Negaunee Music Institute celebrates the McCues’ long legacy of ‘Impact’

On March 17, the Negaunee Music Institute at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra will host Impact: Showcasing Education and Community Engagement at the CSO. This event is designed to recognize the extraordinary educational and community-engagement work through performances by ensembles funded by the Institute. The evening is dedicated to celebrating how the Institute transforms lives through support for these vital education and community-engagement activities. 

As part of the evening, the CSOA is pleased to honor Life Trustee Judy McCue and her husband, Scott McCue, for their lasting impact on the Negaunee Music Institute. The McCues have been passionate members of the CSOA community as subscribers, Governing Members, members of the Theodore Thomas Society and much more. They’ve been involved in many of the CSO’s educational initiatives, investing in programs such as the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and advocating for many major foundations and fellow CSO patrons to join them in their investment.

Over the years, the McCues have sponsored Civic musicians and have been deeply invested in their success throughout the industry. Without the McCues’ contributions, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and the Negaunee Music Institute would not be what they are today.

The McCues moved to Chicago in the early ’70s and have been ardent supporters of the CSO ever since. Soon thereafter, Judy joined the Junior Governing Board (also known as the JGB), a young professionals’ volunteer group committed to helping educational and community-engagement programming at the CSO. As part of their volunteer duties, she and many JGB members have fond memories of driving CSO musicians to different schools across Chicago, where the musicians performed for students.

In the early ’90s, the CSOA board debated whether to discontinue the Civic Orchestra of Chicago’s programming, because they wondered if the Civic’s artistic quality and financial cost remained sustainable for the Association. During this time, the Board of Trustees appointed the Civic Orchestra Task Force, led by Trustee Florence Boone, to determine the Civic’s viability for continued operation under the CSOA.

Boone asked Judy McCue to assist in fundraising efforts. During a board-mandated three-year probationary period, Judy and members of this task force created a plan to preserve this vital training program by establishing an endowment and improving annual fundraising for the Civic. Daniel Barenboim, then CSO music director, worked with the task force to improve the program’s artistic quality.

During this period, much of the Civic’s fundraising was largely a volunteer-led effort. Judy fondly recalls waiting on a Chicago sidewalk to retrieve a large check from a major Civic donor.

The task force’s fundraising was a huge success, largely due to Judy’s and Scott’s connections in the philanthropic community and their advocacy as leaders of foundations such as the Leslie Fund, for which Judy is director, and the Fry Foundation, where Scott serves on the board of directors. Most notably, the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, of which Scott was a director for 40 years before it was dissolved in 2022, provided leadership gifts to jump-start the Civic task force’s fundraising. Many of these funders continue today to support the Civic Orchestra and the Negaunee Music Institute’s programming.

In 1995, Judy joined the CSOA Board Trustees and was asked to take several leadership positions, most notably as the first chair of the Civic Orchestra board (established after a three-year probationary period) and subsequently as the first chair of the Institute for Learning, Access and Training Board, which is now the Negaunee Music Institute Board.

Beyond the Civic Orchestra and the Negaunee Music Institute, Judy and Scott have supported and continue proudly to support the CSOA with their time and generosity. Scott spent a great deal of time working with staff to establish the CSOA’s planned-giving entity, the Theodore Thomas Society. And Judy’s work as a trustee goes beyond educational and engagement work, especially as a longtime member of the executive committee of the Board of Trustees. She also has chaired the CSOA’s artistic committee and is currently chair of the Musicians, Trustees and Staff Taskforce.

In connection with the SEMPRE ALWAYS campaign, Judy and Scott established and provided initial support for the Civic Orchestra Chamber Access Fund. The endowed fund underwrites chamber-music concerts by the Civic Orchestra Fellows and other Civic Orchestra members, who perform in Orchestra Hall and many other spaces throughout the larger community. The McCues’ impact on the CSOA is clear to this day.

When asked, “Why is it important to support educational and community-engagement programs at classical-music institutions?” Judy and Scott’s immediate answer is always: “It is to keep classical music alive and well. By investing in education and the community, we are ensuring that the art form’s future is brighter and more beautiful, especially in an already beautiful city like Chicago.”

We hope you will join us at Impact on March 17 to honor Judy and Scott McCue and their impact on the CSOA’s educational and community-engagement work, which will be on abundant display during the evening’s concert.