, this wonderful donation, gives us the flexibility we need to continue our excellence into the future.”
The opera program, one of the first major university programs in the U.S., was established in 1931. Sadler said that he thinks the donation proves that the arts are alive and well. He also said he thinks it shows there are people who value the arts as a tool for education, as well as cultural enrichment.
“We couldn’t be more excited or more grateful that it’s happened,” Sadler said.
