Announcing the "Jill Ward Principal
Conductor-in-Resdience"
Music in the Mountains is deeply honored to announce the receipt of an extraordinary estate gift in the amount of one-million dollars from the late Ms. Jill Ward, a longtime supporter, past Music in the Mountains board president, and cherished member of our community.
This remarkable contribution will have a lasting impact on our mission to produce an exceptional summer music festival with musicians of the highest caliber.
We have been waiting for the right time to make this important announcement and properly celebrate this transformative gift and the beautiful legacy that Jill Ward has left behind.
We miss her cheerful smile and quick wit every day and know that she would be very proud of what she has enabled us to do with her incredible gift.
Read on to learn more about Jill, and how her legacy gift is being used to transform and grow our organization.
Jill was born and raised in New York City and graduated from the University of Michigan. She returned to New York and started a career working in publishing at Random House and Alfred A. Knopf in public relations. After “dabbling” in advertising for a few years, she eventually became Program Coordinator for the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies and got her first taste of Colorado.
She returned to New York, married, and raised three stepsons. Her work eventually led to real estate, and for over 20 years she was a partner in a small advisory firm offering real estate expertise to corporations in preparing and implementing long term strategic planning. Some of her major clients included T. Rowe Price, Scholastic Books, the Metropolitan Transit Authority, and the Museum of Modern Art.
Jill first came to Durango in 1991 to visit a friend who was one of the founders of Music in the Mountains. From that moment on she knew Durango was the place for her. Jill visited often, and after 9/11, she moved to Durango permanently in 2002.
She spent much of her time volunteering for various organizations including The Ranch Homeowners Association Board of Directors, Mesa Verde National Park, and the San Juan Basin Archeological Society. In addition, she sang in the Mancos Valley Chorus and the Women’s Prerogative (a barbershop group).
Over the course of many years, Jill volunteered for Music in the Mountains in several different capacities, including as board president in 2015 – 2016. Jill passed away in 2022 at age 78 after a long battle with cancer.
Jill Ward’s generous legacy gift has enabled Music in the Mountains to make the momentous decision to hire longtime friend of the festival and internationally acclaimed violinist, Vadim Gluzman, to serve as the new Artistic Director.
Universally recognized among today’s top performing artists, violinist Vadim Gluzman is acclaimed for his appearances with the Berlin Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, London Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw under Riccardo Chially, Christoph von Dohnányi, Tugan Sokhiev, Santtu-Matias Rouvali and other leading conductors.
Gluzman’s industry-wide esteem and extensive network will help heighten awareness of our organization’s profile both nationally and internationally.
In honor of Jill’s gift, Music in the Mountains has named the annual Principal Conductor-in-Residence the “Jill Ward Principal Conductor-in-Residence.” The 2025 season’s Jill Ward Principal Conductor-in-Residence will be the incredibly talented Daniel Raiskin, Principal Conductor of the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra in Bratislava, Music Director of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra.
We are profoundly grateful for Jill’s generosity, vision, and commitment, and look forward to continuing to share her legacy and love of the arts for years to come.
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