Anonymous donor gives Sarasota Orchestra $50 million

The Sarasota Orchestra recently received a $50 million boost toward a capital campaign for its planned Music Center on its 32-acre site at 5701 Fruitville Road, just west of Interstate 75. 

A  long-time benefactor, who wishes to remain anonymous, had previously donated $10 million to help the orchestra to purchase the land at a cost of $14 million. The five-fold follow-up donation is intended as a catalyst to raise the money needed to build the new facility, currently estimated at $375 million to $425 million.

Expected to open in the 2029-30 season, the Sarasota Orchestra Music Center is under design to include a flexible-use performance space, multiple rehearsal and practice rooms and native landscaping to ensure a resilient and park-like setting. The facilities will add capacity for Sarasota Orchestra and other regional performing arts organizations that are challenged to secure performance and rehearsal dates. 

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“A lot of times donors will have questions about the project,” Sarasota Orchestra President and CEO Joe McKenna told yourobserver.com, sister publication of the Business Observer. “In this case, this anonymous donor felt that it was important to make a statement that this vision should go forward and that they have a lot of confidence and credibility in the organization.”

The Sarasota Orchestra Music Center will elevate the region’s reputation among world-class arts destinations, according to a news release. 

McKenna says while a capital campaign to raise funds for construction will not begin in earnest until the concept design of the Music Center is revealed, which is scheduled to occur by the end of March, the orchestra is in an “active early phase" of speaking with potential donors.

"We now have a significant leadership gift, which signals to others that this vision is a good one; and it deserves to be supported,” McKenna says. “We’re talking to numerous donors and that work will be ongoing over the months ahead. This is what I would describe as a breakthrough moment. This is a significant gift, probably in the top five largest gifts ever to an American orchestra, so that puts us in a very special place.”

Conceptual design of the Music Center is underway by a team of architects and engineers led by acoustician and theater planned Stages Consultants; architect firms William Rawn Associates and HKS, and landscape architect OJB Landscape Architecture. Once that conceptual plan is completed, a more refined project estimate cost will be made.

“That's all coming along. These projects are journeys and they're a marathon, not a sprint,” McKenna says. “Clearly we’ve passed a big mile marker with this extraordinary gift. A gift of this size and scope is a really powerful statement about our community, about our organization and about the belief in the future for what we will provide to the region.”

Among the available philanthropic opportunities for the capital campaign, McKenna says, are naming rights for specific aspects of Music Center facilities and programs 

“These projects have naming rights opportunities and donors making leadership gifts are interested in where they might place their legacy,” McKenna says. “Some prefer to place their legacy in education or toward the music festival or the orchestra itself. Some are really interested in making sure the endowment grows.”

This article originally appeared on sister site YourObserver.com.