Irish spinster leaves €5.5m to Edinburgh Festival
This donation has to be applauded as having been to the festival a number of times I have to say it is amongst the best cultural events I have ever been a part of. Well done Lean!!
From the Irish Times:-
A Dublin spinster has stunned the organisers of the Edinburgh International Festival by bequeathing it €5.5m to help support young artists. It is the single biggest gift in the festival’s 47-year history.
Lean Scully, a veteran public relations consultant who died aged 72 last year, religiously attended the internationally renowned festival for more than a decade. She was a well-known face at its classical concerts and had promised staff she would “see you right when I’m gone”.
But the bequest still came as a shock.
“This is the type of bequest arts organisations dream about,” said Sir Brian McMaster, director of the festival, which officially opens today. “Lean’s been a regular visitor for the last 10 years. She was very passionate about the arts.”
The legacy was from the sale of two homes next to one another on Leeson Park in Ranelagh, one of Dublin’s most upmarket streets. Scully left instructions that the money be invested in a trust, which will yield €223,000 a year in interest to the festival “to support the careers of young artists”.
“She left us the residue of her estate, after gifts to friends, which is two Dublin homes,” said McMaster. “Of course, property values in Dublin have rocketed over the past few years so the homes were worth quite a lot of money.
“She was a lovely person but we had no idea of her wealth, she didn’t flaunt it. She had a wonderful turn of phrase. Some said she was lonely but she was a big partygoer, she loved to have a drink.”
This year the legacy is helping to pay for the appearance of the pianist Llyr Williams with the Minnesota Orchestra, and a staging of Schumann’s Manfred, which features several young artists performing with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
The extra cash will be welcomed — the festival has an £8m (€12m) budget, but reported a £1m deficit earlier this year.
From the Irish Times:-
A Dublin spinster has stunned the organisers of the Edinburgh International Festival by bequeathing it €5.5m to help support young artists. It is the single biggest gift in the festival’s 47-year history.
Lean Scully, a veteran public relations consultant who died aged 72 last year, religiously attended the internationally renowned festival for more than a decade. She was a well-known face at its classical concerts and had promised staff she would “see you right when I’m gone”.
But the bequest still came as a shock.
“This is the type of bequest arts organisations dream about,” said Sir Brian McMaster, director of the festival, which officially opens today. “Lean’s been a regular visitor for the last 10 years. She was very passionate about the arts.”
The legacy was from the sale of two homes next to one another on Leeson Park in Ranelagh, one of Dublin’s most upmarket streets. Scully left instructions that the money be invested in a trust, which will yield €223,000 a year in interest to the festival “to support the careers of young artists”.
“She left us the residue of her estate, after gifts to friends, which is two Dublin homes,” said McMaster. “Of course, property values in Dublin have rocketed over the past few years so the homes were worth quite a lot of money.
“She was a lovely person but we had no idea of her wealth, she didn’t flaunt it. She had a wonderful turn of phrase. Some said she was lonely but she was a big partygoer, she loved to have a drink.”
This year the legacy is helping to pay for the appearance of the pianist Llyr Williams with the Minnesota Orchestra, and a staging of Schumann’s Manfred, which features several young artists performing with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
The extra cash will be welcomed — the festival has an £8m (€12m) budget, but reported a £1m deficit earlier this year.
posted by davem at 6:39 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home