Donor Spotlight

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  Photo credit: Bernadette Wilson

  Sharon Dirnberger:
  A Passion for Theater

  For nearly 35 years, UC Santa Cruz Admissions Counselor Sharon Dirnberger has been supporting the education and development of Santa Cruz students. A long career at UCSC also provided Sharon with a front row seat for her other passion – theater. Quirky, fun, artistically interesting theater, thy name is Shakespeare Santa Cruz.

  Sharon’s been supporting Shakespeare Santa Cruz for over 25 years now; first as a season ticket holder, a member of the Board of Directors, and a donor. Now, by including Shakespeare Santa Cruz in her will, she’s ensuring that Shakespeare Santa Cruz will be available to generations of theater lovers, just like her.

  Her first experience with Shakespeare Santa Cruz is one she’ll never forget.

  “When I first attended Shakespeare Santa Cruz’s production of Henry IV, Part 1 in 1984, I was skeptical,” Sharon said. “I had heard that Paul Whitworth played Henry IV in a Boy George costume and that Falstaff rode a motorcycle and wore leathers. I didn’t know what to think! But, it was amazing. I was hooked for life. I brought a friend who had taken Shakespeare in college and hated it. Even he liked it!”

  Sharon’s been a theater fanatic since high school, but her early experiences were much more conservative.

  “In high school, we’d take field trips up to ACT (American Conservatory Theater) and by my senior year of college I was a season ticket holder. Even my vacations centered around theater,” she said. “I traveled to Ashland and London for theater.”

  Sharon still enjoys traditional theater, but admires that Shakespeare Santa Cruz and Shakespeare-to-Go offers our community a much more accessible kind of theater. “To people who tell me Shakespeare is ‘too highbrow,’ I tell them, ‘bring your picnic; bring your wine.’ The redwood glen is a magical place,” she said.

  Sharon is most passionate about bringing live theater to children. While serving on the Board from 1997-2002, she chaired the education and outreach committee. “I want to bring live theater to kids in schools so that they can enjoy this very different art form. If you connect them early with theater … it’s just so different than television or film … it will enrich their entire lives.”

  Sharon wanted to preserve Shakespeare Santa Cruz for future generations. When her parents passed away, she was the sole beneficiary of her parents’ real estate holdings.

  “My folks bought their house in Santa Cruz in 1973 and I sold it in 2006. I realized that with my inheritance, I needed to make my own estate plan. I don’t have any children or brothers or sisters that I’d need to support. So, I’m designating organizations and causes that are important to me. Shakespeare Santa Cruz is at the top of that list. It was such a great experience to be able to figure that out. Including an estate gift is a wonderful opportunity to make an impact,” she said.

  Sharon is also a dedicated annual donor to Shakespeare Santa Cruz, often co-sponsoring a performance in the Mainstage Theater. She is helping to secure professional theater for the Santa Cruz community, now and into the future.

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  1st row, L-R: cousins Madaline Ritter, Clayton Ritter, Adaline Roll, Turner Roll; 2nd row, L-R: sisters Julia Ritter, Galen Roll; Standing: parent/grandparents Galen & Henry Hilgard, son-in-law Gunnar Roll

  Henry & Galen Hilgard:
  The Family that Plays Together 

  Meet the Hilgards, three generations of art lovers who make Shakespeare Santa Cruz their summer playground. Grandparents Henry, a UC Santa Cruz Professor Emeritus of Biology and Galen, a biologist and artist, both “grew up surrounded by art in its many forms,” and have shared this passion with their family. Daughters Julia Ritter and Galen Roll (along with their sister Addie) were active in Santa Cruz middle and high school theater, music, and arts. The next generation, Turner and Adaline Roll and Madaline and Clayton Ritter, continue the tradition. Adaline, a dedicated audience member like her brother and cousins, is also an actor and was a rabbit and a field mouse in The Wind in the Willows (‘08), a co-production of the UC Santa Cruz Theater Arts Department and Shakespeare Santa Cruz.

  Every summer the Hilgard clan, in various configurations, enjoy multiple performances. “Shakespeare Santa Cruz has been a joy to us in pulling together our young ones,” said Galen and Henry. What keeps them coming back are “the consistently excellent acting and the beautiful and unique natural setting of the outdoor theater in the Glen that makes for utterly spectacular and unique three-dimensional performances.” They appreciate repertory casting, seeing actors in two roles, “playing completely different characters - all in the time frame of a single festival summer."

   

  Topping off their Shakespeare Santa Cruz Experience, Galen and Henry are committed donors. “Our first gift reflected our own deepening interest in Shakespeare and honored our daughters (and their children) in their interest and participation in theater."  The Hilgard family also appreciates donor benefits, especially early notices about events and staff assistance with ticketing.

  “Shakespeare Santa Cruz is a vital part of Santa Cruz and is a great way for UCSC to give back to our community, and we like to encourage that,” said Henry and Galen.  “It is a superb professional company that has the appealing goals of clarifying Shakespeare and his plays, making them accessible, and making them great entertainment.”

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  David Kaun (left) and former Shakespeare Santa Cruz Artistic Director Paul Whitworth.

  Photo credit: Sandor Nagyszalanczy

  David Kaun:
  Doing Good Through Philanthropy

  You can read the story of David Kaun’s life through his philanthropy: his passion for music; his commitment to education, teaching, and students; and the sheer joy he takes in giving back. “It’s wonderful fun,” he said in describing his experiences as a donor. “I’ve helped some students, which is really a great pleasure. I’ve seen the value in all the support I’ve given.”

  In 2011, David made the lead gift for the Shakespeare Teen Access Tickets (STAT) program. STAT is designed to increase youth exposure to professional productions of Shakespeare's plays. Thanks to David’s idea and his generous gift, tickets to a Shakespeare Santa Cruz production are offered to participating groups free of charge.

  A devoted and generous donor to UC Santa Cruz since joining the economics faculty in 1966, David marvels at the synchronicities that shaped his life and influence his giving. As a nine-year-old in Cleveland, he went to a music store with his father and announced he wanted to learn the saxophone. “No you don’t,” said the clerk, “you want to play the clarinet.”

  “This tells you something about how good people have been a real influence in my life,” said David. “He was absolutely right.” Mastering the greater precision required for the clarinet meant David could easily learn the saxophone as well. Perhaps the clerk also intuited the young boy’s potential: David outgrew his first teacher in less than six months, studied with symphony clarinetists in Cleveland and Los Angeles, and put himself through college by leading his own dance band. “I never stopped playing the clarinet,” said David.

  His passion for music is a cornerstone of his philanthropy. David’s major gifts to UCSC include the David E. Kaun Music Scholarship Endowment, providing an annual merit-based scholarship to attract an outstanding student to the music program; a commitment of three years funding, for two merit scholarships per year, for the UCSC Resident String Ensemble; the Albert and Sara Kaun Chamber Music endowment at the University Library, honoring his parents and supporting purchases including CDs and music scores; composer sponsorships for the Shakespeare Santa Cruz Festival and Holiday Show; underwriting the classical music program for the Arts & Lectures series, sponsoring the local “Music in May” concert series, and much more.

  In recognition of his support for the arts, David was one of the 2010 recipients of the Gail Rich Award, which honors the artists and arts supporters of Santa Cruz County.  In response, he commented, "aside from the great pleasures I derive from my small family, this award was one of the nicest things that has ever come my way."

  David likes to say that “I’m an economist by profession, but a clarinetist by temperament,” and his considerable talent and commitment to music has led to some remarkable opportunities. He attended the first season of the UCSC Pacific Rim Music Festival and was so impressed he became a festival supporter. UCSC associate professor of music and festival artistic director Hi Kyung Kim surprised David by inviting him to perform the clarinet in a piece composed in his honor at the next festival.

  “It was phenomenal,” said David, describing the debut of “Duo 5-5-05,” which he performed with its composer, clarinetist John Sackett. David was thrilled to share the festival program with performers including the Kronos Quartet and also to see his economics students in the audience.

  A recipient of student support during his graduate work at Stanford University, David was inspired to endow a graduate student award after working with teaching assistants Garrett Milam and Matthew McGinty. “They were absolutely magnificent,” said David, “so I decided I would do something in their honor, to recognize them.” The Milam-McGinty-Kaun Award is given annually to two graduate students, one from the Economics Department and one from another Social Sciences department, who are outstanding teaching assistants.

  David’s work as an economist and teacher and his support of the arts mutually influence and inform each other. In fact, his commitment to the arts was reinforced by a serendipitous experience at a professional conference. Attendees were invited to see the play A Walk in the Woods, which is based on a true incident that occurred at the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. Two negotiators, an American and a Russian, take a break from the bargaining table and, while finding an agreement elusive, do find their common humanity while taking a walk together. “We came out of that play tremendously moved,” said David, “I said to myself then, if there’s going to be any understanding in the world among people, it’s going to come through the arts and humanities.”

  David has brought the arts into his teaching through two economics classes: “Money and the Arts: Two All-Consuming Passions” and “Value and Support of the Arts: Challenges and Opportunities in American Society.” The latter featured guest lecturers from all aspects of arts production and funding, including the Turtle Island String Quartet, a classical string group. “The students got an hour of playing and talking with the quartet,” said David, “and it just blew their minds.”

  While preparing to teach another economics class, David came across “Wealth,” an article by Andrew Carnegie. It argues there are three basic actions individuals can take with surplus wealth: leave it to their families, and run the risk of “ruining” their children; leave it to the government, and be unable to control how it is used; or spend it and give it away during their lifetime, an action Carnegie called “the true antidote for the temporary unequal distribution of wealth.”

  “That made eminent sense to me,” said David. “I do believe that the only intelligent thing to do with your money is to spend it in the ways you want, and to do some good in the process.” For David Kaun, that includes his generous support of the arts, education, and students at UC Santa Cruz.

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  Kathy Kenan and Alan Daniel:
  Playgoers from Paradise

  How far would you go for great theatre? For Kathy Kenan and Alan Daniel, the answer is 2,500 miles. For six years these dedicated Shakespeare Santa Cruz supporters have made an annual, whirlwind trip from their home in Kalaheo, Hawaii on the island of Kauai, organizing their trip around seeing all the summer season plays.

  “It is the quality and originality of the Shakespeare Santa Cruz presentations, the beautiful sylvan setting, and the opportunity to share a loaf of bread and a jug of wine in the Glen with lots of interesting people that keeps us coming back,” said Alan. “Also, Shakespeare Santa Cruz gives us another excuse to partake of all the other great things Santa Cruz has to offer.”

  Alan and Kathy have also been Team Shakespeare donors for 17 consecutive years. They joke that they are donors out of “self-interest”. “We want to be able to continue enjoying Shakespeare Santa Cruz, and not have to travel any farther! There just aren’t that many cultural events the quality of Shakespeare Santa Cruz, so we want to ensure its continued existence.”

  When Kathy and Alan began attending and donating, they were Santa Cruz locals. “We first heard about the newly formed Shakespeare Santa Cruz in the early 1980s from Hal and Perky Hyde of Watsonville, who heartily recommended it,” said Alan. “After attending our first performance we were hooked.”

  So hooked, in fact, that they became long-distance supporters after Kathy retired from a 20-year career at Granite Construction in Watsonville, CA, and Alan became an H&R Block franchise owner in Hawaii.

  They have fond and strong memories of favorite past productions: “Titus Andronicus haunting the Glen at night with blood curdling screams and flickering shadows against the redwoods from the light of the blazing torches; and Paul Whitworth’s arachnid Richard III, spinning his web of deceit, are some of our truly memorable experiences,” they recalled.

  The Shakespeare comedies made a big impression on Kathy and Alan as well. “We loved the madcap Chautauqua-style Comedy of Errors with its opening-scene bicycle-built-for-five wildly careening down the hill; the “twins” frenetically changing glasses and windows; and the stately courtesan with the yellow dress and boa commanding the stage.” They also enjoy the Shakespeare Santa Cruz productions of modern playwrights and works by Shakespeare’s contemporaries.

  “Shakespeare Santa Cruz offers thought-provoking world-class entertainment in a gorgeous setting – and (for most) it’s local,” said Kathy. “Take it from two who have to travel 2,500 miles to find it, it’s worth supporting!”

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  Jennifer Walker:
  It’s All in the Family – and the Community

  Jennifer Walker might be proof that theater appreciation can be inherited. “My mother, Julie Trahan, is responsible for my love of theatre,” says Jennifer. “My first recollection of Shakespeare Santa Cruz dates from 1989 when my mom took me to Romeo and Juliet. I was 19 years old. Sitting beneath the redwoods watching a play written 400 years ago with such relevant topics is mind blowing, a one-of-a-kind experience.”

  The family love of theater includes Jennifer’s sister, Jessica Bond. Jessica began attending Shakespeare Santa Cruz as a nine year old, received a UCSC Theater Arts degree, and now works for Shakespeare Santa Cruz.

  Raised in Santa Cruz County from the age of five, Jennifer has a 20-year career in real estate. In 2008 she became a local business owner, taking over Network Mortgage, whose motto is “Doing Well by Doing Good.” Jennifer knows that despite a challenging economy her business and Shakespeare Santa Cruz continue to thrive with community support. “I stepped up with my first donation to Shakespeare Santa Cruz in 2008 and became a performance sponsor in 2009.” She is committed to the community she describes as “so supportive of my career.”

  Jennifer believes that Shakespeare Santa Cruz helps make the community unique. “There is nothing like sitting in the Glen with a bottle of wine, a gourmet picnic and wonderful friends. I’ll continue to support Shakespeare Santa Cruz in whatever manner I’m able.”