Their talents belong to Chicago, to the nation, and in some cases, the world.
But on Friday evening at Villa Olivia in Bartlett, it was the home crowd honoring the accomplishments of Tom Skilling, Jerry Rose, Isabella Lippi and the late Robert “Bobby” Rosengarden when they were inducted into the Fox Valley Arts Hall of Fame.
It was the 12th class for this nonprofit organization that comes together every two years to give public recognition to artists associated with the Fox Valley, while also shining an always-needed spotlight on the importance of art in our communities.
This year’s class of 2024, which represented the performing arts and media arts, realized early on just what their passion was, although not how far it would eventually take them.
Lippi, now concertmaster with the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, began making a name for herself as a violinist at age 10 when she won the Chicago Symphony Young Strings Competition.
After fine-tuning her talents at the University of Southern California and Julliard School of Music in New York City, she went on to earn recognition as a “standout … even for a virtuoso,” playing in concert halls as well-known as the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and as far away as Moscow and Tokyo.
Lippi’s list of affiliations as concertmaster includes the Chicago Philharmonic, Joffrey Ballet Orchestra and a half-dozen more. And she’s made such an impact as the concertmaster with the Elgin Symphony, said Susan S. Starrett, president of the Fox Valley Arts Hall of Fame board, that after one performance, the soft-spoken and gracious violinist received a 45-second standing ovation.
Lippi’s humble acceptance speech mostly acknowledged others in her life, many of whom were in attendance, including her mother who was celebrating her birthday. Referring to this moment as “so touching and surreal,” the violinist quickly paid tribute to her fellow inductees, including the late Bobby Rosengarden, an Elgin native who played in Army bands while serving in World War II before going on to become one of the most recognized percussionists in the country.
Rosengarden performed throughout his long career with a who’s who of musicians, including Doc Severinsen, Quincy Jones, Tony Bennett and Jimi Hendrix, and led his own orchestra at the Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center in New York City.
He also was part of well-known bands on TV shows, including programs led by Steve Allen, Mitch Miller and Johnny Carson. But Rosengarden became a household name as the “wisecracking” band leader of “The Dick Cavett Show,” where he would “play out” all the guests with humorous tunes, like “Hello Dolly” when Salvador Dali was introduced on air.
With a table of his family looking on Friday at Villa Olivia, the award for Rosengarden, who died in 2007, was accepted by Sue Johnson of Congregation Kneseth Israel, who acknowledged the drummer’s close relationship with the Elgin synagogue and his strong bond to the Fox Valley community.
Inductee Jerry Rose, who now lives in Phoenix, Arizona, after recently retiring, also maintains emotional ties to this area.
The television and radio producer spent many of his 48 broadcasting years in Aurora as the general manager of TLN-TV (Total Living Network), which became the most powerful Christian TV station in America and around the world.
With 30 Emmys, three books and three feature films to his name, Rose, who was inducted into the National Religious Broadcasters Hall of Fame, serves as chairman emeritus of the now Tinley Park-based TLN board, but told the audience he was “humbled” by this local recognition, recalling how often he would study the Fox Valley Arts Hall of Fame plaques that at one time were displayed at the Paramount Arts Centre in Aurora and marvel at the talents of the inductees.
“To be included on this wall,” he said of the display now at Hemmens Cultural Center in Elgin, “is quite an honor.”
That feeling was echoed by fourth inductee Skilling, whose recent retirement after 45 years in meteorology, most of which was with WGN-TV, has been followed by a whirlwind of publicity and activities for the legendary weather forecaster.
But it was clear from the onset of this evening that Skilling was quite at home with the crowd of 160 who attended the event, which included about 10 of his classmates from the West Aurora High School Class of 1970, who had not seen him for decades but showed up to surprise the TV personality as he received the award.
From the time he entered the banquet venue until long after the program concluded, the six-time regional Emmy winner was surrounded by fans, including former lab partners and other teenage partners in crime who, as he put it, “had a blast” reliving some of those high school memories.
The smile rarely left his face.
Which was a far cry from where Skilling was the previous day after kidney stones landed him in a hospital and almost curtailed this much-anticipated “special night in my life,” he said.
“I would not have missed this for the world,” Skilling happily proclaimed as he recounted the medical emergency to tablemates, including ’70 classmate Jim Gibson, who was also the event’s emcee and a former inductee, as well as retired West Aurora School District Board President Neal Ormond, who has for more than five decades been the “Voice of the Blackhawks,” but back in the fall of 1968 worked with Skilling on opening night of WLXT-TV in Aurora, where the beloved weather forecaster got his start.
The evening’s entertainment was powerful, featuring international pianist Huntley Brown, as well as tenors Simon K. Lee and Franco Martorana, who also perform on a world stage and brought tears to many eyes with their powerful rendition of The Lord’s Prayer at the invocation.
While this event brings public recognition to those who have done so much with their careers in the arts, the Fox Valley Arts Hall of Fame’s mission, stressed Starrett, is also to promote a strong cultural legacy for future generations. That involves bringing art to the forefront of our communities and schools, she noted, where the proliferation of “block scheduling” has been found to be “detrimental to all areas of education, particularly the arts.”
As important as all this is, noted Starrett of the successful evening, it really is “about the kids” and helping them “learn to create, enjoy, excel and support” the arts throughout their lives.
dcrosby@tribpub.com
