This fall, the DeKalb County Community Foundation awarded $124,900 in Farny R. Wurlitzer Foundation Fund Grants to support music education. Grants benefited 25 nonprofit and public sector organizations in DeKalb County and throughout the greater Chicagoland area.

“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

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.

DeKalb County recipients:

• Community Coordinated Child Care – $2,400 to purchase music education music supplies
• Hinckley Historical Society – $5,000 to provide concert and music information programs
• Jazz in Progress – $3,000 to support a concert series
• Opportunity House Inc. – $7,500 to support a music therapy program

Greater Chicagoland area recipients:

• Center for Enriched Living – $2,500 to support a music education program
• Cerque Rivera Dance Theatre – $2,500 to support the Inside/Out program
• Changing Worlds – $4,000 to support music education to under-served classrooms in Chicago
• Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble – $4,000 to expand music programming
• Chicago Jazz Philharmonic – $4,000 to support Jazz Alive
• Chicago Philharmonic Society – $4,000 to support an in-school mentorship program
• Chicago Sinfonietta – $2,000 to a music education program
• Classical Kids Music Education – $4,000 to support school musical performances
• Elgin Symphony Orchestra – $4,000 to support musicians for school programs
• Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra – $5,000 to support youth music lessons
• Elmhurst Choral Union – $3,000 to support student conductors
• Fulcrum Point – $3,000 to support music programs
• Ghostlight ETC – $3,000 to provide free voice lessons
• Guarneri Hall NFP – $3,000 to perform chamber music performances
• Intonation Music – $4,000 to support music enrichment programs
• Lincoln Elementary PTA – $2,000 to provide music education supplies
• Maywood Fine Arts – $5,000 to support music scholarships
• Merit School of Music – $3,000 to support Music in Communities program
• Musical Arts Institute – $3,000 for music instruction and outreach programs
• Rockford Symphony Orchestra – $5,000 to support youth concerts
• Snow City Arts Foundation – $10,000 to support music education in hospitals
• Southland Charter High School – $7,500 to support string instrument education
• Storycatchers Theatre – $8,000 to support music education for incarcerated youth
• Peoples Music School – $2,500 to provide music education for children
• Walther Christian Academy – $5,000 to repair musical instruments to loan
• Young Naperville Singers – $2,000 for a choral music education event
• Youth Crossroads, Inc. – $2,000 to provide music lessons

Learn more about Farny R. Wurlitzer Foundation Fund Grants >

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 recent Wurlitzer Grant to the Sycamore Education Foundation provided support for the NIU Steel Band held workshops for Sycamore High School music students and a concert for all high school students to learn about the steelpan instrument and experience Caribbean music.

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.