TXST receives $1 million donation for new School of Music building

Texas State University announced it received a $1 million donation to help fund the construction of a new School of Music building on its San Marcos campus. 

Sisters Shannon FitzPatrick, of San Marcos, and Kathleen FitzPatrick, of Georgetown, contributed the donation. Texas State said the $1 million contribution moves the university closer toward its goal of constructing a new music building that reflects the national reputation of its students and faculty in conjunction with its $250 million NEXT IS NOW capital campaign.

Texas State University President Dr. Denise Trauth said through decades the FitzPatrick family has generously supported the university not only through monetary contributions but with their talents and service. 

“It was their family’s deep ties to Texas State that inspired Kathleen and Shannon to establish this $1 million quasi-endowment that will create the momentum needed to bring our new music building to life,” Trauth said. “The FitzPatricks have set us on a trajectory that will elevate the student experience in our School of Music to new heights. We are incredibly grateful and moved by their support.”

Texas State said its current music building began as a gymnasium that was converted in 1983 and originally intended for 200 music students. The university’s School of Music, however, has seen dramatic growth with 30 music ensembles, the 350-member Bobcat Marching Band, symphony orchestra, 12 smaller instrumental ensembles, six choral ensembles, four jazz bands, two salsa bands, two mariachi groups, opera and rock ensemble. Music students are accepted after completing a competitive audition process, the university said. Additionally, Texas State faculty members have won 10 Grammy awards and 14 Grammy nominations to date.  

Texas State said its new music building would serve nearly 600 music majors and over 80 faculty members who are currently spread across five buildings on campus. The facility would contain classrooms, studios, faculty offices, rehearsal and practice rooms, music research and innovation labs and a student lounge in approximately 110,000 square feet of space, the university stated.  

Texas State said the FitzPatrick family has held a long-standing relationship with the university, which spans through three generations. Merry Kone FitzPatrick — Shannon and Kathleen’s mother — graduated from what was then Southwest Texas State Teachers College in 1942. Merry taught for four decades in the university’s Department of History as an associate professor, the university said, adding that she was recognized and awarded as one of Texas State’s finest teachers. 

Shannon and Kathleen both followed in their mother’s footsteps and attended Texas State. Shannon worked at the university as its Attorney for Students and the coordinator for the Leadership Institute for two decades. Shannon co-chaired the 2017-2018 Common Experience theme on justice and retired from the university in 2019. Shannon’s son, Lewis, is currently a senior majoring in criminal justice and set to graduate in May, Texas State said. 

In 1983, the endowed Lewis Woods Kone Jr. Choral Scholarship was established by Merry and her brother, Robert Kone to honor their late brother, who was a Texas State alumnus and a music educator. Robert Kone was a founding member of the Texas State Gamma Phi chapter of a national fraternity for music students. The family later established the Merry Kone FitzPatrick Endowed Scholarship in 1997 and Shannon recently  established a permanent endowment to fund the Lewis Woods Kone Junior Music Scholarship, Texas State said.