THE
LOYOLA EFFECT
ROBYN RESO ’78
LEGACY IN THANKSGIVING
Originally from New Orleans, Robyn Reso ’78 grew up in Houston and studied piano and voice throughout her childhood. Her relationship with Loyola University began in the spring of 1973, when the Loyola Chorale performed in Houston. The Loyola Chorale made a profound impression on her, and she credits their visit to Houston as the inspiration for her decision to study music in college and pursue a music performance career.
“It is my hope that others who had an outstanding education and experience at Loyola will also decide to remember Loyola by leaving a legacy in thanksgiving, so that young people now will have the ability to take advantage of all Loyola has to offer: a deep, broad, and inspiring education that will ‘call forth’ the best in them, ground them spiritually, and prepare them for a life of success, service, and joy.”
Robyn enrolled at Loyola as a voice major in 1974 and performed with the Chorale for all four of her years at Loyola. She had the opportunity to tour Europe twice with the group. “If I could attribute my success at Loyola to one thing, it would be to my experience of singing in the Chorale,” Robyn later wrote.
1 Reso at Loyola Chorale reunion in 2009. 2 Robyn Reso, far left, with fellow Loyola Chorale
provides a full scholarship to students who aspire to a career in classical music performance. Looking back on her years as an undergraduate, Robyn said, “I had very talented friends at Loyola who only finished their degrees with great financial hardship, or who couldn’t finish them at all. I feel greatly privileged to have been able to endow a scholarship fund in classical music performance in perpetuity.”
members on tour in Europe in 1978.
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The education and training Robyn received in Loyola’s School of Music had a tremendous impact on her craft and career. She remembers Chorale director Dr. Larry Wyatt fondly as an “exuberant, fun-loving, and extremely gifted choral conductor who had a true gift for building bonds of friendship and community, as well as outstanding performance.” Robyn was also shaped by Loyola’s rich Jesuit tradition. “One of the
things I loved about Loyola was the Jesuit presence,”
she says. As a Loyola student, Robyn attended Mass often and went on several retreats.
The deep appreciation she had for the education she received at Loyola University New Orleans inspired Robyn to create the Robyn Reso Classical Music Endowed Scholarship in the spring of 2019. This fund
Robyn passed away in August 2019 at the age of 63. Thanks to her generosity and support, generations of talented students will have the opportunity to study classical music at Loyola at no cost. Through them, Robyn’s love of music and learning will endure.
SUMMER 2020 | loyno
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