By Judy Carmack Bross
Rachel Barton Pine with daughter Sylvia Pine and Strings Department Chair Sang Mee Lee
“The mission of the Music Institute of Chicago was alive at the 2024 Gala. The Music Institute is about striving for excellence in music teaching and securing the resources to share that excellence with diverse communities. Spectacular performances, stellar honorees, and generous contributors made for a very successful and very inspiring evening.”– Music Institute of Chicago President and CEO Mark George
(l to r) Music Institute Board Chair Emerita Alexandra C. Nichols; 2024 Colburn Award recipient Erica Anderson; 2024 Cultural Visionary Award recipients John and Fran Edwardson; Dushkin Award recipient Marcus Roberts; and Music Institute President and CEO Mark George
Magnificent music celebrated decades of dedication to music education and performance at the recent Music Institute of Chicago annual Gala benefit at the Four Season Hotel Chicago. Raising more than $900,000 and attended by nearly 270 guests, the evening included the presentation of the David and Dorothy Dushkin Award to Marcus Roberts, the Richard D. Coburn Award for Teaching Excellence to Erica Anderson and the Cultural Visionary Award for Chicago to Fran and John Edwardson.
Dushkin honoree Marcus Roberts
(l to r) Patrick Kim and Michelle Lee, Carey August, Marta Aznavoorian, Brett August, Yoo Mi Hahn, and Sun Wha Kim. Photo by Layne Dixon.
Guests followed a New Orleans marching band into dinner, and gifted pre-college students in the Institute’s Academy performed piano and strings pieces along with faculty. A surprise performance by Dushkin Award winner Marcus Roberts capped the evening.
Gala Leadership (l to r): Co-Chairs Courtney Holohan (Winnetka), Tao Zhu and Weihua Ye (Chicago), Carlos R. Cardenas (Chicago), and David Zampa (Evanston) with Dushkin Awardee Marcus Roberts (middle).
Tristan Zhu, violinist and Academy Merit Scholarship Fellow
Key sponsorship for the 2024 gala was provided by Patron of the Arts sponsors: The Edwardson Family Foundation; Grand Benefactors: the John D. and Alexandra C Nichols Foundation and John Fife. Benefactors included CDW; Karen Z. Gray-Krehbiel and John H. Krehbiel, Jr; Courtney Holohan and Wesley Mueller; ITW; Northern Trust; Mr. and Mrs. Patrick G. Ryan; Barbara Speer and Christopher Noon; Scott and Areta Verschoor and KPMG; and David and Eileen Zampa and Sidley Austin, LLP.
John and Fran Edwardson , 2024 Cultural Visionary Award Recipients
NOLA Band (l to r) Dick Daugherty, James Davis, Don Stiernberg, and Audrey Morrison. (second row – Darren Scorza)
Proceeds from the gala support excellence in teaching and performance and providing funds for financial aid and scholarships, tuition-free community engagement and neighborhood-based service activities. Each year the Music Institute reaches thousands of people of all ages from nearly 100 Illinois communities.
MIC Academy Quartet Meraviglia: (l to r) Lauren Kim, Elle Cho, Lucy Wu, and Emily Chen
(l to r) Luke Sznajder, Lexi Smolic, Laurie Agnant, Jessicalynn Spencer-Ramirez, Dani Stecyna, Qiana Nelson, and Zachary Lawhorn
All photos by Ana Miyares Photography LLC except where indicated.
For more information on the Music Institute of Chicago, visit musicinst.org
