The Music School of Delaware in Wilmington has announced a $10 million gift from a trust established by Mary Ellen Northrop in support of scholarships.

The largest gift in the school’s history will establish the Mary Ellen Northrop Endowed Fund for Music Education. The fund will provide need-based scholarships for students in preschool through high school who are studying early childhood music, band, or orchestral instruments, as well as students of piano, organ, and voice.

Northrop, who died at the age of 78 in June 2021, had a deep love of music and participated in music programs at local churches. She had worked as a reference librarian at the University of Iowa and Douglass College of Rutgers University, a supervisor of the technical services department at Plainfield Public Library in New Jersey, a budget analyst at the Erie, Pennsylvania General Electric Company, and a financial analyst and income tax analyst at the DuPont Company.

“This magnanimous gift will enable the Music School to extend its standard-setting individual and group instruction to families who otherwise could not participate,” said Music School of Delaware president and CEO Kate Ransom. “We are so grateful to Mary Ellen Northrop for leaving a legacy that will make a profound difference in the lives of young musicians in Delaware.”

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