UALR Department of Music has created a $19,000 endowment to honor Little Rock music patroness Mary Fletcher Worthen to support the University’s instrumental music program.

The Mary Fletcher Worthen Endowment will establish a basis for the development and growth of an orchestral program, attracting talented students interested in pursuing instrumental performance and education.

This program will also be essential in supporting the opera and choral activities of the University.

“The creation of this endowment to honor Mary Worthen is befitting as she and her late husband, Booker, were among a group of friends that helped establish a chamber music series back in 1953,” said Karen Bryan, chair of UALR’s Department of Music. “Mrs. Worthen’s involvement in the local music scene extends to the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, where the “Mary Fletcher Worthen Endowed Conductor’s Chair – Youth Orchestra” was established by Mary’s family and friends to honor her commitment to the symphony.”