By K.D. Norris
ken@wktv.org
The term “patron of the arts” is name-dropped often, but there are few people who it more aptly applies to than the late Stella Royce. With her late husband, Chuck, Stella spent decades generously advocating for and directly supporting arts and culture in West Michigan.
One of those arts organizations to benefit from the couple’s patronage was St. Cecilia Music Center — as evidenced by the beautiful renovated Royce Auditorium at the center, to name only the most obvious contribution.
So it is appropriate that St. Cecilia’s 2020 Helen DeVos Legacy Award will honor Stella at its 2nd annual gala, a sold-out event to be held at the music center Saturday, March 7, during Women’s History Month — also appropriate as St. Cecilia came into being in 1883 under the leadership of several local women.
“Stella was a vital force in the leadership and vision of St. Cecilia Music Center for over 60 years, and she and her husband, Chuck Royce, consistently promoted and supported St. Cecilia Music Center,” Cathy Holbrook, St. Cecilia executive director, said in announcing the award. “Stella and Chuck Royce also generously supported other arts organizations including the Grand Rapids Symphony, Opera Grand Rapids, Grand Rapids Ballet, as well as many others. … Stella was truly one of the great patron saints of St. Cecilia Music Center and led a life of service to the arts.”
St. Cecilia held the first annual Helen DeVos Legacy Award Gala in 2019, honoring the first recipient and namesake of the award, the late Helen DeVos. The award is now presented each year during Women’s History Month “to a woman who has helped expand the cultural life of our community and has shown exemplary service to the arts.”
Hearing stories of Stella, both from Holbrook and Charlie Royce, one of several relatives of Chuck and Stella who will be in attendance at the gala, it is clear the woman appreciated the arts and enjoyed life.
“I believe that Stella immediately fell in love with St Cecilia from the first day she visited,” Charlie Royce said to WKTV. “Since she passed away, I have spent a lot of time discovering how Stella became an artist in the first place. Because of her childhood I do not believe music or art was even an option for her. Only in high school did she become exposed to music through singing in the choir at Greenville High School.
“I tend to think this opportunity was perhaps her first place to escape to from a turbulent past into something beautiful. By the time she got to St. Cecilia, she knew that music could provide this same beauty to others that maybe struggled like she did. Thus all the programs for children and support for anyone that wanted to pursue their talent. And to have the means to provide it at a place like SCMC made for a perfect match.”
Royces’ long history with St. Cecilia
Chuck’s history with St. Cecilia actually predates Stella’s.
“Chuck’s mother and grandmother had been involved at SCMC since 1913,” Holbrook said to WKTV. “Chuck grew up roaming the halls of the building while his mother and grandmother performed, went to committee meetings and helped organize various events. So, you could say that SCMC was in Chuck’s blood.
“When Stella met Chuck, her own love of music naturally drew her to the organization that his family had been so involved in for so many years and she took up the cause as wholeheartedly as his mother and grandmother had done. Chuck and Stella were at all events and concerts (at St. Cecilia). In fact, as their health declined and they were not attending events at SCMC regularly any longer, it definitely felt like something was ‘missing’. … We all wished that she could be here to receive it herself but, both Charlie and Maria are musicians themselves and recognize the impact that their parents had on this organization.”
And Chuck and Stella’s “impact” on St. Cecilia goes far behind the perfect acoustics of the renovated auditorium.
“During the renovation in the (19)70’s, the decision was made to make the auditorium handicap accessible,” Charlie said. “My folks turned this into an opportunity by suggesting the Great Artist Series. The series featured world renowned artists and opened with Izsak Perlman, who was at the time the most recognized violinist in the world who also happened to be handicapped.
“Also, after my folks retired and moved to downtown, they became a kind of welcoming committee of two for whomever just moved to Grand Rapids to head a corporation or take over as a president of a bank or college,” he said. “Through casual conversation my folks would learn of their interests, be it in architecture, the arts, cultural history, education … (and) every tour involved a stop at St Cecilia … Chuck and Stella totally recognized the importance of connecting people with something they could participate in and since they were new in town, St. Cecilia became the first place they connected with”
Proceeds from the Helen DeVos Award Gala honoring Stella Royce will help support St. Cecilia Music Center’s artistic performances, its varied music education programs for youth and adults, as well as preservation of the center’s historical building.
St. Cecilia Music Center is the oldest performing arts organization in West Michigan, according to supplied material, began in 1883. Nine women, led be Ella Matthews Pierce, gathered that year to form a society to promote the study and appreciation of music in all of its branches, and to encourage the development of music within the community. They chose to name the new organization after Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music.
In the late 1880’s the members began planning for a building of their own, designed by prominent Chicago architect Henry Ives Cobb, who was a protégé of Carnegie Hall’s architect, William Burnet Tuthill. The building, which currently stands at 24 Ransom Ave., in downtown Grand Rapids, opened to the public in 1894, and is the only building in the United States built by women and has operated solely for the purpose of music.
For more information about St. Cecilia Music Center visit scmc-online.org.
