$20 Million Gift to Music Faculty

Posted by Sarah Canice Funke May 24, 2008

It may be a long-standing joke that the football teams and the science/business departments are the ones that get all the money at universities, while the musicians languish in the basement. However, that sorry tale is no more. The University of Manitoba has recently received a hefty $20 million gift just for its music department.

The donor, Manitoba businessman and alumnus Marcel A. Desautels, wanted to put his money where his heart was, and his passion led him to give his alma mater its largest gift ever. Although Desautels made his fortune in the credit industry, he had once considered a career in opera.

To be paid out over the course of five years, the $20 million will bolster the music department and the students it can support. Half will go toward building a new department and the other half will help create more scholarships. Not only will more students be able to attend the university, but they will have better facilities when they get there.

The faculty at the University of Manitoba have big dreams for the money. Steve Kirby, who heads the jazz program, wants to see his program become a serious competitor of the Juilliard School of Music's Institute for Jazz Studies.

For more information, please read the CBC News article.