In October 2025, the DeKalb County Community Foundation awarded $130,900 in Farny R. Wurlitzer Foundation Fund Grants to support music education. The grants benefited 25 nonprofit and public sector organizations in DeKalb County and the greater Chicagoland area. (Pictured: Foundation representatives Deborah Booth and Sara Nickels present a grant award letter to History Center Executive Director Michelle Donahoe.)

“The DeKalb County History Center is honored to be a recipient of Farny R. Wurlitzer Foundation Fund grant,” explained Michelle Donahoe, executive director of the DeKalb County History Center. “This grant will provide the seed money to kick off the musical programming at the History Center’s new corn crib venue.”

DeKalb County recipients:

• DeKalb County History Center – $10,000 to support the purchase of equipment for a newly developed music performance space and launch a summer concert series
• DeKalb School District – Huntley Middle School – $15,500 to purchase percussion instruments for student use
• Hiawatha High School – $7,500 to build the school’s inventory of band instruments
• Indian Creek Elementary School – $2,300 to purchase Drums Alive curriculum and materials
• Indian Creek Middle School – $7,600 to purchase percussion instruments for student use in lessons and classes

Greater Chicagoland area recipients:  

• Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble – $4,000 to support music classes and performance at Daniel Webster and Johnson Schools
• Chicago Jazz Philharmonic – $5,000 to support music and band instruction for students in Chicago schools
• Chicago Master Singers – $3,000 to support a 2-day intensive music education residency
• Chicago Philharmonic Society – $2,000 for an in-school mentorship program benefiting underserved junior high and high school music students in Chicago and Skokie.
• Classical Kids Music education – $4,000 to support 2026 Chicago Expansion Initiative programming and educational outreach
• Elmhurst Choral Union – to present Carmina Burana and support an educational capstone for 100+ youth singers
• Experimental Sound Studio – $2,500 to present a free workshop series at Chicago’s Experimental Sound Studio
• Glenwood Academy – $2,500 to support staffing cost for a school music education program
• Illinois Conservatory for the Arts – $4,000 to provide theater training scholarships to low-income and underserved students
• Intonation Music – $5,000 to supportmusic education for Bronzeville students in grades 3-12
• Maywood Fine Arts Association – $5,000 to fund a financial assistance program for low-income music students
• Merit School of Music – $5,000 to support a music instruction program for students in Chicagoland schools and community centers
• Music in Urban Schools Inspiring Change – $3,000 to support free, local, conservatory-style programming to youth on Chicago’s west side
• Music Institute of Chicago – $4,000 to provide essential resources to participants in the tuition-free Third Coast Suzuki Strings Program
• Musical Arts Institute – $3,000 to support programs that provide quality music education in communities where this opportunity is lacking
• Snow City Arts Foundation – $10,000 to provide standards-based music education programs for pediatric patients in Chicago hospitals
• Southland College Prep Charter High School – $5,000 to support costs for a beginning strings education program at Southland College Prep Charter School
• The People’s Music School – $5,000 to support intensive, tuition-free music education to students facing financial barriers
• VanderCook College – $10,000 to purchase musical instruments for use by middle school-aged participants
• Young Naperville Singers – $4,000 to support need-based scholarships for participants

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, it remains an important part of the Foundation’s grantmaking efforts in support of music education.

Applications for the next round of Farny R. Wurlitzer Foundation Fund Grants open January 1. Full details include eligibility and guidelines.

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