{"id":99727,"date":"2023-10-17T10:19:10","date_gmt":"2023-10-17T14:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=99727"},"modified":"2023-10-17T10:19:10","modified_gmt":"2023-10-17T14:19:10","slug":"scoop-beck-familys-giving-tso-tops-50-million-contributing-yearly-surplus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2023\/10\/17\/scoop-beck-familys-giving-tso-tops-50-million-contributing-yearly-surplus\/","title":{"rendered":"THE SCOOP | Beck Family\u2019s Giving To TSO Tops Up At $50 Million, Contributing To Yearly Surplus"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Beck
Beck Family CEO Mark Williams thanks the Beck Family for their historic gift at the morning orchestra rehearsal (Photo: Allan Cabral)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Toronto Symphony Orchestra CEO Mark Williams announced a historic gift from the Estate of H. Thomas and Mary Beck amounting to $14.7 million. The recent gift brings the total donated to the TSO from Thomas and Mary Beck, and subsequently their estate, to an unprecedented $50 million.<\/p>\n

The announcement took place at the Annual General Meeting of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra on the afternoon of October 16. It\u2019s the largest cumulative gift the orchestra has ever received.<\/p>\n

As Williams announced, the gift contributed to the TSO\u2019s 2023 fiscal year surplus.<\/p>\n

Tom and Mary Beck<\/h3>\n

Tom and Mary Beck first began their involvement with the TSO shortly after arriving in Toronto from Europe as newlyweds. They became subscribers and donors. Tom served as TSO Board member for 22 years, and was Chair in the early 1980s.<\/p>\n

Mary would host many musicians at the Beck home over the years, and was well known to the orchestra\u2019s members. In 2008, the couple created the endowment for the Tom Beck Concertmaster Chair, and in 2015, Tom was made one of the TSO\u2019s first honorary musicians. In 2020, Mary was named the Musicians\u2019 Patron in perpetuity.<\/p>\n

After Tom passed away in 2016, and Mary in 2018, their estate gave the TSO a $10-million gift, the largest ever at the time. The estate is managed by the couple\u2019s children, Anthony, Catherine, and Liddy. Catherine is a member of the TSO Board of Directors as Chair.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn behalf of my brother, my sister, and myself, I would like to express how deeply proud we are that the TSO\u2019s Principal Oboe Chair and CEO position will be endowed in our family\u2019s name, in addition to the Tom Beck Concertmaster Chair,\u201d said Catherine Beck.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a great privilege to continue my parents\u2019 legacy of support. We strongly believe, as they did, that a fantastic city like Toronto deserves a fantastic orchestra \u2014 and the TSO is precisely that. Over the years, through its superb artistry, inspiring resilience, and profound impact, both inside and outside the concert hall, it has proven itself to be a strong and vital cultural leader worthy of recognition. We hope that, in playing our part, we may inspire others to similarly invest in the future of the institution that means so much to us and to this community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"L-R:
L-R: Mary and Tom Beck (Photo courtesy of the TSO); TSO Music Director Gustavo Gimeno thanks the Beck Family for their historic gift at the morning orchestra rehearsal (Photo: Allan Cabral)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Beck legacy<\/h3>\n

Funds from the couple and the Beck Family estate have been used judiciously by the TSO to support operations during a particularly critical time in the history of the performing arts. The funding has been used for touring, audience development, education and other functions, and ensures their support for years to come.<\/p>\n

In recognition of the gift, the TSO has established two new endowments: the Cathy and Liddy Beck Principal Oboe Chair, and the Beck Family Chief Executive Officer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Beck Family\u2019s long-standing commitment to this city has been exemplified by their unwavering support of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and our mission to serve this community with extraordinary and meaningful musical experiences,\u201d said Mark Williams in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir contributions to the TSO significantly amplify our reach and ability to bring music to Toronto\u2019s diverse communities and to those who need it the most. I feel a deep sense of gratitude for the support of the Beck Family, whose exceptional generosity has now exceeded $50 million in donations in support of the TSO \u2014 the largest cumulative gift we have ever been given. Personally, I am honoured that, as a part of this legacy, I will be the inaugural Beck Family Chief Executive Officer of the TSO. The Beck Family has been incredibly generous in every conceivable way \u2014 our dearest friend and truest ally \u2014 and I deeply value the confidence that they have placed in the TSO to be a home for every Torontonian, for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know I speak for every musician in the orchestra when I say that the Beck Family is our family \u2014 they are our greatest champions and also very dear friends,\u201d said Sarah Jeffrey, the inaugural holder of the Cathy and Liddy Beck Principal Oboe Chair. \u201cTheir enduring support has helped to strengthen us, both as an ensemble and as individuals, and their deep affection for classical music and the art of performance has always been felt and appreciated by all of us on stage. I am sincerely grateful to Cathy and Liddy, and I am incredibly proud to now occupy an orchestra chair named in their honour.\u201d<\/p>\n

An operating surplus<\/h3>\n

The TSO\u2019s operations for the 2023 fiscal year (ending in June) resulted in a surplus of about $30K, due to the Beck Family\u2019s generosity, as well as that of thousands of other supporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeading the Toronto Symphony Orchestra during its Centennial was, without question, one of the most magnificent experiences of my career to date,\u201d said TSO Music Director Gustavo Gimeno.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 2022\/23 season embodied the very philosophy that guides my programming \u2014 namely, that something wondrous occurs when the well-established and the thrillingly novel come together. Indeed, the most notable moments of our year-long celebration paid tribute to our storied past while simultaneously breaking new ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Toronto Symphony Orchestra CEO Mark Williams announced a historic gift from the Estate of H. Thomas and Mary Beck amounting to $14.7 million.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":99728,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[40430,39646,39,63],"tags":[40811,40812,38206,5644],"yst_prominent_words":[32060,6825],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/10\/Copy-of-NEWS-2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-pWv","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99727"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99727"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99727\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99730,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99727\/revisions\/99730"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99727"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=99727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}