SLSO names expanded midtown campus after the late Jack C. Taylor; Powell Hall to retain its name

By Eric Dundon

When the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s expanded and renovated home reopens in September 2025, it will bear the name of the most impactful SLSO patron in its 145-year history. The SLSO’s campus in Grand Center will be named in honor of the late Jack C. Taylor—the longtime SLSO patron, philanthropist, champion of St. Louis, and founder of Enterprise Mobility.

The Jack C. Taylor Music Center, as the venue will be known, unifies new and renovated spaces to create an international music destination in St. Louis that makes music accessible to all, better serves the needs of the community, and helps shape the orchestra of the future. It includes Powell Hall, whose name will continue to define the existing 1925 building under renovation and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A 64,000-square-foot expansion—designed by internationally acclaimed lead architecture firm Snøhetta and architect of record Christner Architects—will include a new lobby and public spaces, an Education and Learning Center, and a backstage wing to support more than 400 musicians across four SLSO ensembles and guest artists.

“The new Jack C. Taylor Music Center will be transformational for the SLSO and for St. Louis, welcoming all to experience the power of live music and serving the community to which Jack Taylor so generously gave throughout his life,” said Marie-Hélène Bernard, SLSO President and CEO. “We are honored to remember Jack and celebrate his legacy in this way—and remain immeasurably grateful for his visionary belief in the greatness of St. Louis and the SLSO.”

Taylor’s visionary leadership and philanthropic support over nearly 25 years was instrumental in ensuring the excellence of the SLSO. In 2000, Taylor boldly gave a $40 million challenge grant to establish the St. Louis Symphony Endowment Trust, inspiring an outpouring of community giving that set the SLSO on a path to financial stability, and established a nationally recognized endowment funding model. At the time, Taylor’s endowment gift to the SLSO was the largest single philanthropic commitment to an American orchestra, saving the institution from the brink of bankruptcy.

Taylor firmly believed in the importance of the SLSO to St. Louis and through his generosity rallied the community to sustain and protect its place among the nation’s finest orchestras. His leadership gifts to the SLSO endowment and programs continued until his death in 2016.

“No individual patron in the long history of the SLSO has had a greater impact on the success of the orchestra than Jack Taylor,” said Steven L. Finerty, SLSO Board Chair.

Born in St. Louis in 1922, Taylor graduated from Clayton High School before attending Washington University’s Olin Business School. After the December 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor, Taylor left school to enlist in the U.S. Navy and was stationed on the USS Enterprise, which would become the most decorated warship of World War II. His work as a Hellcat pilot earned him the Navy Air Medal and two Distinguished Flying Crosses. In 1957, he founded Executive Leasing Company, which was later renamed to Enterprise in 1969 in recognition of the aircraft carrier on which he served.

It is estimated that Taylor personally gave more than $1 billion to local organizations during his lifetime, including Forest Park Forever, Washington University in St. Louis, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, and many more.

“It is fitting that our new Music Center will bear his name, a tribute to an extraordinary leader and friend,” Finerty said.

Taylor’s philanthropic legacy continues through the leadership and service of his family and through the ongoing generosity of the Crawford Taylor Foundation, which he founded in 1997 to support the improvement of the St. Louis region. A $30 million gift from the foundation supports Music For All, the SLSO’s $155 million fundraising campaign that supports the creation of the Music Center.

“Dad loved St. Louis, and he made it his mission to give back to the city that had been so good to our family,” said Jo Ann Taylor Kindle, daughter of Jack C. Taylor and Chairperson of the Crawford Taylor Foundation. “It was important to him to ensure that St. Louis would continue to enjoy an internationally recognized orchestra.”

The Jack C. Taylor Music Center is expected to open in September 2025 in time for the SLSO’s 146th season and the centennial of Powell Hall.

Eric Dundon is the SLSO’s Public Relations Director.