CYSO is generously supported in part by individuals and the following foundation, corporate and government funders, without whom we could not provide the programming and support that brings CYSO to life.
50%
percentage of CYSO students who receive financial assistance or attend a free program
89000
Dollars given out in the 2019-2020 season to ensure that tuition is never a barrier to participation
96%
of students say CYSO connects them to the community
Why Our Donors Matter
Foundation, Corporate, Government and Individual Contributions
| $50,000 and above | Anonymous City of Chicago – Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events The Collingwood Foundation | Foley & Lardner LLP* Hilton Worldwide Illinois Arts Council The Negaunee Foundation |
| $25,000 to $49,999 | Crown Family Philanthropies Fred A. Stare Scholarship Fund The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation | Julius N. Frankel Foundation Paul M. Angell Family Foundation |
| $10,000 to $24,999 | The Buchanan Family Foundation Chapman and Cutler LLP The Chicago Community Foundation Hollister Jenner & Block LLP John R. Halligan Charitable Fund | Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation Inc. National Endowment for the Arts Pritzker Traubert Foundation Sage Foundation Sargent Family Foundation US Bank |
| $5,000 to $9,999 | Alight Holding Company LLC Alliant Capital Group Private Client Services Clarity Partners Conagra Brands | Greenberg Traurig LLP Henrietta Lange Burke Foundation Mardi Gras Fund RL Canning Wintrust Bank |
| $4,999 and under | Abbott Laboratories Abbvie Ameriprise Financial C3 Presents CDK Global Classical Movements CNH Industrial America LLC The Farny R Wurlitzer Foundation Fitch Ratings Groundswell | J. Lawton Thies Architects Inc. Jones Lang LaSalle McMaster-Carr Supply Company Morningstar Seyfarth Shaw LLP Standard Insurance Company The Walt Disney Company Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy |
From March 1, 2024 to February 28, 2025
Individual Donors
Encore Society
| CYSO Circle $25,000 and above | James, ‘61 & Marcia Franklin Fredel, ‘57 and James Goodrich Ms. Jennifer Myerberg and The Alvin and Louise Myerberg Family Foundation Angela and Dana O’Banion | Cynthia Van Osdol and John Sandwick Stephen L. and Terry Schwartz Zell Family Foundation |
| Maestro’s Circle $10,000 – $24,999 | Saurab and Anjani Bhargava Willard E. Bransky Ross Bricker and Nina Vinik Rebecca and Josh Butler Dr. Louanne Carabini and Shawn O’Leary The Daniels-Malinski Family Foundation C/O Todd and Heidi Daniels Ann Holtgren (Pellegreno) ‘54 Kelly and Dennis Howe | Dr. David Lang and Ms. Toni Lang Anne and Zachary Lazar Laura Mandel and Richard Blessen Susan and Larry Nutson John and Joyce Schladweiler Maria and Andy Smith Penelope R. Steiner Hank Turner and Erin Aleman |
| Concertmaster’s Circle $5,000 – $9,999 | Stacie and Jon Dennis Jana French and Peter Gotsch Sara and Scott Fisher Tyler Forbes and Chris Taylor Mary and Lionel Go Jane and Jason Kenyon Angel and JeNyce Lopez | David and Sarah Repking Rob Schoenstedt and Christy Christian Meredith, ‘98 and Lance Shaner Katherine Victoria Smalls Michele and Edmund Taylor Adam Wisnieski Rodney Zech |
| Principal’s Circle $2,500 – $4,999 | Anonymous Anne Duggan and Jaime García-Añoveros Amy Guralnick and Giovanni Giannotti Anne Henkel and Herman Blomeier Darius Keblinskas and Claudia Hawkins Jingjing and Robert Kipp Sarah and Jeff Kessler Rebecca and Jeremiah Kramper Felisha and Ron Lewis Pat and Yasuko Metcalf Brenda and Mark Michuda | Hyun and Cecilia Oh Dr. Jennie Oh Brown and Stephen Brown Ariane and Benjamin Panter Adam Sherman and Monica Holliday Sherman Tai Ryang Shin Nancy and Jerry Sjostrom Stephen Streiffer and Diana Anz-Meador Azure and Steve Thill Christopher and Melanie Thomas Grace Wang and Pete Pellegrino Charles Ware |
| Musician’s Circle $1,000 – $2,499 | Yvonne and Sean Adams Cathy Anderson Anonymous Jennifer Augello, ‘04 Cathy and Remi Auxenfans The Benjamin and Bettina Van Cleave Charitable Foundation Marie Bennett, ‘91 Brian Boch Cameron Brown, ‘15 Mark Campbell Michelle Carabini Milton Blouke Carus Karen and Michael Chapski Jason Cummings Geoffrey Davis Brandon Dixon and Leigh Krahenbuhl Daniel Dunnigan Jim Ford Ellen and Matt Feldman Jim Ginsburg and Patrice Michaels Jessica Gregory Alex Hibbs The Horgan Family Andrea and Paul Lang Sam and Jess Lang Darunee Ja and Jonathan Senal Soujanya Jampala and Surendra Ravula Zhuang Kang and Tianming Wu Daniel, Hyungjin Lim and Goeun Kim Sylvia and Jody Lin Lili Liu and Jinbo Xu Mike Lobash and Laura Cordell | Peter E. Manis and Susan Richman Eduvijes Martinez Robert B. McLellarn Barbara and John Moore Hokuto Nishioka and Feyce M Peralta Martha Nolin Delano and Bonita O’Banion Shelly and Dan O’Brien Sooji Oh and Kun Lee Jim Olguin and Bonny Chen Sarah Forbes Orwig Liz and Gregory Peebles John and Carole Polacek Eric Reside Helen and Marc Rubenstein Debbie Ruderman Iris Seitz and Russell Reid Nora, Kathy and Robert Schaffer Richard Schroeder Samuel Schwartz and Rose Traubert Susan H. Schwartz Elizabeth Shanin and Daniel Bender David Stender Kenneth Suh, ‘95 Scott Tegge, ‘98 and Yoo-Jin Hong Beverly and Allen Tinkham Rachael and Chris Travis Jing Xing and Wei Li Madeline Vincent Lei Wang Meade Whitaker Elizabeth Williams Charlene, ‘68 and John Zimmerman |
Overture Society
| Benefactors $500 – $999 | Anonymous (3) Raven Thomas and Zaid Abdul-Aleem David Anderson Michael and Carol Anderson Stephanie Bald and Jesse Eaves Julie and David Balfour Michael Butler Carolyn Childs Laura Cricco-Lizza ‘09 Theodore Davis Lourdes Douarte and Matt McGrath Gloria and Gordiano Caballero Alon and Ayelet Fishbach Sun Oak Choi and Dong-Kyu Lee Seth and Jodie Gastwirth Diana Giese Christopher Haid and Amy Pouba Jessica Harris Jane Heron Susan Holliday Ellen Huang and Ted Liu Kuang-Hao Huang Rui Huang and Xiuyan Yang Mighel Jackson and Sonia Mathew Gretchen James-Halter Suseela and Benjamin Marion Jessica Jurevis and Scott McConnell Young W Kim Cathie King Rachel Lang and Allen Tinkham Alina and Sorin Lazar | Alicia Liu and Pete Choi Kristin Marsilje and Kurtis Kossen Lynette and John McCortney William Nealon, ‘70 Elizabeth Neary Kristine and Nathan Partain Ann and Richard Pecard Theodore Pigott and Shu-Ting Chiu Julie Pinsker and Dominic Giannola Emily and John Polacek Shari Pullen Stacy and Joseph Raviv Luba Romantseva and Benjamin Blander Margaret and Eric J. Scheyer Matthew Siebert Andrew and Josephine Sonu Juliet and Bram Spector Faith Spencer and Mark Parts Britt Steenberg Jeff Steinberg Nicole and James Stork Brian Straw John and Doris Toher Judy and Jeff Trunsky Kubilay Uner Brittany Viola, ‘03 and Justin Bernbrock Marcia Welcome Chad Wiggins Gemara Williams Fletcher Wright Zhu-Wu Fund |
Continuo Club
| Legacy Society | Anonymous The Jean-Paul Spire Trust Nelson D. Cornelius Trust Robert A. Leady Revocable Trust Estate of William F. Sibley Robert W. Heine Revocable Trust |
The CYSO Endowment
Dr. Louanne Carabini and Shawn O’Leary
Pamela and David Conroy
J. Laurence and Susan Costin
James, ‘61 and Marcia Franklin
Fredel, ‘57 and James Goodrich
Kelly and Dennis Howe
Mary K. Marshall
Jim and Ginger Meyer
Jennifer Myerberg and The Alvin and Louise Myerberg Family Foundation, Inc.
Angela and Dana O’Banion
Delano and Bonita O’Banion
John and Joyce Schladweiler
Stephen L. and Terry Schwartzz
The 2026 CYSO Gala
Thanks to your incredible support, our gala was a huge success—we are thrilled to announce that we raised $705,000! Every gift, every bid, and every cheer helped make a real difference.
If you would like more information about how you or your company can become a sponsor of CYSO’s annual gala, contact Marc Bitler at mbitler@cyso.org or call 312-939-2207.
