Carol Colburn Grigor, previously Carol Hogel, is an American philanthropist and former concert pianist who has donated more than $40 million by one estimate and £100 million by another to the arts in Britain and Ireland. Carol Grigor was raised in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

where she was taught piano and recorder at her school. She studied music at

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

and

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

Universities. She played in chamber music concerts before marrying her first husband whose work with the United Nations Development Fund took them both to Africa. Her father Richard D. Colburn, an entrepreneur who loved classical music, made a fortune that now ranks the Colburn family as the 193rd richest in the US. It donated to the arts and founded the ''Dunard Fund'', which Colburn Grigor helps to run (the name Dunard is from a house that she and her then husband owned in Aberfeldy, Scotland). She was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) for her support for the arts. She has been responsible for patronage of the Edinburgh International Festival, the London Philharmonic Orchestra,

Scottish Opera Scottish Opera is the national opera company of Scotland, and one of the five national performing arts companies of Scotland. Founded in 1962 and based in Glasgow, it is the largest performing arts organisation in Scotland. History Scottish ...

and the

Nation A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective Identity (social science), identity of a group of people unde ...

al Galleries of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. Her father built a multimillion-dollar electrical company and was an amateur viola player. He was a director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the benefactor of the annual Colburn Celebrity Recitals, a co-founder of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and a generous backer of the Los Angeles Opera as well as other musical organizations in Los Angeles and worldwide. He also founded the

Colburn School The Colburn School is a private music school in Los Angeles with a focus on music and dance. It consists of four divisions: the Conservatory of Music, Music Academy, Community School of Performing Arts and the Dance Academy. It is located adjac ...

of performing arts in Los Angeles. Colburn Grigor, through her family trust, the Dunard Fund, has donated a substantial amount of money to causes ranging from the Edinburgh International Festival, National Galleries of Scotland, National Library of Scotland and Britain's major opera companies. She serves on the board of the Colburn School, and in 2015 established an endowed piano chair with a $5 million gift. She is also the president of Colburn foundation. Major orchestras such as the London Philharmonic, the Scottish

Scottish Chamber Orchestra The Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO) is an Edinburgh-based UK chamber orchestra. One of Scotland's five National Performing Arts Companies, the SCO performs throughout Scotland, including annual tours of the Scottish Highlands and Islands and S ...

and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra have benefited from her support. She has also made a major contribution to the UK arts. Carol Colburn Grigor performed in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

as a touring concert pianist. She was honored by being appointed as honorary vice-president of the

Edinburgh International Festival The Edinburgh International Festival is an annual arts festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, spread over the final three weeks in August. Notable figures from the international world of music (especially european classical music, classical music) and ...

in 2013. Grigor pledged £40 million to a project to turn Edinburgh's Old Royal High School into a music school, rather than re-developing it as a hotel. She is a recipient of the Prince of Wales' medal for arts philanthropy and the Chevalier de l' Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2018 she was elected a Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In 2019 she and her husband Murray Grigor moved their home from Scotland to Dublin, Ireland because of changes in the UK tax laws.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colburn Grigor, Carol Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American classical pianists American philanthropists American expatriates in Scotland American expatriates in Ireland American expatriates in England Honorary Commanders of the Order of the British Empire