Thank you for supporting artists

Levels of Giving

At Lamp we are passionate about music. From the local and provincial music festival competitors to young and emerging artists to our international faculty of established and award-winning performing artists and educators, everything we do here at Lamp revolves around music. Equally, every dime we receive in donations goes toward making that music happen. We appreciate every single donation, be it from the person who tops up their concert ticket by 50-cents to help cover processing fees or the corporations & foundations that sponsor a series of concerts. Lamp does not yet qualify for many of the large governments grants offered to similar facilities from Quebec to the West Coast and therefore we rely very heavily on donations received from people like you.

Below are several gift thresholds, along with some ideas of how funds at each level will be used here at Lamp. If you are interested in suggestions of where you might like to direct your gift, please read more here.

Categories of giving:

1.    Opera $10,000+

Ah, the Opera. One of the most expensive musical genres and one Lamp (also known as the Rossini Opera Festival of Nova Scotia) holds very dear to our hearts. The top tier of donations to Lamp, Opera donations can be directed to fund entire academies, sponsor a Lamp Fellow, bring a particular faculty member to lead an academy and perform in our concert hall, purchase a new instrument for Lamp, or even have one of our studios dedicated to the person or organization of their choice. The patrons who are able to assist Lamp at this level will have their name or logo appear on our website as a sustaining partner, as well as on every concert programme in the season. Depending on how they choose to direct their donation, they may receive promotion on social media, tickets to concerts, invitations to private Lamp functions, options for private concerts and more. For more information on how to direct your gift, please follow this link or email us for more information.

2.    Symphony $7,500+

Did you know our Artistic Director, Burt Wathen, was one of the founding members of the Nova Scotia Symphony Orchestra? He was also principal violist of the Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna in Italy. While we don’t have symphonies perform at Lamp (our concert hall is perfect for Chamber Music; a symphony would overwhelm all of our senses!), there is no denying the majesty of a full symphony orchestra. Donations of in this category can be used to fund a major project or and special event, provide bursaries for residents, sponsor a concert series or provide financial aid for a short-term fellowship for an emerging artist. There are always other options for your donations - we have several suggestions to help get your imagination into gear, but if you have an idea of your own please let us know what you are thinking and we will work with you to make it happen.

3.    Octet $5,000+

Who doesn’t love Mendelssohn’s String Octet in E-flat major, Opus 20? Lamp was lucky enough to have the Verona & Griffon Quartets perform this in our concert hall in December 2021. It was an amazing Sunday afternoon performance in our intimate concert hall. Donations made in this category can provide full scholarships to Emerging Artist Residents, bring a stellar Canadian faculty member to Lamp, or sponsor a mini concert series - by making a donation at this level, Michelin International sponsored our Autumn 2023 French Programming which included two school outreach concerts and two concerts here at Lamp.

4.    Quartet $2,500+

The concert hall at Lamp seems to have been created specifically for small ensembles, like quartets. In addition to our String Quartet in Residence, the Verona Quartet, we try to get as many emerging quartets at Lamp each year as we possibly can. The acoustics in the hall are matched by the intimacy of the musicians performing together. Making a gift at this level can provide full or partial tuition for an attending artist, bring a live performance to a local school or care facility, or sponsor a masterclass.

5.    Duo $500+

Duo Concertante has been to Lamp many times; Nancy Dahn being an artist the entire Town of Lunenburg knows and loves. Donations in this category typically will be used to provide bursaries to help cover tuition for gifted young and emerging artists coming to Lamp for a one or two week academy. Having said that, there are many other ways these generous donations can be used to reach people - our outreach performances at schools include fun take-home packages for young children, and this level of funding can assist us in producing those packages.