Mary Mastrovich Adams Scholarship recipients with foundation trustee Halsey Halls (center) at the award dinner Oct. 7 in University Hall. From left, Joseph Dhanens, Nathan Aderhold, Daniel Dangca, Ryan Peterson, Katie Rose Sanfilippo, Katie Brockert, Caryn Johnson, Amanda Sorensen.
The College of Communication and Fine Arts has received a $300,000 commitment from the Adams-Mastrovich Family Foundation to support Loyola Marymount University choruses, music students and choral activities.
The pledge includes a gift this year of $100,000 as the first installment on the three-year commitment to endow scholarships and support the choral music program at LMU. The foundation is a longtime friend of CFA and provided significant support for the combined choruses summer tour to Italy that culminated in a performance at the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. (A full report on the tour, with a photo slide show of the trip and concerts, is one of the featured reports in this newsletter.)
Barbara Busse, dean of the College of Communication and Fine Arts, acknowledged the foundation’s generosity and role in the Italy tour in a personal letter sent in July to Halsey H. Halls, president of the Adams-Mastrovich Family Foundation.
We are still glowing with pride over our Italian tour, said Busse, describing the trip as “absolutely spectacular” with the choruses “performing in some of the world’s most beautiful churches, with concerts and Masses of such beauty, I was breathless!” Busse thanked Halls personally during his visit to campus this fall to meet students who have benefited from the foundation’s generosity. She called the Adams-Mastrovich foundation support “instrumental in allowing us to continue to make incredible music for appreciative audiences.”
The foundation’s funding of LMU activities is nothing new. Mary Mastrovich Adams began her philanthropic relationship with LMU in the 1980s. The late Fr. Donald P. Merrifield, S.J., former LMU president, became her close friend and spiritual advisor in her final years. She died in 1993, at the age of 95. Mary Adams’ belief in students who “demonstrate promise” and her love of music have been hallmarks of the legacy she leaves at LMU, said Busse.
In the past several decades, Ms.Adams and her foundation have made contributions totaling $2.2 million to LMU, of which more than $1 million has been directed to CFA. These funds have created the Mary Mastrovich Adams Endowed Scholarship, the Adams-Mastrovich Fund for Choral Programs and the Adams-Mastrovich Endowed Choral Fund. This year’s $100,000 contribution was split among the three funds, with half of the money going to the scholarship endowment.
Since the 1981-82 academic year, 396 students have received a Mary Mastrovich Adams Endowed Scholarship. Recipients must “exhibit musical ability as well as commitment and dedication to the high standards for which the choral ensembles are known.” A majority of the recipients are music majors, but all recipients exhibit a common love of music and a talent for singing, said Busse. The grantees must maintain a 3.0 grade point average and have demonstrated financial need.
The choral endowment and separate fund for choral programs help support the 80-voice Concert Choir, the 25- to 35-voice Women’s Chorus and the advanced Consort Singers. Mary C. Breden, director of choral activities and chair of the Department of Music, guides the choral programs at LMU.
In addition to choral tours around the United States, concert performances are presented each semester in Sacred Heart Chapel. The highlights include the Gala Christmas Concert, the Spring Chorale and the annual Spring Tour.
