In May 2026, the DeKalb County Community Foundation awarded $126,500 in Farny R. Wurlitzer Foundation Fund Grants to support music education. The grants benefited 16 nonprofit and public sector organizations in DeKalb County and the greater Chicagoland area. Pictured: Suzuki instructor Ann Montzka Smelser leads a group violin lesson at the NIU Community School of the Arts.

“Everyone at the NIU Community School of the Arts is incredibly grateful to the Community Foundation for this generous grant,” said Joshua Anderson, Director of the Community School of the Arts. “These funds will help ensure that students and families with financial need can experience the lifelong joy and benefits of music and art.”

DeKalb County recipients:

• DeKalb High School – $17,600 to support the purchase of new percussion instruments and equipment for the marching band
• Genoa-Kingston Middle School – $14,200 to purchase a vibraphone and equipment for the Genoa-Kingston Middle School concert band, choral ensemble, and jazz band
• Indian Creek High School – $17,000 to purchase a new set of timpani
• Just Make It Happen – $7,500 to fund an artist in residence program serving DeKalb County school children
• Kishwaukee College Foundation – $3,000 to purchase percussion instruments for class use and private instruction
• Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra – $14,000 to support the Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s outreach program
• NIU – Community School of the Arts – $5,000 to fund need-based scholarships for participants
• Northern Illinois University – School of Music – $8,200 to support staffing costs for the Graduate String Quartet’s educational outreach programming in DeKalb County schools
• Opportunity DeKalb – $3,000 to support hands-on music instruction for children and youth in DeKalb’s Annie Glidden North neighborhood
• Sandwich School District-High School – $15,000 to support the purchase of new marching band uniforms
• Sones de Mexico Ensemble – $4,000 to support free educational multimedia concerts in DeKalb County
• Sycamore Music Boosters – $10,000 to purchase alto recorders and a bassoon for Sycamore public schools

Greater Chicagoland area recipients:  

• Chicago Human Rhythm Project – $2,500 to purchase instruments for expanded music programming at the Mayfair Arts Center
• Child’s Voice – $2,500 to support music education for students with hearing loss
• Special Gifts Theater – $2,000 to support a therapeutic, educational musical theatre program
• Spirito! Singers – $1,000 to support partial and full scholarships for Spirito Singers

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 Fund plays a vital role in the Foundation’s grantmaking efforts by supporting music education.

Applications for the next round of Farny R. Wurlitzer Foundation Fund Grants open July 1.

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.