Create A Legacy

In 1894, a group of music lovers gathered in a stately home on Hillhouse Avenue and voted to guarantee the funding needed to form a symphony orchestra in their beloved city. Thus began New Haven’s reign as the cultural capital of Connecticut and the tradition of audiences helping to fund world-class music in their hometown. One initial “guarantor” was Henry Fowler English, grandfather of Richard English who continued the family’s 118 year-old tradition of supporting the NHSO. His annual gifts and endowed funds have provided crucial underwriting for the Symphony’s live performances and regional education programs.

Richard English was an arts patron, pianist, and philanthropist with a passion for music, birds, and the love of the New Haven community. Born in New Haven on March 5, 1935 he was the son of Philip and Katharine Dana English. He was descended from noted Yale scientist James Dwight Dana on his mother’s side and two Connecticut governors on his father’s side.

He was educated at The Foote School, Pomfret, Proctor Academy, Nichols College, Quinnipiac College, and the Neighborhood Music School. Mr. English was acknowledged as a fine musicologist and ornithologist. He was retired from The First New Haven National Bank and was a past President and longest-standing member of the New Haven Bird Club.

Classical music was part of his everyday life and this love blossomed into an impressive expertise that continued throughout his lifetime. This passion for music and affection for the New Haven community prompted Mr. English to leave a bequest establishing a fund at The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, supporting the NHSO. His generous donation will influence the success of the NHSO in incredible ways for generations to come.

Bob and Sandy Santy are two lifelong residents of Southern Connecticut always asking how they can give back to the community organizations they so love. Bob began his musical voyage through singing in kindergarten, progressively joining K-12 choirs, church choirs, and later as a young adult, experiencing the grandeur of the symphony orchestra while singing Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9 with the Norwalk Symphony. When the time came to raise a family, Bob promised Sandy he would restrain himself from being an overbearing father, except in one way: he wanted to make sure his children had an interest in music. He cultivated this love by playing music in the home constantly, encouraging their explorations with cello and saxophone lessons, and urging them to participate in their public school arts curricula.

Now, Bob is a professional in charge of the Connecticut Economic Resource Center, dedicated to advancing the state’s economic health and competitiveness. As a leader on many nonprofit boards, Bob knows what it takes to make Connecticut a great place to work, live, and thrive. “When I join something, I really immerse myself in it,” Bob states, “and for me, almost nothing is more meaningful than service to a music nonprofit like the New Haven Symphony Orchestra.”  Now a veteran member of our Board, Bob acknowledges how truly lucky New Haven is for all of its rich arts offerings, available on nearly every corner. But for Bob and his family, the NHSO is unique. Not only does the Symphony preserve an invaluable cultural tradition, but your NHSO blazes new trails as well with programs such as last year’s educational residency with Daniel Bernard Roumain.

As much as Bob and Sandy love the NHSO, they can’t give as much as they would like to on an annual basis. They have decided to join the Legacy Society in order to solve this very dilemma. Bob remarks that “Planned giving is all about saying, at the end of my life, what will I have liked to have supported? Will I have done what I could have done? After I have paid for my expenses for my children and retirement, if there’s something left, I want it to go to the Symphony, because I couldn’t do as much as I would have liked to along the way. The more planned gifts the Symphony receives, the longer the traditions that we so valued will continue generation after generation.”