CLEVELAND - The name Smucker has been good for the Cleveland Orchestra, and just got a whole lot better.

On Wednesday, Richard and Emily Smucker announced a pledge to the orchestra of $15 million, the couple's largest single gift ever and the second largest gift to the orchestra in recent history.

"We really believe that music matters, that it can help society," said Richard Smucker, executive chairman of the J.M. Smucker Co. and the new president of the orchestra's board of directors.

"We have a real love for music and what the Cleveland Orchestra has done for this community over the years."

The gift, second in size only to a $20 million gift from the Maltz Family Foundation in 2010, is earmarked for several distinct purposes.

Twenty percent of the gift, or $3 million, is designated as a challenge or matching grant, meaning the Smuckers will donate $3 million when other patrons collectively give that much as well.

"People love to see their dollar go further," said Andre Gremillet, the orchestra's executive director. "It's a very attractive proposition."

The family also has chosen to support the orchestra's endowment, artistic programming, and educational initiatives. With specific regard to the latter, Smucker said he's pleased by the orchestra's recent efforts - notably its ongoing "Prometheus Project" - to transform its audience, and aims with his gift to help accelerate that process.

Music education in public schools is "not what it used to be," Smucker said. Therefore, he said, if the now 100-year-old orchestra is to endure and thrive, it has an obligation to do the work of instilling interest in young people. Gremillet himself said the orchestra has much more to do in that regard.

"If you encourage young people with music, they'll be inspired to keep music in their lives," Smucker said. "What the orchestra's doing really connects with what we [at the J.M. Smucker Co.] believe in. There's great alignment."

Large as it is, Gremillet said the Smucker's $15 million gift is simply the first step toward establishing "financial wherewithal." If the orchestra is to succeed long-term, he said, many more gifts of all sizes will be required.

Meanwhile, Gremillet said he's thankful not only for the Smucker family's financial backing but for its dedication as well. Its legacy of support already goes back decades. Now that relationship projects far into the future.

"We're honored and grateful that they've shown such confidence in this organization," Gremillet said. "But it's not just the money. The support of a family like that is very powerful. The commitment is just incredible."