Great Friend of Music, Helen MacLeod Celebrates 100th Birthday
Click to watch our video Birthday card
The School of Music wanted to help Mrs. Helen MacLeod to celebrate her 100th birthday with a gift of music, so we made a video birthday card with greetings from Dean Ellen Waterman and a performance of the second movement from Brahms Violin Sonata no. 3 in D minor by violinist Gwyn Thompson (master of music student) and pianist Dr. Phil Roberts (faculty member). Gwyn plays the School’s Heinecke Violin which has a special connection to Mrs. MacLeod. In 2007, she donated this concert quality violin to the School with the idea that it be loaned to students. Each year students audition for the opportunity to play the Heinecke Violin for an entire year. Sustained practice on such a high quality instrument has great benefits: it opens up the student’s sound and facilitates new technical achievements. Mrs. MacLeod’s inspired gift sparked other, similar donations, so that now the School owns an entire “Prestige Quartet” of concert quality instruments for students to play. The MacLeods have long supported students at Memorial, both through the William Kenneth MacLeod Scholarship in Science, the James and Muriel Martin Award in Ethnomusicology, and the Edgar Raymond Martin Scholarship in Music.
For a lifetime of giving, service to her community, and for her sheer zest for life we pay tribute to this remarkable person. Happy Birthday Mrs. MacLeod!