Music Institute Gala to Honor Paquito D’Rivera with Dushkin Award
| The Music Institute of Chicago hosts its Gala Benefit on Tuesday, May 13 at 5:30 p.m. at The Four Seasons Hotel Chicago, 120 East Delaware Place. Event highlights include the presentation of the prestigious Dushkin Award to Paquito D’Rivera, the Cultural Visionary Award for Chicago to J. Thomas Hurvis, and the Colburn Award for Teaching Excellence to Sang Mee Lee. Honorary Chairs are John and Fran Edwardson, and Gala Co-Chairs are Alexandra C. Nichols, Timothy Patenode, and Scott Verschoor. Proceeds from the Gala Benefit support excellence in teaching, upholding a standard and tradition that has evolved and thrived for nearly a century, 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 Paquito D’Rivera and Music Institute students and faculty and a ceremony honoring the 2025 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 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 Marcus Roberts, Marin Alsop, Hilary Hahn, Zubin Mehta, Wynton Marsalis, Stephen Sondheim, Maestro Riccardo Muti, Yo-Yo Ma, and many others. |
| Dushkin Award recipient Paquito D’Rivera has won a combined 16 Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards and is celebrated for his artistry in Latin jazz and his achievements as a classical composer. Born in Havana, Cuba, he performed at age 10 with the National Theater Orchestra, studied at the Havana Conservatory of Music, and, at 17, became a featured soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba. He was a founding member of, and for two years directed, the Orquesta Cubana de Musica Moderna, at the same time playing the clarinet and saxophone with the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba. He was a founding member and co-director of the innovative musical ensemble Irakere, offering a never-before-heard, explosive mixture of jazz, rock, classical, and traditional Cuban music. His numerous recordings include more than 30 solo albums. For more information about the upcoming Gala even, visit musicinst.org. |
