Music Institute of Chicago Hosts Annual Gala Benefit Next Month

Celebrating its decades of dedication to music education and performance, the Music Institute of Chicago will host its Annual Gala Benefit on Monday, May 20 at 5:30 p.m. at Four Seasons Hotel Chicago, 120 E. Delaware Place, Chicago. Event highlights include the presentation of the prestigious Dushkin Award to Marcus Roberts, the Cultural Visionary Award for Chicago to Fran and John Edwardson, and the Colburn Award for Teaching Excellence to Erica Anderson.
 
Gala leadership includes Honorary Chairs Karen Z. Gray-Krehbiel and John H. Krehbiel, Jr., and Scott and Nancy Santi and Co-Chairs Carlos R. Cardenas, Courtney Holohan and Wesley Mueller, David and Eileen Zampa, and Tao Zhu and Weihua Ye. Key sponsorship support for the 2024 Gala Benefit is provided by Patrons of the Arts Fran and John Edwardson and Grand Benefactor Alexandra C. Nichols. Benefactors include CDW, Karen Z. Gray-Krehbiel and John H. Krehbiel, Jr., Courtney Holohan and Wesley Mueller, ITW, Northern Trust, Barbara Speer and Christopher Noon, Scott and Areta Verschoor and KPMG, David and Eileen Zampa and Sidley Austin, LLP, and more.

Proceeds from the Annual Gala Benefit support excellence in teaching, upholding a standard and tradition centuries in the making, and provide the single-largest source of funds for financial aid and scholarships, tuition-free community engagement, and neighborhood-based service activities. Each year the Music Institute positively impacts thousands of individuals of all ages and backgrounds from nearly 100 Illinois communities and scores of Chicago neighborhoods.
 
The evening begins with a private cocktail reception, followed by an elegant dinner featuring performances by Dushkin Award honoree Marcus Roberts and Music Institute students and faculty and a ceremony honoring the 2024 award recipients, all celebrating the Music Institute’s vision of cultivating a lifelong relationship with music for everyone.

Established more than 30 years ago and named for the Music Institute’s visionary founders Dorothy and David Dushkin, the Dushkin Award recognizes international luminaries in the world of music for their contributions to the art form as well as to the education of youth. Previous award honorees include Marin Alsop, Hilary Hahn, Zubin Mehta, Wynton Marsalis, Stephen Sondheim, Maestro Riccardo Muti, and Yo-Yo Ma, among others.
 
This year’s Dushkin Award recipient Marcus Roberts is a highly acclaimed modern jazz pianist, composer, and educator who has graced the Music Institute of Chicago’s Nichols Concert Hall stage with the Marcus Roberts Trio for years. He is known for his ability to blend jazz and classical idioms into something wholly new and his unique approach to jazz trio performance, which relies on all musicians sharing equally in shaping the direction of the music by using a system of musical cues and flexible forms to change its tempo, mood, texture, or form. He is the founder of the Modern Jazz Generation, a multi-generational ensemble that is the realization of his long-standing dedication to training and mentoring younger jazz musicians. Roberts is also an accomplished composer who has been commissioned by Chamber Music America, Jazz at Lincoln Center, ASCAP, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and the Savannah Music Festival. He is an associate professor of music at the School of Music at Florida State University and holds an honorary doctor of music degree from The Juilliard School.

The Cultural Visionary Award for Chicago recognizes individuals who make an indelible impact on the community through their philanthropic, civic, and cultural leadership. This year’s honorees, Fran and John Edwardson, are longtime supporters of the Music Institute and have made significant contributions in Chicago, Florida, and internationally. They currently investing their time and support in nonprofits including Advance Illinois, the American Red Cross, Boca Grande Health Clinic Foundation, Greater Chicago Food Depository, Habitat for Humanity, The Island School Foundation, Lincoln Park Zoo, Music Institute of Chicago, Rush University Medical Center, the University of Chicago, Writers Theatre, and WTTW. They are especially proud of the John A. Edwardson Social New Venture Challenge, an annual competition at UChicago’s Booth School of Business, which recognizes innovative businesses that solve social challenges around the world.
 
John is a veteran businessman and the retired chairman and CEO of CDW Corporation. He is board chair of Advance Illinois, an education advocacy organization, and serves on the boards of several privately owned businesses. Fran is the retired CEO of the American Red Cross of Chicago and Northern Illinois, which she joined following a long career in the legal field.  She  serves on the boards of JB Hunt Transport Services, Inc. and Duluth Holdings Inc. and chairs the board of Lincoln Park Zoo.

The Music Institute presents the Richard D. Colburn Award for Teaching Excellence to faculty members who exemplify the high standard of excellence set by Richard D. Colburn in his many musical endeavors. This year’s honoree, Erica Anderson, is head of the Music Institute’s Woodwinds, Brass, and Percussion Department and has served on the oboe faculty for nearly 25 years. She has a bachelor of music degree from Eastman School of Music and a master of music degree from DePaul University, both in oboe performance. She is a member of Music Institute ensemble-in-residence Quintet Attacca and the Chicago Philharmonic and has performed with numerous orchestras and ensembles, including The Joffrey Ballet, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Music of the Baroque, and Ravinia Festival Orchestra. She is an adjunct faculty member at Carthage College.

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