Music Academy Gets $1 Million Donation

The Music Academy of the West received a $1 million donation this week from local philanthropist Leslie Ridley-Tree to help complete the school’s new Luria Education Center. The nearly $11 million project, which began in August 2010 and is slated to be finished this summer, is now $533,000 away from reaching its goal. The Luria Center will feature a courtyard bearing Ridley-Tree’s name and will boast not only an expanded music library and listening area, but also include new computer and media technologies facilities, ensemble practice and teaching rooms, and a dining pavilion.