Today, the Toledo Symphony League (TSL) announced its 70^th anniversary providing financial, educational, and volunteer support to the Toledo Symphony Orchestra (TSO) and various branches of the organization, particularly the Toledo Symphony Youth Orchestras (TSYO) through its Remembrance Scholarship Fund.

In 1952, Miss Sophie Lustig suggested a fund that would accumulate money for scholarships for students of orchestral instruments. Now known as the Toledo Symphony Youth Orchestras, Miss Lustig was in charge of the funds until 1957 when Florence Miller, a TSO violinist and president of the Auxiliary (now the TSL), appointed Elizabeth Gould to manage the fund. Florence then administered the Fund from 1960 to 1980, followed by Alda Haddad (retired in 2005) and Janet Keener (retired in 2021) who passionately and effectively continued to assume leadership responsibilities. 

“After retiring from being a Toledo Public Schools music teacher at Harvard Elementary for 35 years, I wanted to continue being involved with music and students. I was overwhelmed when the perfect fit for that need came true,” says Keener. “Alda Haddad asked me to chair the TSL’s RSF Committee, and soon after that (in 2007), the RSF received three very large, endowed donations which allowed the number and amounts of scholarships to increase as the youth orchestras grew. I’ve enjoyed all the years that I was involved. It was a wonderful and rewarding experience!”

The RSF includes named scholarship funds in memory or honor of people, many who have been associated with the TSYO over the years as well as other funds. Scholarships are granted to TSYO students annually and must be used towards music-related needs, including private lessons, new instruments, tuition, and more. Since its formation, the TSL has awarded over $292,000 to over 1,300 TSYO students. This year’s award winners will be announced at the TSYO’s annual Pops Concert on Sunday, May 1 at Bowling Green State University’s Kobacker Hall, free and open to the public. Thirty-eight students will receive over $22,000 at the concert.

“I first heard about Toledo Symphony League’s Remembrance Scholarship Fund soon after my husband, Gordon, was named CEO of the Toledo Symphony in 1969, and our family moved to Toledo,” says Dorothy Coats, Acting Chairperson of the RSF Committee. “Several members of the Central Catholic High School Orchestra, which I conducted, were members of the TSYO and received RSF awards. That awareness and involvement continued to grow during my tenure as an instrumental music teacher with the Toledo Public Schools and the formation of the Toledo Junior Youth Orchestra. Over the years, many of my students from Byrnedale Junior High School were members of TJYO and received RSF awards.

“After retiring, I became more involved with the Youth Orchestras, the TSL, and its RSF Committee,” continues Coats. “It is extremely gratifying and rewarding to have witnessed over fifty years of growth and development of the TSYO and RSF and to think of the countless lives these wonderful institutions have touched!”

The Toledo Symphony League’s mission is to provide financial, educational, and volunteer support to the Toledo Symphony Orchestra so that it may provide quality musical performances for the entire community. For more information on the Toledo Symphony League or the Remembrance Scholarship Fund, please contact Liz Villarreal-Rowe, Vice President of Scholarships, Awards, and Grants for the Toledo Symphony League at 419.870.1434.

ABOUT TOLEDO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

The Toledo Symphony Orchestra is a community-supported organization of professional musicians and teachers who deliver quality performance and music education for all.

Formed in 1943 as The Friends of Music and incorporated in 1951 as the Toledo Orchestra Association, Inc., the Toledo Symphony Orchestra (TSO) has grown from a core group of twenty-two part-time musicians to a regional orchestra that employs sixty-nine professional musicians who consider the Toledo Symphony their primary employer, as well as numerous extra players annually as repertoire demands.

On January 1, 2019, the Toledo Symphony and Toledo Ballet officially merged to form the Toledo Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA), a new non-profit organization dedicated to providing exceptional live music and dance performances and education for the region. This partnership promises to create new and invigorating programs, provide cost and revenue synergies in operations, and integrate the arts through shared educational missions.

The Toledo Symphony reaches more than 260,000 individuals annually through performances and education programs. The series concerts (Masterworks, Pops, Chamber series) are the critical underpinning of the orchestra’s artistic mission and regularly draw people from 135 postal zip codes. Education programs, student performances, and community concerts are held in schools, neighborhood churches, performing arts centers, and community facilities throughout the region; many are offered at no charge or provided at a reduced fee to help expand participation.