Hoping for Wild Success in the Unknown Future
With more than 500 recording and production credits to his name, Bob Lord, CEO of PARMA Recordings and bass player for experimental rock trio Dreadnaught, knows about music. And although we don’t always associate constancy with musicians, Bob is a pillar of commitment. He’s been a member of our Board of Trustees since 2013, and Dreadnaught has been the house band for Writers on a New England Stage since 2005. Bob is also a member of the 1878 Legacy Society, a group committed to ensuring The Music Hall’s continued vitality and sustainability by including us in their estate plans. We are lucky to have friends like Bob who are planning for gifts today that will provide significant benefits to The Music Hall in the future. Gail VanHoy Carolan, our Director of Institutional Advancement, has asked Bob to share what this means to him.
What inspired you to join the 1878 Legacy Society?
The Music Hall was here before me, I believe it will be here long after me, and I want to help ensure it remains a vital institution in our community for many years to come. As a musician, I’m accustomed to thinking beyond my own lifetime—what artist doesn’t hope for wild success in the unknown future when we’re gone?—and making a tangible contribution to the Hall as a part of my estate planning is a natural and logical extension of that perspective.
How has The Music Hall impacted your life?
I have been a member of The Music Hall team since 2005, and I’ve also been an active participant in the Seacoast arts scene since arriving here in 1996. It was then that I formed Dreadnaught, which later became the Writers on a New England Stage house band, but my engagement with the wider community as a whole actually began when I became a part of this family. As a Board member, I have experienced firsthand the massive amount of effort by each and every person involved with the Hall, effort which is constantly and consistently necessary to sustain and advance the mission. Seeing so many different people from so many walks of life all come together in the service of this amazing venue is nothing short of inspirational.
What are the benefits of the 1878 Legacy Society?
To me, the 1878 Legacy is about our culture, our quality of life, the connective tissue of our community, and contributing to its ongoing flowering. I believe this program benefits everyone who lives here, everyone who visits here, everyone who has yet to come here. I have invested more than two decades of my life in this community, and the community has invested in me for just as long in return. With planned giving for The Music Hall, I can have an impact over time and space—it’s practically a superpower. Who wouldn’t want a superpower?
How do you think this affects the community as a whole?
Society is a fragile thing. The social contract we all communally enter needs to be perpetually maintained, ceaselessly supported, and enduringly reinforced with persistent care and attention, and the same is true of the institutions, businesses, and people who collectively make us who we are. The Music Hall has been and will continue to be a leader in these efforts, and I urge others to join me in supporting not just this institution but the entire Seacoast community.
If you’d like to invest in the future of The Music Hall, we invite you to consider joining the 1878 Legacy Society. Gifts of any amount make a difference; please contact Gail VanHoy Carolan, Director of Institutional Advancement, at 603.766.2174 to learn more.