Anonymous ‘Santa Belles’ thank PSO musicians with gift cards
Some ladies who lunched had an idea to bring some brightness to the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra at a time when COVID-19 has been making things look so dark.
With more than 120 concerts canceled and colleagues furloughed or laid off, PSO musicians and staffers have all taken 30% pay cuts and are continuing to perform here and there online.
While fundraising has gone surprisingly well as donors have stepped up, the pandemic also forced the cancellation of the annual Symphony Splendor Holiday House Tour, which had been held for the past six years.
In October, chairperson Cathy Trombetta was having lunch out, when such a thing wasstill possible, with nine of her fellow volunteers, talking about how bad everything is. She shared the idea of making a holiday card to send to the musicians, who always are so generous about volunteering to perform at the holiday houses. The women lovedthe idea.
Mrs. Trombetta had just gone to a Starbucks for coffee. So she suggested sending each of the musicians $10 gift cards. All in the group loved the idea except one. She said, “Ten dollars isn’t enough. Let’s make it $20.”
And so they did it, pooling their own money — not taxdeductible, they knew — to make, fill and mail the cards. It was about $2,000.
Mrs. Trombetta donated the cover artwork: a painting that the late great Pittsburgh artist Nat Youngblood did of the late great Schmertz mansion that used to stand at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Craig Street in Oakland before it was torn down. When Mr. Youngblood painted a view of the manse, circa 1875, in the 1970s, Mrs. Trombetta suggested her friend spruce it up to be the cover of the late great Roto Sunday magazine section of the late great Pittsburgh Press on Dec. 23, 1979. The newspaper noted how Mr. Youngblood researched glass company owner Robert C. Schmertz and learned that “he was outgoing and gregarious, a music lover and prone to giving festive parties — particularly at this time of year.”
Mrs. Trombetta’s husband, Robert, bought her the painting for a Christmas gift, and it still hangs in their Peters home, year-round. She loves it. She believes the musicians will, too.
“It’s just going to bring all the memories and good feelings about the house tour,” she said of the card. Inside it says:
The holiday music Touches our hearts and Stirs memories of the magic
Our beloved PSO musicians
Bring to the season. From our homes to yours, Happy Holidays!
The Symphony Splendor House Tour Committee and Docents
These volunteers, who wish to remain anonymous other than the nickname “the Santa Belles,” mailed 90 of the holiday cards and gift cards on Dec. 11. They even sent one to the PSO’s music director, Manfred Honeck.
“This is our feel-good little story,” says Mrs. Trombetta. “The nice thing about volunteering for the symphony ...
you build up a nice relationship.”
Many of the musicians have responded to the cards.
“It made me smile and cry at the same time!!,” emailed principal cellist Anne Martindale Williams.
The kindness “helps enormously during these times,” emailed principal flutist Lorna McGhee, noting she misses the connection with the orchestra and the community. “This kind of connection is the fabric of who
we are in Pittsburgh.”
Watch the Sunday Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for goodness, a new section with more stories like this — about good people doing good things. It starts Jan. 3. We welcome suggestions from readers about good stories and good people and other good news. Email us at goodness@postgazette.com.