Transformational Gift Sets the Stage for New Music Center

A $10 million lead gift from The Coleman and Susan Burke Foundation will help St. Paul’s School build the new Coleman P. Burke ’59 Music Center.

BY KRISTIN DUISBERG

A generous gift from The Coleman and Susan Burke Foundation in honor of the late Coleman “Coley” Burke ’59 is set to play a central role in bringing to life a project that will reshape the performing arts at St. Paul’s School. 

The Foundation’s $10 million gift, one of the cornerstone commitments of the School’s Worthy of the Centuries campaign and among the largest in the School’s history, represents lead funding for a new Music Center for the SPS music program. The new Coleman P. Burke ’59 Music Center will include an acoustically tuned performance hall with seating for 100, a practice room, teaching and rehearsal studios, a recording studio and a music technology lab. Approximately 25% of the St. Paul’s student body participates in music programs that include a full orchestra, chamber ensembles, jazz band, choirs and a cappella groups, making it an integral element of academic and extracurricular life at the School. The new center will replace a facility that is undersized, has limited access for musicians and concertgoers alike, and no longer reflects the excellence of the SPS music program today.

Fourteenth Rector Kathleen C. Giles describes the gift as transformational. “This extraordinary gift from the Burke Foundation speaks volumes to the importance of leadership, vision, and stewardship,” she says. “The Burke family’s generosity in supporting the education and experience of current and future students will resonate in their lives, in the lives of their families, and in the lives of their communities forever.”

The gift for the new Music Center is made by Burke’s wife, Susan, and his children Erik Burke ’87, Sarah Burke Honeyman and Lisa Burke Whitescarver to honor the Form of 1959 alumnus and former School trustee (1994-1998), who passed away in 2020, and the shared deep love of music and St. Paul’s School that has long defined their family life.

“St. Paul’s School meant a ton to my dad, as it does to me and the whole family,” Erik Burke says. “For him to be able to help in some small way future generations of Paulies; to enable them to learn how to make music at a relatively young age will provide a lifetime of happiness. … That was his experience in learning to play music at a young age, and what our hope is in supporting this opportunity.”

The latest demonstration of philanthropic support by the Burke family, the gift follows a 2014 endowment gift from the elder Burkes to establish the Susan and Coleman P. Burke ’59 Scholarship, which provides St. Paul’s students with academic opportunities similar to those Burke experienced at the School, and the Burke Biodiversity Award, established in 1997 to support students interested in the natural world and biodiversity. Drawn as it is from a foundation that was established specifically for the purpose of supporting programs and organizations related to the environment or music, this latest gift is an opportunity to celebrate the family’s love of music and fulfill Burke’s intention to expand his support of St. Paul’s to encompass musical endeavors as well as environmental interests.

“Dad loved history and he loved our country,” Lisa Whitescarver says, noting that her father wrote songs in addition to performing them. “Many of his songs gave us the chance to tap into the basic joys of American life.” Adds Sarah Honeyman, “Dad loved music because of the connection it creates.”

Worthy of the Centuries, The Campaign for St. Paul’s School, takes its inspiration from the visionary work of School founder Dr. George Cheyne Shattuck and Fourth Rector Rev. Dr. Samuel Drury to steward the School not for their own time but for what it could and should be for generations to come. Guided by these predecessors, the School’s 2022 Strategic Plan, the 2025 Comprehensive Campus Plan, and a shared commitment to a thriving student experience, Fourteenth Rector Kathy Giles and the School Board of Trustees lead an ambitious program to reinvest in the excellence of St. Paul’s School by strengthening financial aid and faculty support and by renovating, modernizing, and building new facilities for arts, athletics, and community life.