T h e B a ltimo r e S y mp h o n y O r c h e st r a
BSO Receives $1 Million in
Bequests from Loyal Friends
Over the past year, the BSO has learned of
two generous unrestricted bequests totaling
$1M from long-time, devoted friends of the
Symphony. The first, from Sergiu and Robinne
Comissiona is estimated at $500,000, or
1/6 of their estate, and is directed in support
of the BSO’s unrestricted endowment. Sergiu
Comissiona, who died in 2005, served as
music director of the Orchestra from 1969 to
1984, achieving a reputation as an orchestra
builder. Steven Wigler, a critic for the Baltimore
Sun, wrote that “the modern Baltimore
Symphony was created by Sergiu Comissiona.” Robinne Comissiona, who died
in May, 2014, was very active in the ballet community during the couple’s time
in Baltimore, co-founding with Elspeth Udvarhelyi Pointe-on-Strings which later
merged with the Maryland Ballet Company.
Upon hearing the news of their generous bequest, BSO President and CEO
Paul Meecham noted “We are deeply honored that Sergiu and Robinne have
remembered the BSO so generously in their estate plans, funds we will steward
as part of the Symphony’s permanent Endowment Trust, providing income for
BSO priority initiatives in perpetuity.”
A second bequest of $500,000 from Martha and Albert Walker, both
deceased, also came as a surprise. Albert Walker served on the Board of Directors
in the early 1990s, and was encouraged by fellow Board members to include
the BSO in his estate plans at the time of the founding of the Legato Cir