UNIVERSITY PARK – Dotty and Paul Rigby, longtime supporters of the arts in State College, have created a $150,000 charitable gift annuity that will provide equal support for the Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State and Music at Penn’s Woods.
The Dotty and Paul Rigby Classical Music Endowment will support classical music programming at the Center for the Performing Arts, and the Dotty and Paul Rigby Program Endowment will fund Music at Penn’s Woods programs in Penn State’s School of Music.
“Dotty and Paul Rigby are passionate supporters of classical music,” said George Trudeau, director of the Center for the Performing Arts. “The endowment at the Center for the Performing Arts will ensure their support will continue as a legacy to their commitment and interest in our classical music programs.”
Sue Haug, director of the School of Music, echoed those sentiments. “Their enthusiastic support and leadership with Music at Penn’s Woods was essential to the rebirth of this festival four years ago. Their confidence in us and their enthusiasm for classical music is a great gift, and we are thrilled to be able to offer them and the community a wonderful summer classical music festival.”
The Rigbys are members of the Center for the Performing Arts at the Director’s Circle level and annually sponsor classical music presentations. During the 2011-12 season, the Rigbys are sponsoring the center’s presentation of the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra.
They served on the Center for the Performing Arts Community Advisory Council from 1994 to 2000. In 2008, Dotty Rigby rejoined the council.
The Rigbys served as co-chairs of the first Music at Penn’s Woods Advisory Council and have remained among the festival’s most active donors and volunteers by raising funds, hosting the annual donor recognition reception and sponsoring the orchestra concerts.
The latest gift demonstrates the couple’s generosity and dedication to Penn State and the community, said Barbara O. Korner, dean of Penn State’s College of Arts and Architecture.
“The Center for the Performing Arts and Music at Penn’s Woods have already benefited from the Rigby’s contributions, and now their name will be connected to those organizations for years to come,” Korner said.
A charitable gift annuity, which requires a minimum contribution of $10,000, enables a person to give a donation to a Penn State program of his or her choice and continue to receive a guaranteed and fixed income from the university. Upon the donor’s death, the remainder of the annuity goes into the endowment and the funds can be put to use. The annuity donor must be at least 60, but other endowment options are available for younger people.