Music School to celebrate donations

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logo3The Music School of Delaware’s Board Chair, David C. McBride, announced that board member, key donor, and long-time adult student, Dr. William J. Stegeman, has donated $100,000 to the Music School’s Anthony G. Simmons Scholarship Fund,

Also, Stegeman has pledged a match of up to $250,000 for major gifts of $5,000 or more to the school’s annual campaign.

On Saturday,  a press conference and unveiling will be held at the Music School’s Wilmington Branch to announce the name of its new Music Wing – chosen by Stegeman.

Stegeman said of his donation: “I did this to perpetuate access to the Music School’s excellence. My donation is in honor of Kate Ransom – the school’s CEO for the past 16 years – and her devotion to the pursuit of excellence; advancement of the school and its mission; and commitment to high-quality music education for all.”

McBride linked Stegeman’s gifts to goals in the school’s new strategic plan that includes bolstering the fiscal model and regional expansion.  He noted that increasing contributed income to at least 50 percent of the school’s operating budget is essential to its fiscal health.

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The school’s annual operating budget is about  $2.4 million. Currently, the school garners about 33 percent of its income from contributions, with tuition and fees filling the balance.

“The Music School continues to be an excellent resource to our region, with recently opened locations in Hockessin and Lansdowne, PA,  and a soon-to-be-announced new Milford Branch location. Dr. Stegeman’s contributions support these initiatives, and his vote of confidence challenges everyone to support the Music School’s leadership role in promoting the future of the arts in our region.”

.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. 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 more than  100 public performances each year.  Further information is available at musicschoolofdelaware.org.

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