We are honored to announce that the 2025 Maestro Award will be presented to Larry and Florence Adamson at PRIMO25 in January, a distinction they so richly deserve. Through Larry’s leadership as a director, the Connie Hillman Family Foundation and Hillman family support have provided over $40 million in charitable grants to more than 200 Tucson non-profit organizations. These include endowing in perpetuity the Tucson Symphony’s Connie Hillman Family Foundation Trumpet Chair, in addition to sponsoring special artist concerts for the past eight years and most recently the TSO Masterworks series. The Adamsons also personally support the Tucson Symphony’s annual fund and endowment fund, as well as other Tucson arts and other organizations.
Larry has helped to advance the arts community in Tucson by serving on many boards including Tucson Symphony, Tucson Museum of Art, University of Arizona Foundation, Community Foundation for Southern Arizona, Tucson Airport Authority, Tucson Medical Center Foundation, Rotary Club of Tucson, and Rotary Club of Tucson Foundation. Florence currently serves on the Board of Ballet Tucson.
A Tucson native, Larry served in the US Navy before earning his law degree at the University of San Francisco. After meeting and marrying Florence in California, the couple relocated to New York where Larry attained his Masters in Tax Law at NYU. Larry credits Florence, with her love of the arts, for becoming TSO season ticket holders following his return to Tucson, and they have remained loyal subscribers for more than 50 years. They say,” life without the arts would be a life not worth living.”
PRIMO
Since 2018, the Tucson Symphony Orchestra’s most enthusiastic supporters have come together to shine a spotlight on the organization’s commitment to artistic excellence, diversity, partnership, and education. Principal musicians take center stage and share their passion with an exclusive, intimate audience, making for performances unlike any other during the season! The evening culminates with the presentation of the Maestro Award, given annually in recognition of significant contributions to the TSO, and the premiere of a musical composition by a participant of TSO’s award-winning Young Composers Project.