The Music School of Delaware unveiled the name for it’s new music wing, The Johann Sebastian Bach Music Wing. The addition was made possible through a donation by William J. Stegeman, a key donor and longtime adult student of the Music School.
Stegeman donated $100,000.00 to the Anthony G. Simmons Scholarship endowment at the Music School, and pledged $250,000 to match annual fund donations of at least $5,000. Over the past year, Stegeman has made donations to the Music School exceeding $1 million.
“I’m making this pledge to encourage others to give more generously.” Stegeman said of his donation. “More people and businesses must step up to perpetuate access to the excellence that is delivered by the Music School. I hope this incentive will encourage that.”
The Simmons endowment is named after a former faculty member and provides financial aid scholarships. The school budgets approximately $50,000 a year to support financial aid, and requests have been on the rise in recent years.
Board Treasurer Holly Lissner outlined key goals from the school’s Strategic Plan, completed in January 2016. A central objective is to increase contributed income to at least 50% of the school’s annual $2.4 million operating budget – currently, the school derives about 33% of its income from contributions and relies on tuition and fees for the balance. Additional strategic goals include renovation of the Music School’s Concert Hall and expanding the school’s footprint with additional regional locations.
Also announced were two new satellite locations the school has initiated – in Hockessin and in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania. In addition, the school’s Milford Branch will relocate to a new site in about a year when its present building lease ends. “We are grateful to our wonderful landlords, and we appreciate they have plans for their own business expansion.” said Music School President & CEO, Kate Ransom. She added: “It is our intention to keep this location in Milford; we hope to be able to announce a new site location in a few months.”
The school’s chief executive since 1999, Ransom noted that Stegeman’s gift is a remarkable demonstration of his passion and generosity for the future of the arts in the region, as well as a testament to the strength of the school’s Board and donor base.
Dr. William Stegeman is CEO and Senior Scientist of Jackson ImmunoResearch Laboratories, Inc., the company that he founded in 1982 with partner Ralph C. Hood, Jr. and two investors. He is a graduate of the University of Maine, University of Massachusetts, Rutgers University, and he was an NIH postdoctoral research fellow at Temple Medical School. Located in West Grove, PA, his company specializes in the production and conjugation of affinity-purified secondary antibodies and purified immunoglobulins. Dr. Stegeman has served on the Board of the Music School since 2010 and has been a student in violin and viola since 2001.
Founded in 1924, The Music School of Delaware reaches thousands of people from Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland through its instructional programs and performances. The Music School is the only nationally accredited program of its kind in Delaware and is the only statewide accredited community music school in the nation. The Music School offers standard-setting instructional programs for all ages and has a faculty of nearly 100 expert artists and educators with branch locations in Wilmington and Milford and over 20 satellite and outreach sites statewide and in PA.
For more information, please call the Wilmington Branch at (302) 762-1132.
