Chicago West Community Music Center will hold its 25th Anniversary Gala on Juneteenth June 19, 2024, from 5:30-9:00 p.m. at the Museum Of Contemporary Art at 220 E. Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611.
Helen Zell, one of Chicago’s most dedicated leaders of music education and a longtime supporter of CWCMC, will be honored at the gala.
With the theme, “Celebrating 25 Years Uplifting Lives Through Music,” the celebration will feature “Sweet Freedom Suite,” an original dance suite written by Chicago West Community Music Center Executive Director Howard Sandifer with choreography by Joel Hall and a musical performance by CWCMC students.
CWCMC is dedicated to transforming young lives and strengthening communities on the West Side and South Sides of Chicago through music. This year, CWCMC will celebrate 25 years of making a powerful impact on the lives of countless individuals, students, families and communities.
Charles “Blu Guru” Brown, now 21, got involved with CWCMC as a young teenager. When he started at CWCMC, he says his biggest fear was that his West Side neighborhood would be stuck in a cycle of murder and hate, that it would never change. After eight years of music education, including trips to China and Paris to perform with CWCMC and innumerable performances and lessons, he saw change.
“I feel very positive about change coming to the West Side,” he says. “There are so many of us who have come through CWCMC, and we don’t leave the same. We leave with a different idea of what each of us can do for the city. Music has become the brightest spot of my life.”
For ticket information visit our website https://www.cwcmc.org or contact Hoopla Communications at https://hooplagroupla.com
