A Lead Gift for Performing Arts Propels Campaign Toward Goal

With the encouragement and active participation of David OPC '82 and Jennifer Kurtz, the Kurtz Family Foundation has made a gift of $3,000,000 to Penn Charter's new performing arts center.

The center will be named for Dave's father, broadcast pioneer David L. Kurtz. The elder Kurtz founded B101, the nation's first successful FM radio station and one of the last independently owned FM stations in a major U.S. market. He died last year of cancer at age 73.

Dave Kurtz said the decision to make the lead gift and name the center for his father evolved over the summer in conversations he had with his family and Head of School Earl J. Ball. When the idea was first proposed to him by Jeffrey Reinhold, a Penn Charter parent and parent chair of the Year of the Performing Arts, it seemed a startling possibility, Kurtz said. "… the more my family talked about it, the more it seemed to make sense. It was perfect for us."

Perfect, he said, because as current Penn Charter parents he and Jennifer recognized the need for a new center. They also knew that the school required someone to step forward with a lead gift if the project was to succeed. And the opportunity to help build the center in his father's name was a match. "My father was a life-long music lover," Kurtz said. "He was totally driven by his love of music."

David L. Kurtz earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Lehigh University in 1954 and moved to Philadelphia to take a job designing submarine radar devices for Philco Corp. In 1963, Kurtz founded WDVR, a 24-hour station playing adult contemporary music; two years later he quit Philco to focus his energy on his radio station. Working with a staff of seven in cramped rooms in Germantown, he quickly built WDVR into the most popular FM station in the region. In the mid 60s, Kurtz partnered with Jerry Lee, one of the original seven staffers, and they grew the station into a broadcast powerhouse. According to the archives of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia, the two men are credited with laying the foundation for FM radio as a viable music format and business platform.

The station - which changed its call letters to WEAZ in 1980 and WBEB in 1993 - was known for its beautiful music: it won the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra's award for best music station in the world in 1967. And it was recognized for its business innovations and successes: WDVR broke a major financial milestone in 1968 when it became the first FM station in the country to bill $1,000,000. The partners had complimentary interests and skills, and according to Kurtz's obituary in the Philadelphia Inquirer, very different styles: "While Lee thought big and rode a chauffeured Cadillac to functions, Mr. Kurtz drove an older station wagon and avoided the party life."

Jennifer Kurtz said that music inspired her father-in-law's interest in FM radio and music was a passion he pursued in his personal life, too. "He loved opera, he loved the orchestra, the Academy. He loved music and the arts in general," she recalled. "When we talked about the idea of the performing arts center we thought, what a wonderful tribute to him and his legacy."

Dave Kurtz described his father as "a simple, humble man" who grew up in Ephrata, in Lancaster County, followed his dreams and avoided the limelight. "We are pleased to make the gift out of our love for the school," said Kurtz, "and we are pleased that we can honor my father in a way he would never have done for himself."

Since graduating from Penn Charter, Dave earned bachelor and masters degrees in economics and business, and worked in banking and capital markets, with ownership interests in various businesses. He is currently focused on his family's philanthropic and business investment activities.

The family envisions that the new center will benefit not only the school but the East Falls neighborhood as well. Kurtz said his father and mother, Esther Kurtz, were devoted to the neighborhood and chose to remain even when friends in the suburbs urged them to leave in order to save money on taxes, or to be closer to B101 headquarters in Bala Cynwyd. "My parents moved to East Falls soon after they married and they were always active here - my dad was treasurer of United Methodist Church for as long as I can remember. They love the neighborhood." Esther Kurtz is still a resident of East Falls and looks forward to the day when arts organizations in East Falls can use the exciting new space for musical and theatrical performances.

Jennifer Kurtz is looking forward to seeing her three children on Penn Charter's new stage - really seeing them. "I remember the first time I went to a performance, I thought: 'I can't see my child!' From a parent's point of view, we knew the school needed to do something about the stage and the seating," she said. "Now kids will have a new place to practice and perform - and parents will be able to see them and hear them."

The gift has already had an exhilarating effect on many people at Penn Charter, especially the performing arts faculty and the many parents, teachers, administrators and friends who have been working to generate support for the new center. As the Kurtz family correctly perceived, their gift was a turning point in the effort.

"It is the right gift, at the right time," said Head of School Earl J. Ball. "We still have work to do to reach our fund-raising goals for the center, but this gift will not only continue the momentum we achieved with the Year of the Performing Arts - it can and will propel us forward."