Sarasota Orchestra picks up $10M gift

Longtime Sarasota Orchestra supporters Jack and Priscilla Schlegel have made a $10 million gift to the organization — coming three months after it received an anonymous $50 million gift. The funds are set to go toward the orchestra’s planned Music Center on its 32-acre site at 5701 Fruitville Road.

The Schlegels. who relocated from Washington, D.C., to Sarasota in 1998, have been active supporters of the local arts community for more than two decades, according to a statement. They are regular attendees at Sarasota Orchestra performances. 

“Over the past 25 years, we have witnessed Sarasota Orchestra transform into a fully professional orchestra that is rapidly becoming one of the best regional orchestras in the country,” the Schlegels say in the statement. “The last two Music Director appointments and the purchase of the Music Center site have inspired us to be ‘all in’ with our support. We believe these milestones will place both Sarasota and the Orchestra, with its new concert hall, on the map as a premier cultural destination.”