EDITORIAL

Toledo Symphony worth a million

Patrons of the Toledo Symphony have long appreciated what a gem the orchestra is.

Patrons of the Toledo Symphony have long appreciated what a gem the orchestra is. Now one of them is demonstrating that appreciation with a very large contribution.

On Giving Tuesday, the annual charity-donation event the week after Thanksgiving, a donor pledged $1 million to the symphony. This comes in addition to the more than $35,000 in other donations the symphony received on that day.

RELATED: Toledo Symphony receives $1 million gift

The million-dollar gift will come in two $500,000 installments. Symphony President and CEO Zak Vassar said the orchestra will use the first installment for its operating budget. The second will be a dollar-for-dollar matching grant for the symphony’s 75th anniversary season.

Mr. Vassar said the gift demonstrated that Toledo is a community that values creativity, imagination, and curiosity.

The Toledo region does value those qualities and can appreciate the many ways the Toledo Symphony reflects them in its work.

Alain Trudel, the orchestra’s new music director and principal conductor, said when he arrived in Toledo that he plans to continue two important traditions as he takes the helm — offering the community varied and enriching experiences and involving  the symphony in music education in the region. Having the music director live here full-time is a huge feather in the cap of the orchestra.

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But there is no feather larger or more striking than a million-dollar gift from a local music lover.

Toledo’s cultural assets — the Toledo Museum of Art, the Toledo Zoo, Toledo Metroparks, and others — are often noted as being as good or better than analogous institutions in much larger, wealthier communities. The symphony is another jewel in Toledo’s crown. It needs and deserves the wide and deep support of this community.