This spring, the DeKalb County Community Foundation awarded $129,600 in Farny R. Wurlitzer Foundation Fund Grants to support music education. Funding benefited 25 nonprofit and public sector organizations in DeKalb County and throughout the greater Chicagoland area.

The Wurlitzer Company was one of the largest musical instrument companies in the United States, with a primary manufacturing location in DeKalb. The Farny R. Wurlitzer Foundation was established in the 1940s and became a Fund of the Community Foundation in 2012. Today, the Farny R. Wurlitzer Foundation Fund Grant is one of several grantmaking programs at the Community Foundation.

“Thank you to all of the grantees for advancing music education in our region and for this opportunity to provide support for your work,” said Community Foundation Grants Director Jolene Willis. “It is an honor to continue the legacy of the Farny R. Wurlitzer Foundation by awarding grants from this Fund, and we appreciate the Fund’s Board of Advisors for making these impactful funding decisions.”

Farny R. Wurlitzer

DeKalb County recipients:

• Cor Cantiamo – $1,500 to provide music education outreach programs
• Children’s Community Theatre – $6,000 to support summer musical theater camps
• Just Make It Happen – $7,500 to support the Artist in Resident performance program
• Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra – $12,500 to support music education and performance outreach
• NIU – College of Visual and Performing Arts – $4,000 to provide need-based scholarships for a music program
• NIU – School of Music – $5,000 to support outreach performances of traditional Mexican music by Mariachi NIU
• Sycamore Music Boosters – $2,100 to provide instruments for Sycamore elementary schools

Greater Chicagoland area recipients:

• Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education – $7,500 to support an after-school music program
• Chicago Center for Music Education – $4,000 to provide access to music education for Chicago Public School elementary students
• Chicago Human Rhythm Project – $5,000 to support music classes and student field trips
• Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras – $4,000 to support ensemble and community engagement programs
• Child’s Voice – $2,000 to provide The STREAMM Project curriculum and experiences
• Wheaton College – Community School of the Arts – $5,000 to provide music instruction to under-resourced students
• Elgin Master Chorale, Inc. – $6,000 to provide a 4^th-6^th grade music education program
• Holy Family Ministries – $3,000 to support the school’s music program
• Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra – $5,000 to support a music education program in Chicago’s Southland suburbs for economically disadvantaged students
• JCC Chicago – $10,000 to support a musical performance of Violins of Hope
• Lawrence Hall Youth Services – $5,000 to support a music therapy program
• Music Will (formerly Little Kids Rock) – $3,000 to train new CPS teachers in music
• Music of the Baroque – $5,000 to support Strong Voices Arts Learning Program
• Orion Ensemble – $5,000 to support an educational partnership program
• Special Gifts Theater – $3,500 to support the Musical Theatre Program
• Charles Singers – $2,500 to provide a choral workshop for teens on ensemble singing
• VanderCook College – $10,500 to provide music education to low-income neighborhoods
• Walther Christian Academy – $5,000 to purchase new and gently used band instruments

Learn more about Farny R. Wurlitzer Foundation Fund Grants >

Donations to any Fund at the Community Foundation can be made online or by mail to the DeKalb County Community Foundation, 475 DeKalb Avenue, Sycamore, IL 60178. For questions or additional information, please contact grants@dekalbccf.org. Questions or inquiries specifically about the Farny R. Wurlitzer Foundation Fund Grant can be directed to the Fund’s Board of Advisors Chairperson, George Buck, at george@dekalbccf.org. 

Pictured above:  A 2023 Farny R. Wurlitzer Foundation Fund Grant to Just Make it Happen supports music education in the local community.