This is an exceptional story of one of our club’s first female Rotarians, Jean Morrison, and her love for her brother Neal and a legacy gift in honor of their shared years of enjoying sensory-friendly family concerts at the Minnesota Orchestra. Pictured below with a triangle is Brian Mount, principal percussionist with Minnesota Orchestra, Neal Breisch on the xylophone; Jean and Neal admiring the triangles; the triangles, Neal playing the xylophone; Neal and Brian. 
To read the Minnesota Orchestra Showcase article, click "Read More" below
Shared by Minnesota Orchestra. Author is Brian Newhouse, Assistant Vice President of Development:
 
“A few years ago donor Jean Morrison read an article in Showcase about fellow donor Gary Cohen who had begun purchasing several big concert bells for the percussion section of the Minnesota Orchestra. At the end of that article principal percussionist Brian Mount mentioned that he could see the benefit of getting new triangles. Jean got in touch with us and made a gift to fund the purchase of these triangles.
 
“That actually began a two-year process of trial and error: Brian worked tirelessly with the American distributor of the world's finest triangles, but was consistently disappointed in what he received, finding them not up to the Minnesota Orchestra standards. Finally, he reached out directly to the factory in Germany where they are made. He ordered a set of five and was thrilled with how they sound. These are now part of the Orchestra’s percussion section.
 
“In a recent concert, Thomas Søndergård, a former professional percussionist, noticed the exquisite sound of these particular new triangles and recognized right away that these had to have come from this particular factory in Germany.
 
“Jean Morrison made the donation in honor of her younger brother Neal. Jean is Neal’s legal guardian. Together they attend sensory friendly and family concerts at the Hall. This afternoon Brian Mount spent over an hour with Jean and Neal, demonstrating the triangles and guiding Neal through a hands-on experience of playing many of the instruments.
 
“Brian thanked Jean many times for the generosity of her gift, and he was a wonderful host of their experience. Brian said, “If a donor gives us a gift that allows us to purchase instruments we need, we want to make sure they are perfect. These were worth the wait. We now call these ‘Neal’s triangles.’”