Inspiring philanthropy

St Mary’s Music School has been nurturing and inspiring musically gifted children for half a century and those fifty years have been characterised by remarkable, and often unexpected, acts of generosity, as Caroline Libberton, Development Manager, explains.

“Something about our pioneering vision, our staff’s dedication to specialist music teaching and our Board’s tenacity have inspired many supporters to give generously to the School during their lifetime or to remember us in their will. And it’s thanks to those individuals and their far-sighted philanthropy that we have been able to establish, grow and become what we are today – Scotland’s national music school.

Former Headteacher, Dr Carolyn Coxon, talks with great fondness of meeting Isobel Traill (later a generous benefactress to the National Galleries of Scotland) who owned the house above our music teaching rooms on the lower floors of 11 Eglinton Crescent in the late 1970s. Bracing herself for a complaint about the noise of children practising, Carolyn was surprised (and delighted!) to learn that Isobel wanted to donate her house to the School and was determined that the School should let this be known in order to encourage others to be generous too. Isobel Traill’s extraordinary gift enabled the School to buy new premises in Edinburgh’s West End, sold a decade later to help fund our move to our current home, Coates Hall, which was opened by Yehudi Menuhin in 1985. We think Isobel would have thoroughly approved!

In the intervening years, many more generous supporters have helped the School go from strength to strength and one particularly inspiring gift came from the School’s former Director of Music, Nigel Murray. Nigel was a talented and much-admired violinist in Scotland and, after graduating from the Royal College of Music in London, performed with many of the UK’s top orchestras. He then began a career in teaching and went on to lead our musical activity for 16 years. His generous legacy allowed us to introduce the annual Nigel Murray Masterclass, an opportunity for our talented young instrumentalists to work with some of today’s most celebrated musicians, including (to date) Nicola Benedetti, Steven Isserlis, Steven Osborne and Felix Andrievsky.

Other gifts to the School, large and small, have enabled us to purchase instruments, fund scholarships and take part in exciting new musical activities, such as the Seven Hills Project, over the years. Critically, these gifts have helped us to augment our Bursary Fund, ensuring that talented young musicians continue to benefit from the immersive musical environment we offer, no matter their family’s financial circumstances.

It is thanks to the inspiring philanthropy of so many supporters that the School is able to celebrate its 50th anniversary this year and we are hugely grateful to everyone who has played their part and we hope you will continue to do so for our next 50 years of music making!”

If you would like to support St Mary’s Music School, or find out more about leaving a gift in your will to the School, please visit stmarysmusicschool.co.uk/support-us/ or contact Caroline Libberton, Development Manager, at clibberton@st-marys-music-school.co.uk or on 0131 538 7766