Bassoonist and chamber music proponent Anthony “Tony” Checchia passed away on September 7, 2024 in Philadelphia. A graduate of Curtis Institute in 1951, Checchia served in the U.S. Navy Band and performed with the Baltimore Symphony and New York City Ballet. It was when he and co-founder Philip Maneval noticed a lack of a chamber…
Henderson “Woozy” Supplee III with previous Executive Director Mariel Frank at her retirement party. The Presser Foundation is saddened to share that Henderson “Woozy” Supplee III, long-time Trustee and former President of the Foundation, died on August 23, 2022. Woozy joined the Board in 1973 and served for more than 40 years until June 2014.…
Long-time Presser Foundation Trustee Robert W. Denious passed away on September 4, 2021. We received the news with deep sadness as Bob was a valued and congenial colleague in service of the musical and philanthropic vision of Theodore Presser. Bob served for nearly two decades as a loyal member of the Presser Board and had been elected…
It is with a profound sense of sadness and loss that we received word that long-time Trustee and former President of the Board of Trustees, Lucinda “Cindy” Landreth lost her battle with illness on Sunday, January 31, 2021. Shared by her family, “The Presser Foundation was at the top of her non-profit involvements. She loved…
It is with great sadness that I report the passing of Thomas M. Hyndman, Jr., long time Presser Foundation Board Member and Officer. Tom’s tenure on the Presser Board began in 1959, and extended almost six decades. Even after becoming an emeritus board member he remained interested and involved in board committee activity until very…
It is with sadness, yet with gratitude and appreciation for her long life and all that she accomplished on behalf of others, that we lament the loss of our former leader, Edith A. Reinhardt. Edith was President of The Presser Foundation and her philanthropic work, particularly but not entirely, among music organizations is legendary. She…
Our beloved Board member and one of the great musical artists and teachers in the field of organ performance, Michael Stairs, passed away on August 11, 2018. Michael, beyond his artistry as a musician, was a man of sterling character. He exemplified truly exceptional human qualities of modesty and compassion for others. He brought these…
It’s not every day that the arts community gets together to talk about a set of principles. But if you listened between the lines last Sunday at the Perelman Theater, that’s what was happening at the memorial for Robert Capanna. The event shouldn’t have been happening at all, said one speaker. But happening it was:…