Together We Make Music

Phyllis Blair is supporting the Symphony's future with a charitable remainder trust and three charitable gift annuities.

Phyllis Blair appreciates balance. When she retired from her career as a professor of biology at the University of California, Berkeley, it was time to balance out her structured background with something more unconventional. She was ready to shake things up.

"The logical side of my brain had been pretty busy, so I decided to play around with the other side. I became an artist. I started in acrylics and have explored just about every other medium possible. I also write a lot of poetry," she says.

"Academia is a structured environment. This is much more free-perhaps because I am just enjoying beauty. Of course, that's where the Symphony comes in."

Phyllis has been attending the San Francisco Symphony for years. The exploration of her artistic side, however, changed the way she approached experiencing the Symphony.

"I found that my artistic explorations had extended outward," she says. "Now I was a participant rather than a listener. It's moved from a pastime to a passion."

Powering Her Passion
It was no surprise that when Phyllis decided to give back to the Symphony she wanted a balanced approach. By funding a charitable remainder trust and three charitable gift annuities, Phyllis is able to benefit the Symphony in the future and provide security for herself today, thanks to payments she receives in return for her gifts. The highly professional asset management available with these types of gifts is also beneficial to Phyllis.

"I can sit back and say, 'OK, you guys take care of it, send me my check.' I view it as a perfect win-win situation," she says. "The Symphony gets something it needs; I get something I need. Together we make music."

Learn More
To learn how you can benefit from a charitable remainder trust or charitable gift annuity and support the Symphony in the future, please contact @[Contact] at @[Phone] or @[Email].