If you’ve spent any time at the Flint School of Performing Arts, you’ve probably been privileged to witness that special moment when something clicks. An indelible flash of recognition when a young performer steps onto a stage and realizes they belong there.

For the last 50 years, Davin Pierson Torre has inspired many of those moments.

This September, Torre, currently the VP of performing arts instruction, will retire from FIM, leaving behind a legacy that has shaped generations of students and helped define what FSPA is today.

Her earliest years were spent teaching and performing, joining the Flint Symphony Orchestra in 1976, and joining the performing arts school faculty the same year. Over time, she became a conductor, a mentor, and, in 1995, Director of FSPA.

Under her leadership, the school has grown from 1,800 to more than 4,000 students. Programs expanded. Partnerships strengthened, both locally and across the world. Students traveled the globe and performed on some of its greatest stages. And through it all, one belief remained constant: none of it is possible without universal access to arts education.

With this in mind, Davin helped create the Seeing Stars! Tuition Assistance Fund nearly 30 years ago, working to ensure that cost would never stand in the way of opportunity. During that time, FSPA has hosted the Seeing Stars! Benefit each February, bringing together local restaurants, student performers, and supporters of arts instruction, in the name of access and opportunity.

Today, roughly half of FSPA students receive tuition assistance, which totaled over $300k in distributed funds last year.

To both honor and perpetuate her life’s work, FIM is establishing the Davin Pierson Torre Seeing Stars Legacy Fund to support students for years to come.

Membership giving levels start at $5,000 and will be recognized on a permanent display in the Dort Music Center Atrium. But gifts of any amount are welcome and meaningful, because Davin’s work does not end here.

A half-century of creating access to the arts is a legacy that should be revered, and we are so proud of the impact Davin leaves behind. Perhaps more importantly, we acknowledge that what she has built lives on in every FSPA student who has or will experience art in a way they never thought possible.

Share your memories!

Were you a FYSO musician under Davin’s baton? An FSPA faculty member in the last 30 years? A parent of FSPA students? Or one of Davin’s fellow musicians in the FSO? A member of her family? One of her friends?

We want to hear from you! Share a story or reflection, or simply send Davin off with well-deserved congratulations after an astonishing half-century at FIM.

(It will also help us keep you in the loop about an upcoming opportunity to celebrate her retirement in September!)