UNC School of the Arts is closer to meeting its contractual obligations for establishing a $10 million endowment for its opera program.
The program, called the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute, was established in 2001 by the Fletcher Foundation in Raleigh. It is fast becoming one of the country's leading finishing schools for up-and-coming opera singers.
John Mauceri, UNCSA's chancellor, told the school's trustees Wednesday that the school has raised $3.5 million for the endowment. That leaves $1.5 million that must be raised by June 2013 under terms of the school's agreement with the foundation. Under the agreement, the school must raise $5 million — half of the $10 million matching gift that the foundation originally allocated for the institute. Half of Fletcher's $10 million gift goes toward the endowment, the rest toward operations.
"Many of our longtime supporters and a significant number of new supporters are showing their faith in us and their optimism in our future," Mauceri said.
Of the $3.5 million that the school has raised so far, $1 million will fund the institute's Malcolm and Patricia Brown Distinguished Professorship in Music. Vanstory Ward is the first recipient of the professorship, having joined the institute as a principal vocal coach and accompanist in 2003.
A quarter of the money needed for the professorship came from the Browns and from the proceeds of a concert recently given by Frederica von Stade, a star mezzo-soprano. The rest came from matching grants from the Spangler Foundation and the state.
School officials said that Mauceri secured permission from a donor to redirect a planned gift of $1 million to the institute's endowment.
KKeuffel@wsjournal.com
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