The DeKalb County Community Foundation awarded $131,700 in Farny R. Wurlitzer Foundation Fund Grants to support music education this fall. Grants benefited 30 nonprofit and public sector organizations in DeKalb County and greater Chicagoland. (Pictured: Genoa-Kingston music teachers Brian Drews and Kaitlyn Andrews accept a $7,900 grant from DeKalb County Community Foundation representatives Charlie McCormick and Jolene Willis. The grant benefits Genoa-Kingston schools with new music equipment and repairs.)

“This grant makes possible the continuation of summer community concerts that bring our rural community together,” says Hinckley Historical Society President Bob Pritchard. “It will also provide music programs for the Public Library Summer Reading Program to encourage children to learn to play an instrument.”

DeKalb County recipients:

• Genoa-Kingston CUSD 424 – $7,900 for new high school band chairs, Orff instrument repairs, and to purchase new Orff instruments for the elementary school
• Hinckley Historical Society – $5,000 to support individuals interested in playing a musical instrument
• Indian Creek Elementary School – $2,800 to purchase ukuleles
• St. Mary School – DeKalb – $6,500 to provide percussion instruments for students

Greater Chicagoland area recipients:

• American Indian Center, Inc. – $5,000 to conduct a Native Youth Drum and Song workshop
• Center for Enriched Living – $3,000 to provide music education for people with disabilities
• Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre – $2,500 to underwrite professional musicians
• Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble – $4,000 to create 30 new classes in schools and community centers
• Chicago Jazz Philharmonic – $4,000 for jazz instruction in Chicago Schools and the Jazz Academy
• Chicago Philharmonic Society – $7,500 to support an in-school six-week mentorship program for underserved junior high and high school music students
• Chicago Sinfonietta – $3,500 to provide music education in three Chicago public and two DuPage County schools
• Child’s Voice – $2,000 to arts and music education curriculum for children with hearing loss
• Classical Kids Music education – $4,000 to pay for a collaboration with the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra
• Elgin Master Chorale, Inc. – $6,000 to support a Black American music concert
• Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra Inc. – $5,000 to support no-cost music instruction (Starter String initiative)
• Elmhurst Choral Union – $2,000 to support four section leaders and student conductors
• Glenwood Academy – $2,500 for repair costs and purchasing of new instruments
• Guarneri Hall NFP – $2,500 to provide free chamber music performances
• Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra – $5,000 to support the Youth Music Institute
• Illinois Valley Central Music Education Program – $2,000 to support a scholarship program
• Intonation Music – $5,000 to support programming through 2025
• Maywood Fine Arts Association – $5,000 to provide student scholarships
• Merit School of Music – $3,000 to support music education for 27 low-income schools
• Music Institute of Chicago – $5,000 to provide tuition free lessons for Suzuki string students
• Musical Arts Institute – $3,000 to support programs where funding was cut
• Rockford Symphony Orchestra – $5,000 to conduct an annual youth concert
• Snow City Arts Foundation – $10,000 to support music education for pediatric patients
• Southland College Prep Charter High School – $5,000 to provide a strings program instructor
• The People’s Music School – $5,000 to support music education for 85 students
• Young Naperville Singers – $3,000 for needs-based scholarships

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.

For questions or additional information, please contact grants@dekalbccf.org. Please direct questions or inquiries about Farny R. Wurlitzer Foundation Fund Grants to the Fund’s Board of Advisors Chairperson George Buck at george@dekalbccf.org.