By Nicarlyle Hanchard and Jacqueline Arroyo / Jambar Contributors
The Dana School of Music’s Crescendo Campaign received a $300,000 gift from Flor “Shorty” Navarro on Feb. 14.
The donation will support the Elba Navarro Youngstown Community Music Project, providing students from Youngstown City School District with music lessons from Dana students.
The YCSD lessons are a part of the Youngstown State University String Project, and the funding will support the creation of a community-based music initiative. The String Project gives middle and high school students in the area the opportunity to visit YSU and study with university students.
Tiffanie Thomas, endowment stewardship coordinator at the YSU Foundation, said YSU hosts several scholarships in honor of the Navarros, but music is a new area of support.
“Knowing that Dana was in need of help and wanting to honor his wife, I believe that’s how the fund came about,” Thomas said.
Joseph Carucci, director of Dana and University Theatre, oversees the department’s activities and performances. Since joining YSU in 2021, he’s navigated program closures while securing endowments for initiatives, such as music lessons for YCSD students.
“This endowment was super generous and it’s going to help us move into the city schools with our students,” Carucci said. “Our students are going to be able to teach some lessons to the high school and possibly middle school musicians that are in the city schools.”
Before receiving the endowment, Carucci said he contacted the head of YCSD’s art department to outline the program’s goals, ensuring their interest as a benefit to the program.
In a press release from the YSU Foundation, Bruce J. Zoldan, chair of Dana Crescendo Campaign, said the arts are important to the Youngstown community and that he is grateful for the gift in Elba Navarro’s honor.
“This gift will allow for the impact of the Dana School of Music to go beyond the boundaries of Youngstown State University,” Zoldan said.
Currently, music education students are responsible for teaching lessons, as their major prepares them for a comprehensive curriculum that includes applied studio instruction, courses in composition and songwriting, as well as opportunities in performance and conduction. However, there are still opportunities for other Dana students to give lessons.
“Our performance students would be very qualified to do this as well and using this endowment we can go through that process,” Carucci said. “It will go through a vetting process, so our music education professor plus myself will kind of go through an interview process and make sure anybody that’s teaching is qualified.”
Carucci added that the program would be highly beneficial for students, as it gives them the opportunity to teach in schools. Additionally, they will gain hands-on experience and apply concepts from their classes.
Thomas said she believes the fund will strengthen the relationship between Dana, YSU and the Youngstown community.
“It will help keep Dana in the hearts and minds of people in the community,” Thomas said. “If you didn’t participate in the music program or [attend] YSU, you might lose sight of Dana’s and the legacy they’ve had as part of YSU.”
Although the endowment does not reinstate discontinued programs, Carucci said it will help shift the department’s narrative.
“Demonstrate that the Dana School of Music is not going away, it’s not going anywhere,” Carucci said. “We’re very strong, strong members of the community … what it does is it helps shift our narrative and make sure that we are staying in a positive light moving forward.”
The program will start in January 2026, as the Crescendo Campaign aims to expand Dana’s reach and legacy with a goal of $15 million over seven years and currently no end date. Thomas said she anticipates it will exceed expectations.
“Hopefully this campaign can go above and beyond what it needs to to keep the school going,” Thomas said.