The Palm Beach Symphony has named its impactful instrument donation program in honor of the late Todd Barron, a Wellington resident and longtime symphony supporter. He was the founder and first president of the Young Friends of Palm Beach Symphony.
“Todd was one of the first people who approached me when I joined the symphony 10 years ago asking what he could do to help,” Palm Beach Symphony CEO David McClymont said. “I asked if he would start a support group of young professionals. The Young Friends now has nearly 100 members, and that is a small part of Todd’s impact on our organization. When we made the announcement at our recent golf tournament that the program would be renamed in his honor, people immediately donated $16,000 in his memory and to make this program a permanent legacy.”
The symphony has donated 659 instruments and 1,200 accessories since the program began in 2016. The symphony accepts donated instruments that are new or gently used from the community. After completing any necessary repairs to ensure they meet performance standards, they provide these instruments, along with any accessories such as bows, reeds and mouth pieces, to school music programs in Palm Beach County, as well as underserved individual students from pre-kindergarten through high school.
“This season thus far, we have donated a record 189 instruments and 827 accessories,” McClymont said. “We realized that as the program grows, we need the resources to properly repair the instruments. Funds raised for the Todd Barron Instrument Donation Fund will go directly toward putting musical instruments into the hands of promising young musicians.”
In addition to refurbishing instruments, the fund will also enable the symphony to purchase new instruments and accessories on an as-needed basis, as well as the upper-level instruments and accessories for the symphony’s annual Lisa Bruna B-Major Award for high school seniors who will pursue music as their major in college.
Barron passed away Jan. 25 after a long battle with Ewing sarcoma, a rare bone and soft tissue cancer. He was extremely active in the community and held the position of board president of the Boys & Girls Club of Wellington, where he worked tirelessly to bring music into the lives of the club members and lead the creation of a choral program. He also volunteered his time and skill as an auctioneer to help raise millions of dollars for local charities, including the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County, Goodwill Industries, the Transplant Foundation, Mike Schmidt’s Winner’s Circle Charities and the Sarcoma Foundation of America.
Those interested in donating an instrument should visit the music programs page at www.palmbeachsymphony.org or call (561) 655-2657 to learn more. Those wishing to make a monetary donation to the Todd Baron Instrument Donation Fund should visit https://rb.gy/zdkrtr.
