Gift to help promote Czech music, culture

The UNT College of Music accepted a $100,000 gift in May from the Czech Educational Foundation of Texas. The gift will help fund an annual residency to promote Czech music and culture throughout the state.

The residency — the CEFT Frank J. and Hermine Hurta Kostohryz Residency in Czech Music and Culture — is slated to begin in 2006. It will allow for the exchange of Czech artists and educators and the staging of festivals and colloquia of Czech music. The visiting artists and UNT musicians will also travel throughout Texas, particularly in areas with high Czech populations.

The $100,000 gift brings the endowment fund to $325,000. This includes the lead gift of more than $200,000 from Francis Kostohryz in memory of his father, who was a minister in areas with largely Czech populations, and his mother, who was an organist and religious instructor. The endowment will be fully funded when it reaches $400,000.

The UNT College of Music began its relationship with the Czech Republic about 15 years ago, when Thomas Sovik, UNT professor of music, began leading student trips to his homeland. Sovik has now taken students on more than 20 trips to Brno. UNT music students typically perform between 15 and 20 music concerts in a variety of venues in the Czech Republic during each of these visits.

BY ELLEN SCHROEDER eschroeder@unt.edu

Other featured articles in this issue

• UNT to receive about $4 million in general revenue funds from the state of Texas
• Scholarship honors a friend's commitment to promoting diversity
• Parking permits for 2005-06 now for sale
• Committee continues to examine Responsibility Center Management
• Work dress codes relax as summer temperatures go up
• Denton County Transportation Authority approves rail line favored by UNT
• Mean Green 2005 season ticket packages for sale
• Faculty Senate elects officers for 2005-06

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