Tow Foundation endows new chair named for Tania León at Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College Presidential Lecture reunites Tow, class of 50’, with Pulitzer Prize-winner and Kennedy Center honoree Tania León
(From left) Associate Professor Malcolm J. Merriweather; Pulitzer Prize-winner and Kennedy Center honoree, conductor, and educator Tania León; Leonard Tow of The Tow Foundation; and Brooklyn College President Michelle J. Anderson at the Presidential Lecture Series event on March 28 at the college. Photo: Ashley Spofford
Special from Brooklyn College
April 8, 2024
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FLATBUSH — Thanks to the generosity of the Tow Foundation, more specifically Leonard Tow, who graduated from Brooklyn College in 1950, the School of Visual, Media and Performing Arts will enjoy a new chair. Pulitzer Prize-winner and Kennedy Center honoree Tania León returned to Brooklyn College recently, as part of President Michelle J. Anderson’s Presidential Lecture Series. The event also served as a platform to announce that Brooklyn College and its School of Visual, Media, and Performing Arts have launched the Tania León Chair of Music, the first endowed chair in music at the college. This pathbreaking chair was funded by The Tow Foundation and named in honor of León, who started teaching at the college in 1985, became a Tow Distinguished Professor in 2000, and retired as professor emeritus in 2019.
The President’s discussion with León, titled “You Gave Me Wings: A Rhythmic Life,” featured a conversation with President Anderson chronicling León’s extraordinary life from her migration from Cuba to her career as a world-renowned composer.
For León, it has been a life of surprises.
She talked about how her grandmother, a “force,” supported her love of music from age 4 and her grandfather wedging a standup piano in their small two-room home in Cuba so she could hone her craft. Her equally supportive parents were always with her, if not always physically, even after she left Cuba for the United States to eventually start her remarkable career in New York City — a career that took her to stages all over the world.
SUNSET PARK — “As a resident of Marine Park, one of the great surprises I found biking around Industry City and visiting Japan Village was to discover Bush Terminal Park. I continue to be amazed at the serene hideaways that the city offers in some of the busiest places — and, still, with an iconic view.”
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — ‘A miracle that no one was killed …’ That’s what neighbors are saying about the collapse of the Hotel St. George marquee. Shown in this photograph are workmen beginning the removal and repair of the historic, old neon sign at the corner, referencing a relic of Brooklyn Heights’ past: the St. George Hotel.
ATLANTIC AVENUE — Exhausted shopper with cluster of bags and goods from mall at Boerum Place stops to look at huge construction site across the street. “Is that REALLY going to be a jail??” Her male companion is reassuring, “Nothing like Rikers … this is 21st Century.”
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — Overheard in line at one of most popular pastry outlets on Montague Street: “Hope I can get them into a camp …” A mother with two pre-schoolers in tow was showing a friend the Dodge Y flyer for Healthy Kids Day on Saturday, April 18.
