Music Institute To Present Maestra Marin Alsop With Dushkin Award At Annual Gala Benefit May 15, 2023

The Music Institute of Chicago, which has been dedicated to advancing innovation, access, and excellence in music education for more than 90 years, announces that Maestra Marin Alsop will receive the prestigious Dushkin Award at its Annual Gala Benefit, scheduled May 15, 2023.

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. Award honorees have included Hilary Hahn, Yo-Yo Ma, Renée Fleming, Maestro Riccardo Muti, Stephen Sondheim, Joshua Bell, Maestro Zubin Mehta, Lang Lang, and Wynton Marsalis. Alsop, who currently serves as the Ravinia Festival's chief conductor and curator, continues a legacy of Ravinia conductors who have been honored with the Dushkin Award, including Christoph Eschenbach (2000) and James Conlon (2009).

Marin Alsop is recognized for her innovative approach to programming and audience development, deep commitment to education, and championing of music's importance in the world. She is in her third season as chief conductor of the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra and has longstanding relationships with the London Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestras. She regularly guest conducts such major international ensembles as the Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, La Scala Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. She founded OrchKids, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's groundbreaking music education program for Baltimore's most disadvantaged youth. She has received multiple Gramophone Awards and is the only conductor to receive a MacArthur Fellowship.

As with Solti, Barenboim, Muti, Eschenbach and Conlon, Alsop made her Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) debut at Ravinia in 2002, and this appearance was followed by regular engagements and work with Ravinia's ReachTeachPlay education programs. She is one of very few women on the podium in front of the CSO in Ravinia's century-plus existence-Antonia Brico and Sarah Caldwell preceded Alsop-and made it possible for other female conductors to debut at Ravinia, including Susanna Malki, principal guest conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. After curating an immensely successful Leonard Bernstein 100th birthday celebration at Ravinia in 2018 and consulting with Ravinia on its RaviniaMusicBox Experience Center, which celebrates Bernstein, Alsop was immediately named chief conductor and curator. In 2022, Alsop launched her "Breaking Barriers" Festival focused on women in classical music, including conductors and composers.

The internationally acclaimed documentary about Maestra Alsop, The Conductor, takes the audience into the heart of classical music, backstage passes to the artistry and energy that rewards Alsop's audiences and inspires her students. "It's a glorious portrait of a woman you'll want to hang out with and talk to for hours. This film is a joy and highly recommended." (Unseen Films)

The proceeds from the Music Institute's Annual Gala Benefit provide the single-largest source of funds for financial aid and scholarships, tuition-free community engagement and schools programming, and neighborhood-based service activities that positively impact thousands of all ages and from all backgrounds each year. More details about the event, including recipients of the Cultural Visionary Award for Chicago and the Richard D. Colburn Award for Teaching Excellence, will be announced soon.

The Music Institute of Chicago leads people toward a lifelong engagement with music through unparalleled teaching, exceptional performances, and valuable service initiatives that educate, inspire, and build strong, healthy communities. Since its founding in 1931, the Music Institute's commitment to innovation, access, and excellence has served as an important community resource and helps to ensure music is available to everyone. Each year, the Music Institute provides personalized music instruction to more than 1,500 students, regardless of age, level of experience, or financial means, across Community Music School locations in Chicago, Downers Grove, Evanston, Lake Forest, Lincolnshire, and Winnetka, as well as online. In addition, the Music Institute brings music education, arts curriculum integration, professional development, and music performance and engagement opportunities to thousands in the Chicago area; offers scholarship opportunities to students in its Community School and its Academy, a nationally recognized training center for highly gifted pre-college pianists and string players; and (pre-pandemic) welcomes more than 15,000 visitors annually for performances, master classes, and special events at Nichols Concert Hall. For more information, visit musicinst.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.