Why We Give: Dianne and J. David Rosenberg
Music Director Designate Cristian Mӑcelaru, Cheryl Huddleston, Dianne Rosenberg and J. David Rosenberg (Credit: Claudia Hershner)
From full concerts at Music Hall to small pop-up performances in local neighborhoods and everything in between, our generous and dedicated donors, sponsors and concertgoers make it all possible. This series shares the special stories behind why our donors give to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops. While each donor has a different reason, their passion for this Orchestra is a constant.
To join our family of donors online, visit cincinnatisymphony.org/donate or contact the Philanthropy Department at 513.744.3271.
by Tyler M. Secor
As the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra warms up for an evening subscription concert, a young child, likely in second or third grade, enters Music Hall for the first time. The child’s quirky and unique aunt, who was also an exceptional teacher and taught at North Avondale School, had brought her to the concert.…
So began Dianne Rosenberg’s journey with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. She recalls being “absolutely mesmerized by the vastness of Music Hall and the sound of the Orchestra…. Well, it’s something I will never forget.”
But Dianne’s first CSO concert had another memorable moment. “I was so excited,” recalls Dianne, “that I kicked the seat of the person in front of me. They turned around to my aunt and said ‘would you please tell your daughter to stop kicking me?’” Nevertheless, it was the “awe” of the evening that Dianne remembers most and can “still feel when I talk about that evening.”
Several decades later, Dianne is now Chair of the Board of Directors of the Orchestra and, alongside her husband, David, they have made significant gifts that will sustain the CSO long into the future.
David didn’t grow up in Cincinnati; instead, he spent his formative years in Lexington, Kentucky. And in his late 20s, he came to know Music Hall through the American Financial Group’s annual holiday party, which continues to be held at Music Hall to this day.
“The hall was awesome,” remarks David. “There were some years when AFG would have the CSO as the entertainment and I would occasionally buy CSO concert tickets for a date night. But, when I started dating Dianne, she exposed me more regularly to the CSO.”
Admittedly, David’s classical music education is limited, but “Dianne has done her best to teach me the culture of classical music,” he says.
“How am I doing?” Dianne asks jokingly.
David laughingly replies, “Dianne finds it frustrating, but I tell her that it is not the teacher, but the student.”
This is quintessential David and Dianne: lively and witty repartee filled with starry-eyed love for each other and for their individual and shared passions.
“The CSO has obviously given Dianne such immense pleasure,” remarks David, “and I have enjoyed the partnership with her as we’ve attended as season subscribers. The CSO has enriched our lives immensely.”
Starting in 2012, Dianne took her love of the Orchestra beyond being a season subscriber to a service position as a Director on the CSO’s Board. Then, one morning in 2021, Dianne received a phone call from Rob McDonald, then-Chair of the Board, asking to meet with her later that afternoon. “I really didn’t know what he wanted, but I knew it had to be related to the Orchestra,” recalls Dianne. “I was absolutely floored when Rob told me that the Board wanted me to be the next Chairperson. I mean, I actually cried because I didn’t expect it, and it was a big deal.”
Dianne began her tenure as Chair in 2022, a term that wraps up at the end of this season. To honor her time as Chair, David told Chief Philanthropy Officer Mary McFadden Lawson he wanted to do “something significant.”
David has a history of doing “something significant” for organizations that the couple love and for whose mission they value. In 2020, David gave a historic gift of $20 million to his alma mater, the University of Kentucky Law School, now named the J. David Rosenberg College of Law. At the announcement of his gift, David said, “There is a saying that ‘education is an unfinished symphony. We make music to stir hearts and minds, to force us to remember, and to compel us to commit to each other and to ideas larger than ourselves. We invest in education to honor those upon whose shoulders we stand who made our success possible, but also as an investment of faith in the future, the idea that what these students will compose and create as lawyers and leaders — ideas, laws and public policy — will deepen not only our understanding of the law, but how our society can be more just.”
The Rosenbergs also have a history of supporting the Orchestra, not just with their time and energy, but also through philanthropic giving. “For Dianne’s 70th birthday,” states David, “we endowed a chair in the first violin section.” During the renovation of Music Hall, the Rosenbergs provided a significant contribution resulting in the naming of the “Dianne and J. David Rosenberg Green Room.” For the 125th anniversary season of the CSO, the Rosenbergs underwrote the commission of Christopher Rouse’s Sixth Symphony — the last piece Rouse finished before his death.
Commissioning a piece of music was a new endeavor for the Rosenbergs, so what did they feel when they heard the piece for the first time? “Emotional,” Dianne recalls with an obvious catch in her voice. David echoes her sentiments. The CSO went on to record Rouse’s Sixth Symphony, which the Rosenbergs play regularly at home.
And now, in honor of Dianne’s tenure as Chair, the Rosenbergs have decided to give $10 million to establish the Dianne and J. David Rosenberg Innovation Fund, which is designed for the “CSO to experiment, take risks and expand the boundaries of what’s possible in orchestral music,” says Dianne.
Innovation? Expand boundaries? Haven’t orchestral music and orchestra concerts been the same as they’ve always been?
As a longtime member of the CSO community, Dianne can firmly say, “No, it’s not the way it’s always been. And it’s not going to be what it is today, 10 years from now. I don’t think I could even imagine what it’s going to be. What is really important to David and me is that this is not just about the here and now. The CSO needs to continue to look over the horizon — to be cutting edge. I’m confident that this organization will do that.”
“In 30 years, I hope the CSO as an organization is doing some things that are dramatically different from what they’re doing today,” remarks David. “And that they’re still occasionally doing the Rouse Symphony, and it sounds as dramatic in 30 years as it did the first time we heard it.”
“That’s a great way to put it,” agrees Dianne.