San Diego Symphony receives a combined $2 million in gifts from local philanthropists

The money donated by Dorothea Laub and Sheri Jamieson brings the symphony’s $125 million fundraising campaign close to completion

San Diego Union-Tribune

March 29, 2022 3:13 PM PT

The San Diego Symphony announced Wednesday, March 23, it has received a combined $2 million in donations from longtime local philanthropists Dorothea Laub and Sheri Jamieson.

The gifts will go toward the symphony’s long-range $125 million “The Future is Hear” campaign. With the latest donations, the campaign has now amassed $121.5 million in gifts. The campaign was launched in May 2020 to fund long-range artistic and community programs, including the construction of the symphony’s new year-round waterfront venue, the Rady Shell at Jacobs Park in Embarcadero Marina Park South.

“The symphony has already been able to accomplish so much through their ‘The Future is Hear’ campaign and I’m honored to be a part of this legacy,” Laub said in a statement. “I’ve always believed that music has great power in bringing people together and The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park provides the perfect venue for people from all walks of life to gather, enjoy a memorable performance, and capture a beautiful San Diego sunset.”

Jamieson echoed Laub’s sentiments.

“I am so proud to support ‘The Future is Hear’ campaign, which has helped to turn a dream into a reality with The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park,” she said in a statement. “This gorgeous new waterfront venue is a welcoming space for San Diego residents and all that visit our great city. Furthermore, I believe The Rady Shell fully represents the thriving arts and culture sector we have in our community and will support the work of many organizations for years to come.”

Laub retired to Point Loma in the late 1970s and focused her time on community service and support of local projects and charities. She has served on many boards and received both the city and county proclamation awards, which established the Dick and Dorothea Laub Day in San Diego. She’s a founding member of San Diego Symphony’s Symphony Stars program and served on the symphony’s board of directors from 2017 to 2020.

Jamieson is a philanthropist and community leader in La Jolla. She served on the La Jolla Playhouse board of trustees for 15 years, where she established the Sheri L. Jamieson New Work Development Fund. She also founded and served as president of the UC San Diego Art Gallery Board and created the Dean’s Advisory Council of Arts and Humanities with dean Frantisek Deak in 1995.

Pam Kragen

Pam Kragen is the arts and entertainment editor, as well as the chief theater, dining and opera critic, for the San Diego Union-Tribune. She joined the Union-Tribune staff in October 2012 after 27 years at the North County Times, where she served as the Arts & Features Editor, as well as the paper’s longtime arts writer and theater and opera critic. She is the co-founder of the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in journalism from San Diego State University and completed fellowships in theater criticism at the University of Southern California and opera-classical music criticism at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. And in 2022, she was chosen as one of the fellows in the prestigious National Critics Institute, run by the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterf, Conn.