Vadasz Family Foundation Donates $500,000 to Green Music Center

Les and Judy Vadasz

Les and Judy Vadasz, through the Vadasz Family Foundation, have generously underwritten music education at Sonoma State University's Green Music Center with a $500,000 gift.

"We are confident that the Green Music Center will enhance the educational experience for our students, and are glad to be part of the community of supporters helping SSU achieve this goal," says Les Vadasz, retired co-founder of Intel Corp.

Because of their commitment to music and education, half of their $500,000 gift will go toward completing the music center and the other half to an endowment for student scholarships.

The Vadasz Family endowment fund supports lessons and individual practice scholarships for students with financial need. The endowment ensures that money will be available to students forever. The principal is banked and collects interest. That interest funds the scholarships.

In 1968, Les Vadasz was a member of Intel Corporation's founding team. He led design teams that developed some of the semi-conductor industry's most significant products.

Tuesday Tours

For those who have not yet had a tour (or who would like to take an update tour), Tuesday Tours have returned. Each Tuesday at 3:15 p.m., there are 40-minute tours of the Donald & Maureen Green Music Center. See the progress, ask questions and learn about what will take place once the Center opens.

Those interested should meet at 3:15 p.m. in the lobby of the Music Education Hall, across from the parking lot on the south end of the complex (up the stairs), rain or shine. Please remember to wear closed-toed shoes and dress for the weather. Please RSVP to Bonnie Cormier at bonnie.cormier@sonoma.edu or call 4-2158.

GREEN MUSIC CENTER

San Francisco-based Foundation Looks North to the Green Music Center

The Koret Foundation has awarded a $500,000 capital grant to Sonoma State University for construction Koret Foundationof the Donald & Maureen Green Music Center (GMC). The GMC, a $110 million project, joins a long list of premier Bay Area cultural institutions supported by Koret, including San Francisco’s new California Academy of Sciences, the M. H. de Young Museum and the Palace of Fine Arts. The Sonoma State University grant will be acknowledged with the naming of the Koret Entry Plaza at the GMC.

“In the San Francisco Bay Area, Koret adds to the region’s vitality in part by contributing to a diverse cultural landscape,” said Koret Board President Tad Taube. “A cultural gem like the Green Music Center helps vitalize the local economy, and so is a particularly important project during these challenging economic times.”

The GMC will comprise several buildings, including a centerpiece 1,400-seat concert hall; a 250-seat recital hall (named Schroeder’s Recital Hall by the wife of the late cartoonist Charles Schulz); a music education hall; and a hospitality suite/executive conference center. Expected to be one of the best concert venues in the world, the GMC was designed by William Rawn, architect for Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood in Massachusetts, which the Boston Symphony Orchestra calls home. Ozawa Hall’s acoustician Larry Kirkegaard was hired to ensure that the acoustics of the GMC match the level of excellence of Ozawa and other outstanding concerts halls throughout the world.

Green Music Center“The San Francisco Opera applauds Sonoma State and its community for building a concert facility of the quality of the Green Music Center. We hope to have the opportunity to perform in this wonderful venue,” said San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley.

Long recognized for its acclaimed world-class music hall, the remarkable classical and popular music contributions of the 81-year-old Santa Rosa Symphony, and its local musical community achievements, the GMC will add to Sonoma County’s reputation as a North Bay destination for music lovers.

“I have been fortunate to have performed in many of the greatest concert halls in the world, and I can say that the sound quality in the Green Music Center is the equal of such world-class venues as Boston Symphony Hall and the Musikverein in Vienna. The Green Center will offer the listener a connection to the performance which will only enhance the experience. The North Bay will soon have a musical voice heard throughout the world,” says John Engelkes, a trombonist with the San Francisco Symphony.

The university expects a positive economic impact on tourism, as fans who visit the GMC will then enjoy hotels, restaurants and wineries in Sonoma County. San Francisco’s proximity, with its flourishing arts and cultural scenes, makes the new music center at Sonoma State University a perfect destination for weekend or evening events.

“This significant grant from the Koret Foundation has come at a critical juncture in our ongoing fundraising efforts," said President Ruben Armiñana. "Koret’s show of support for the Green Music Center will encourage our other community partners to participate in this vital project for the region."

 

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