The Aber Suzuki Center and students within the Department of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point will benefit from gifts from a local foundation funded by notable Stevens Point businessman Edmund Bukolt.
The Copernicus Cultural Foundation of Stevens Point gifted the UW-Stevens Point College of Fine Arts and Communication (COFAC) with $130,000, with $80,000 supporting the Suzuki program for instrument repair, new instruments and guest artist visits, as well as $50,000 for a Music Department scholarship endowment.
This is the third gift from the foundation to support music at UWSP; others in 2021 and 2023 funded a $1 million endowed professorship for cello and music education advocacy and music scholarships. The collective gifts from Edmund and Kathryn Bukolt and the foundation they established now reach more than $1.16 million, said Valerie Cisler, COFAC dean.
“We are so very pleased to have been honored once again by the Copernicus Cultural Foundation with their recent gifts to support Music Student Scholarships, the Aber Suzuki Center and the 75-year anniversary of the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra,” said Cisler. “This support of music, dance, and the arts has had a profound impact on the quality of programs on our campus and, by extension, the quality of life in the community.”
“I think I speak for the region when I express our sincere gratitude to the Bukolt family and the Copernicus Cultural Foundation board for their lifelong support of our students and programs as well as their holistic advocacy for artistic accessibility and educational opportunities,” said Chancellor Thomas Gibson.
The Copernicus Cultural Foundation was established by Bukolt in 1959. He was a longtime area businessman and president of the Lullabye Furniture Company who had a strong interest in the musical arts throughout the state of Wisconsin. He collected valuable instruments with impressive pedigrees that were used for many years by UW-Stevens Point string faculty members, who also performed with them as part of the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra. Bukolt played violin with CWSO along with several other regional symphony orchestras. He died in 1964.
The foundation is comprised of a board of directors and meets semi-annually in Stevens Point who provide scholarship funds for UW-Stevens Point music majors as well as graduating seniors at area high schools. One of their purposes is “To promote the fine arts through the establishment of scholarships to students eligible for further study by virtue of their aptitude, talent, and character in the realm of educational and cultural arts.”
The UW-Stevens Point Music Department has long been recognized for its academic strength and extensive community engagement through performances and educational opportunities. It has been nationally accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music since 1968 and offers a variety of programs for both undergraduate and graduate students. Music education students have a 100 percent placement in K-12 positions throughout the state and region.