Abby and Mitch Leigh (at left) were on hand when President Richard C. Levin and School of Music Dean Robert Blocker announced that the school's building at 451 College St. has been named in the couples honor.

School of Music building now named Leigh Hall

President Richard C. Levin has announced that Yale is naming one of its buildings in honor of Abby and Mitch Leigh. The School of Music building at 435 College St. will be named Abby and Mitch Leigh Hall, in recognition of the Leighs' long-term support of the school. The building houses administrative offices, faculty studios, student practice rooms and a recital hall. It will undergo extensive renovations as part of the University's comprehensive plan to improve its music facilities. Work on Sprague Hall is already in progress; renovation of Leigh Hall, Stoeckel Hall and Hendrie Hall will follow in sequence. The announcement was made during the School of Music's Opening Concert and Convocation on Sept. 6 in Battell Chapel. "We are delighted to recognize Mitch and Abby Leigh, who have been such good friends and generous supporters of Yale and the School of Music," said Levin. "It is a special pleasure to honor one of the school's most accomplished graduates." "This is the most important honor I have ever received. Gratitude is what I feel," said Leigh, who earned his bachelor's degree in music from Yale in 1951 and his master's in music in 1952, studying with Paul Hindemith. Best known as the Tony Award-winning composer of "Man of La Mancha," he is also a producer, director and businessman. In 1957 he formed Music Makers, Inc., a radio and television commercial production house at which he is creative director. The agency has won every major award within the advertising industry. Leigh produced and directed Yul Brynner's farewell tour of "The King and I," for which he received a Tony nomination as best director. He also composed and coproduced "Cry for Us All," "Sarava," "Chu Chem" and "Ain't Broadway Grand." Among Leigh's distinguished awards are the Drama lCritics Circle Award, the Contemporary Classics Award from the Songwriter's Hall of Fame for "The Impossible Dream" and the first Yale Arts Award for Outstanding Achievement in Musical Composition. He is the only living composer whose work was included in the Metropolitan Opera's Centennial Celebration. Leigh previously endowed the Keith Wilson Scholarship at the School of Music. Abby Leigh is a painter. In 2000, she had three solo shows of her art in France, at galleries and museums in Paris, Nice and Tarascon. Her work has been exhibited in Milan, Rome, Venice and Sabbioneta, Italy, under the patronage of the United States Consulate. She participated in "Art in America: 2000," a group show of 48 artists -- including Chuck Close, Sol LeWitt and Cindy Sherman -- at the American Embassy in Bratislava, Slovakia. In 2001, Leigh will exhibit her work at the Midtsøwderjyllands Museum in Denmark. She is currently preparing for a show that will open in November at the Accademia dei Georgofili in the Uffizi Palace in Florence, Italy. She exhibits regularly at the Maxwell Davidson Gallery in New York. Paintings by Leigh are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and the Hunt Institute of Botanical Documentation in Pittsburgh. The Yale School of Music is a graduate professional school that trains students from all over the world in the study, composition and performance of virtually every type of music. Yale students and faculty present over 400 concerts and recitals before the public every year. The school, a charter member of the National Association of Schools of Music, limits its enrollment to 180 students and maintains a faculty of 60, ensuring close individual attention to every student. Music education at Yale began in 1855, with the appointment of Gustave Jacob Stoeckel as instructor of church music and singing. In 1889 a department of music was established which became the School of Music in 1894. Both bachelor's and master's degrees were granted until 1958, when the school became a graduate professional institution. T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S Final Tercentennial weekend will include convocation, Bowl gala Entrepreneur-environmentalist Edward Bass named Yale trustee University announces major enhancements to financial aid School of Music building now named Leigh Hall Yale AIDS vaccine shows promise for humans Faculty honored with Amistad Freedom Awards Michael Merson named Lauder Professor of Public Health Two scientists are appointed to Bliss Professorships in Public Health Michael B. Bracken Brian P. 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