This morning, with city officials and the entire faculty of Los Angeles City College in attendance, The Los Angeles City College Foundation announced a $10.1 million gift from The Herb Alpert Foundation, creating an endowment that will provide tuition free attendance at LACC to all music majors. This is the largest gift ever for a Southern California Community College.

Herb Alpert and his wife, Lani Hall, were in attendance at the announcement along with Rona Sebastian, president of the Herb Alpert Foundation. The Herb Alpert Foundation, a non-profit private foundation established in the 1980s supports the Arts, Arts education, Music and Jazz education and performance. The Foundation’s 22^ndannual Herb Alpert Awards for the Arts recently honored a series of mid-career artists in a variety of disciplines with $75,000 grants.

Mayor Garcetti sent a videotaped message in which he proclaimed the Foundation’s gift as “truly a historic moment for this campus.” Revealing that his own grandfather had been both a musician and had attended LACC, Garcetti thanked Herb Alpert and Lani Hall as “two angels who made this day possible.”

“The vast majority of our students are from underserved communities and faced with enormous financial challenges as they strive to attain their academic and career goals,” said Robert Schwartz, executive director of the Los Angeles City College Foundation, in a press release prepared for the event. “This generous gift from the Herb Alpert Foundation allows these talented students to focus on their studies while pursuing their individual pathways towards successful careers in the music industry.”