Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Washington, announces the establishment of the Paul Fritts Endowed Chair in Organ Studies and Performance, thanks to the generosity of Paul Fritts, owner and founder of Paul Fritts & Co. Organ Builders, Parkland, Washington. Fritts has pledged $2 million to support and enhance the Department of Music. In addition to creating the first endowed chair for the department, the fund will support programming that enhances organ, choral, orchestral, and interdisciplinary music studies. The endowed chair will also prioritize strengthening and building relationships for increased partnership and engagement with the local community and other music organizations.
Paul Fritts’s father, Byrad Fritts, was a member of the music faculty at Pacific Lutheran in the 1950s. The elder Fritts taught piano and organ performance, music composition, theory, and conducted the Concert Chorus. The organbuilder was commissioned to build the university’s Gottfried and Mary Fuchs Organ in Lagerquist Hall in the Mary Baker Russell Music Center. Paul Fritts recently provided a similar gift to the University of Washington School of Music, Seattle (see “Here & There,” May 2021 issue, p. 3).
For information: plu.edu.
