The Music Plays On

Fort Worth Symphony starts 2018 on fundraising high notes

The Fort Worth Symphony set an ambitious fundraising goal in 2017.

Photo by Julian Lambert

The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, faced with financial instability in recent years, has started 2018 on more solid footing. The orchestra announced on January 2 that its ambitious "Play Your Part: 3 Steps to $3 Million" fundraising campaign has exceeded its goal.

Through the campaign, announced in February 2017, the Amon Carter Foundation pledged to match up to $500,000 per year in new and increased contributions, resulting in a potential $3 million of additional revenue over the course of the three-year campaign.

A total of 1,160 donors have made three-year pledges totaling $870,000 annually, FWSO announced. Eligible funds for the match have exceeded the $500,000 goal by more than $20,000 and, the symphony said, combined with the match, total $3,060,000 in increased giving through 2019.

The challenge, FWSO says, has encouraged increased giving from new, reinstated, and current donors.

"It is our hope these initial three-year pledges will continue well past the challenge period and help the symphony permanently broaden and deepen its patron support and attendance base," says John G. Robinson, executive vice president-grant administration of the Amon G. Carter Foundation, in a news release.

In an email sent to patrons January 2 signed by FWSO board chairwoman Mercedes T. Bass, she says, "My sincere thanks to each of you who played your part in supporting this important effort — you have demonstrated your unwavering support to the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. Our beloved orchestra is on its way to building a firm financial foundation for the future."

The orchestra's immediate future includes a trip to Washington, D.C. to play in the prestigious SHIFT Festival at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, April 9-15.

FWSO has faced well-publicized financial troubles in the last several years. The musicians went on strike for three months in fall 2016. Symphony management, citing a decline in corporate, government, and individual giving, described the financial condition as "precarious" at the time. The strike ended when an anonymous donor stepped forward with a gift that could provide stability for several years while management made plans to increase revenue and expand their endowment fund.

The orchestra currently is without a president and CEO. Amy Adkins stepped down from the position in July to become president of the All Saints Health Foundation. Veteran arts administrator David Hyslop was named interim president in late July, and according to a news release at the time, was to remain as interim president until a permanent president was appointed. However, he left Fort Worth in September, according to his LinkedIn profile, and in October, began a post as senior advisor to the Houston Symphony Orchestra Executive Committee.

A spokeswoman for FWSO tells CultureMap, "The Board of Directors is currently overseeing the search for the FWSO’s new President and CEO. We are optimistic about this process and looking forward to a new chapter for the organization in the coming year."

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Ancient Sculpture News

Fort Worth museum one of only 3 in U.S. to get rare sculpture exhibit

Lorenzo di Masi/Torlonia Collection

The Torlonia Nile

A major exhibition of ancient Roman masterworks is coming to the U.S. for the first time to be viewed at only three museums — including the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth.

Called Myth and Marble: Ancient Roman Sculpture from the Torlonia Collection, it's an assemblage of works stewarded by the Torlonia Family beginning in the early-19th century, and will be installed at the Kimbell from September 14, 2025 – January 25, 2026.

As part of the Foundation’s mission to showcase these historical works to the public, the exhibition will premiere at the Art Institute of Chicago on March 15 through June 29, before traveling to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth. Its third stop will be at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, from March 14 - July 19, 2026.

The Torlonia Collection was established during the course of the 19th century by the Franco-Italian banker Prince Giovanni Torlonia and his son Alessandro, then handed down over generations, eventually growing into the largest private collection of ancient Roman sculptures.

Today, the Torlonia Foundation represents the culmination of the Family’s continued passion for art. Created at the behest of Prince Alessandro Torlonia (1925–2017), the Foundation’s mission is to preserve and promote the Torlonia Collection and Villa Albani Torlonia.

In 1876, Prince Alessandro Torlonia (1800-1886) created a museum to house and exhibit the Family’s holdings, which was open to small groups until its closure at the onset of World War II. The sculptures remained unseen by the public from that time until the Foundation’s first exhibition at the Musei Capitolini in Rome in 2020. That was followed by a stint at the Louvre, the first presentation of the collection outside of Rome, where it has drawn more than 600,000 visitors to date, an unprecedented feat.

The exhibit
The curators of Myth & Marble: Ancient Roman Sculpture from the Torlonia Collection are Lisa Ayla Çakmak and Katharine A. Raff of the Art Institute of Chicago. The exhibition is co-organized by the Art Institute of Chicago and the Torlonia Foundation, in collaboration with the Kimbell Art Museum, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and The Museum Box. All of the sculptures in the exhibition have been restored by the Foundation with the support of Bvlgari.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue co-published by the Art Institute of Chicago and the Torlonia Foundation, edited by Lisa Ayla Çakmak and Katharine A. Raff, with essays by Silvia Beltrametti and Salvatore Settis.

The North American presentation will feature 58 highlights from the Torlonia Collection, including 24 newly restored works that have not been on view in nearly a century. The sculptures date from approximately the 5th century BCE to the early 4th century CE, with the majority of the works dating to the High Imperial period (1st–2nd centuries CE). Highlights include examples of the most emblematic genres of ancient marble sculpture, acquired by the Torlonia Family from the most prominent collections of Rome’s patrician families, as well as from excavations made on the Family’s own estates throughout Italy.

“The Foundation is excited to be sharing the Torlonia Collection with audiences in North America for the first time. This exceptional group of ancient sculptures is a testament to the enduring cultural legacy of ancient Rome, as well as the vision and passion of multiple generations of the Torlonia Family,” said Alessandro Poma Murialdo, President of the Torlonia Foundation.

The presentation is organized thematically in six sections, featuring sculptures found on the Torlonia Family’s properties in Rome and the surrounding suburbs and their estate in Porto, Portugal, as well as a number of exceptional sarcophagi (stone coffins), among the largest sculpted works in marble to survive from ancient Rome.

The tour reinforces the work of the Foundation to advance the appreciation and understanding of this unparalleled collection and the rich cultural heritage it represents. The Foundation’s mission is carried out through a continuous joint effort between the public and private sectors, including with the cooperation of the Italian Ministry of Culture. The Foundation is supported by a longstanding collaboration with Bvlgari as the principal sponsor of the restoration project since its inception in Rome and throughout the global tour, and Chiomenti, who has lent invaluable support to the Foundation’s core activities.

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