It all started with a passion for classical music and thumb drives. The Perlmutter Nassau Endowed Scholarship is Lynn University's first for its composition program, thanks to a generous donation by Barbara Nassau in memory of her late husband, David Perlmutter. The couple attended Lynn Conservatory of Music concerts together over the years and were gracious annual donors.
When Nassau gifted $48,000 in June, family members and close friends contributed the remaining amount required to reach the $50,000 endowment benchmark.
Perlmutter developed a deep curiosity for classical music composition at a young age. After purchasing blank music sheets, he would go to the library to borrow sheet music from his favorite composers and copy the classical pieces. The hobby became a habit and without any formal training, he began composing his own music after retirement. After Perlmutter's passing, Nassau presented Conservatory of Music Professor Tom McKinley with thumb drives containing her late husband's work. "He was working on something big," she told McKinley.
McKinley went through several thumb drives to find the compositions that Perlmutter was unable to complete—150 different documents included random numbers, no descriptions, no names. With the help of composition student Luke Benedict, class of 2023, they made the necessary revisions and filled the rest of the components through inspiration. McKinley completed Perlmutter's composition and, on June 4, presented the work to Nassau, family and friends during a memorial concert on campus.
Lynn always seeks and welcomes endowment opportunities to continue the tradition of helping and serving future generations. Thanks to continued generosity, all students in the Conservatory of Music receive full-tuition scholarships.
