The Kincaids Make Music for Western John and Georgie Kincaid, both 1947 graduates of Western, have made a generous gift of $75,000 to the Western State Foundation for the Department of Music. John and Georgie have been involved with Western and the Department of Music for many years. They both were members of the band and orchestra while undergraduates. John was a Music major, and after many years of graduate school and experience in the teaching field he returned to Western as a member of the Music faculty. John retired in 1986. With a portion of their gift, John and Georgie established the John and Georgie Kincaid Music Education Chair with a seed gift of $25,000. They hope other Music alumni and friends will make gifts to the fund to grow to $1.5 million for it to become operational so the Chair can become inaugurated and filled. This Chair will meet the critical need of providing a faculty member to teach Music with an Education emphasis. In addition, John and Georgie directed a portion of their gift to the John and Georgie Kincaid Instrumental Music Scholarship. John and Georgie and friends previously established this scholarship for students who are instrumental musicians. John and Georgie also directed a portion of their gift to the Mabel deKoevend Memorial Music Scholarship, which assists Western students majoring in Music, and the Brass Band Fund. “John and Georgie are icons in the musical life of Colorado, the Western Slope, Gunnison Valley and in the history of the Western Department of Music. They have touched countless lives over the decades,” said Dr. John Wacker, Chair of the Music Department. “This gift is another step in a long string of selfless commitments to music, music education and Western. The depth of the love and caring behind their generous gift takes my breath away. Thank you John and Georgie, from all of us, past, present and future.”
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