Donor Opportunities for the Programs of the

American Beethoven Society and

The Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies

at San José State University

 Beethoven Journal

 Young Pianist's Beethoven Competition

 Beethoven Bibliography Database

About Planned Giving

The Beethoven Journal

DESCRIPTION

The Beethoven Journal is a unique periodical in the history of Beethoven studies. Written for everyone interested in Beethoven-from university professors and performers to devoted amateurs and music lovers of all ages-the Journal

Contains ground-breaking articles by internationally renowned scholars and performers such as Theodore Albrecht, Barry Cooper, Lewis Lockwood, Maynard Solomon, Willy Hess, Susan Kagan, Jos van der Zanden, and Max Rudolf

Contains the only up-to-date survey of the auction market for Beethoven manuscripts and first editions

Publicizes all new Beethoven books and scores in an annotated "New Books" column

Reviews important new books, scores, and recordings

Provides information on new rare acquisitions at the Beethoven Center

Provides a forum for lively interactions in "Letters to the Editor"

Announces upcoming Beethoven festivals and events

The Journal appears twice a year. Each issue ranges from 48-72 pages. Over 100 of the leading performing arts and university libraries all over the world subscribe, including the Cambridge University Library, Juilliard School of Music, Princeton University, and the Eastman School of Music. All members of the American Beethoven Society receive copies as a benefit of their annual memberships.

 

The Journal has won several awards from the prestigious Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). Engaging and informative, each issue increases our knowledge of the wonderful accomplishments of Beethoven.

 

ANNUAL OPERATING COSTS

 Printing

 10, 620

 Graphic design

7,200

 Postage

 1,000

 Translations, music examples

 500

 TOTAL

$19,320

 

HOW IT IS CURRENTLY FUNDED

The Journal is currently funded by the members of the American Beethoven Society and San José State University.

TO ENDOW THE JOURNAL WOULD COST: $390,000

The Young Pianist's Beethoven Competition

DESCRIPTION

The Young Pianist's Beethoven Competition is an annual competition for high school students in California. Founded in 1987 by Celia Méndez, a private piano teacher, its purpose is to serve as a rich artistic educational experience to help high school students better understand and interpret Beethoven's piano sonatas. Consistent with this purpose, the prize of the competition is participation in a two-hour master class given to the three winners by an internationally renowned artist. Additional awards are performing opportunities and a monetary prize. Since its inception, the master teachers of the competition have included such gifted artists as Richard Goode, Malcolm Bilson, Claude Frank, Garrick Ohlsson, Christopher O'Riley, John O'Conor, Russell Sherman, Ian Hobson, and Anton Kuerti.

The contestants submit recordings of a prelude and fugue from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier and a complete Beethoven sonata (up to and including Opus 90). The judges for the first stage of the competition select six finalists from the field of applicants, and these finalists perform their complete sonatas before the second team of judges, who then select the three winners who will perform for the master teacher.

As expressed by the former president of the Society, Thomas Wendel, "In an age in which young people are far less exposed to classical music than in past times, we believe that the YPB competition has ever greater relevance. Perhaps of all composers, it is Beethoven who can best shape youthful ideals of truth, beauty, and intellectual integrity, qualities that particularly define the thirty-two piano sonatas."

OPERATING COSTS

 Guest artist's honorarium

3,000

 Student monetary awards

 1,125

 Judges' honorarium

 400

 Mailing labels (5,000)

 500

 Printing of brochures

 500

 Postage for brochure mailing

 900

 Luncheon for contestants and teachers

 400

 CDs of guest artist for the six finalists

 150

 TOTAL

6,975

 

HOW THE COMPETITION IS CURRENTLY FUNDED

The Competition is partially funded by an endowment given to the Center by Horace Dodge and donations from individuals.

TO FULLY ENDOW THE COMPETITION WOULD COST: $100,000

The Beethoven Bibliography Database

DESCRIPTION

Begun in 1990, the Beethoven Bibliography Database is the most sophisticated research tool for Beethoven studies ever created. Designed for easy to use by everyone from high school students researching term papers to scholars studying the most detailed scholarly questions, the Database is available around the world at no charge on the World-Wide-Web. Comprehensive in scope, it includes books and articles on Beethoven as well as primary sources (music manuscripts and first editions) published from Beethoven's time until the present. Through detailed descriptions and in-depth indexing, the Database helps researchers study a remarkably broad range of subject areas, including topics in the history of medicine, psychology, politics, religion, as well as music history and theory. Researchers can locate research on the causes of Beethoven's deafness, the performance history of the "Ode to Joy," the enduring mystery of the "Immortal Beloved," Beethoven's complex relationships to Napoleon and to Goethe, the current locations of the widely scattered manuscripts and first editions of his string quartets, and thousands of other topics. A complete list of possible search terms is published in The Beethoven Bibliography Database User's Guide and Thesaurus, now in its eighth edition (2004). An ongoing project, the database is continually enhanced and updated with new publications as they appear. In a recent scholarly review, Notes, the journal of the Music Library Association, called the Database's indexing and search capabilities "truly extraordinary." To reach the Database, access it through the Center's webpage: www.sjsu.edu/depts/beethoven/

ANNUAL OPERATING COSTS

 Research assistant (half-time)

32,000

 Student assistants

 12,800

 Supplies and photocopying

 1,000

 Annual database maintenance

 1,105

 Equipment upgrades

 1,000

 SJSU Foundation transaction expenses

 2,395

 TOTAL

50,300

FUNDING HISTORY

Major grants from the California State Library (1990-1991) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (1993-1995) helped launch the project. From 1996-2000, the database received support from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Other foundations and individual donors are listed on the database website. The project is currently operating at a reduced level with funds donated from the Farrington Historical Society and donors to the American Beethoven Society's annual campaign.

TO ENDOW THE DATABASE PERMANENTLY WOULD COST: $1,006,000