Roll Over Beethoven: Anonymous donor gives $56M to MPR for classical music

Someone out there really likes classical music.

An anonymous donor has given a $56 million cash gift to Minnesota Public Radio to be used exclusively to serve the station’s YourClassical audiences and to provide tech support for new media transmission.

It is the largest gift ever received by MPR in its 55-year history.

Jean Taylor, president and CEO of American Public Media Group, MPR’s parent company, called the gift “extraordinary” and said it would have a “transformative impact” on the future of YourClassical, which is billed as a “collection of curated classical music listening experiences and information.”

“It will enable us to deepen and broaden our relevance with a growing audience by delivering compelling content, creating meaningful listening experiences and advancing MPR’s digital capabilities and infrastructure,” Taylor said in a written statement.

MPR officials plan to establish a separate permanent endowment for the gift “to best serve the donor’s designated purpose,” MPR officials said.

The gift will allow YourClassical – the largest classical public media organization in the country – “to increase national appreciation of classical music and expand audience reach with new programming and technologies,” officials said.

Nearly 2.75 million people engage with YourClassical every week, according to MPR officials. Its nationally syndicated programs include “Pipedreams,” “Performance Today,” “SymphonyCast” and “Composers Datebook.”

More than 25 percent of the music played at YourClassical features a musician, ensemble or composer who is a woman and/or a Black person, Indigenous person or person of color, according to Duchesne Drew, president of MPR and senior vice president of APMG.

This donor’s gift, he said, “will allow us to expand representation, grow YourClassical’s presence and accelerate digital innovation to broaden and better serve our classical music community.”

In 2015, MPR and APM received a $10 million anonymous donation from a longtime supporter of the company “who was passionate about classical music and music education,” MPR officials said. The gift, one of the largest any public radio station had received at the time, was given without restrictions. The money was used to fund technology to enable digital growth and audience integration, as well as classical music programming, music in schools and marketing, according to MPR.