Join cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble for a stunning evening at the annual Ford Honors Gala.

The Gala package will include a pre-concert Dinner and post-concert Afterglow held at the Michigan League. Also to be celebrated at the Gala are the DTE Energy Foundation School of the Year and Educator of the Year. A full-length performance and presentation of the UMS Distinguished Artist Award will take place at Hill Auditorium at 8 pm, immediately following the dinner. Yo-Yo Ma and members of the Silk Road Ensemble will attend the Gala Afterglow after the performance.

Schedule of Events

5:30 pm
Gala Dinner
Presentation of the DTE Energy Foundation Educator and School of the Year Awards
Michigan League

8 pm
Concert
Presentation of the UMS Distinguished Artist Awards
Hill Auditorium

10 pm
Gala Reception with Artists
Michigan League

Black tie optional. Complimentary valet parking.

Beneficiary

The Ford Honors Program is our annual benefit that supports UMS’s Education & Community Engagement Program.  Learning is core to UMS’s mission, and it is our joy to provide creative learning experiences for our entire community. Each season, we offer a spectrum of free or low-cost education and community engagement activities focusing on K-12 students, teachers, teens, university students, families, adults, and cultural communities.  We exist to create a spark in people, young and old alike, to expose them to new artists, ideas, and cultures, and leave them with an ongoing and lifelong passion for creativity and the performing arts.  Funds raised from the Gala make it possible for UMS to impact nearly 20,000 youth, educators, and community members each the year.

RSVP by March 4, 2013. Register online, or if you prefer, call 734-764-8489 or email ralesko@umich.edu.

The Ford Honors Program recognizes the longtime generous support of UMS’s education programs by Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services.

DTE Energy Foundation School & Educator of the Year Awards are made possible by DTE Energy Foundation.

The UMS Distinguished Artist Awards will be presented to Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Project.

“Yo-Yo Ma is part modern Marco Polo, an explorer of cultures far beyond his own; part musical missionary, eager to share ideas and make vital connections between peoples.” (Chicago Tribune)

Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist and virtuoso. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the 2001 National Medal of Arts, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011.  Yo-Yo Ma is one of the best-known cellists of the modern age. 

One of Yo-Yo Ma’s goals is the exploration of music as a means of communication and as a vehicle for the migration of ideas across a range of world cultures.  Expanding upon this interest, Mr. Ma established the Silk Road Project in 1998 whose purpose is to promote the study of the cultural, artistic and intellectual traditions along the ancient trade route that stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to the Pacific Ocean.  The Silk Road Ensemble is drawn from internationally renowned musicians who share traditions from various cultures and develop and perform new music and multimedia pieces, exploring and expanding contemporary music crossroads.  Yo-Yo Ma believes that “when we enlarge our view of the world, we deepen our understanding of our own lives and culture.”

The Ford Honors Program recognizes the longtime generous support of UMS’s education programs by Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services.


DTE Energy Foundation School & Educator of the Year Awards are made possible by DTE Energy Foundation.


Concertmaster Sponsors
Bank of Ann Arbor
Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone, P.L.C.
THE MOSAIC FOUNDATION (of R. & P. Heydon)
University of Michigan Health System

Honorary Chairs
Mary Sue Coleman
President, The University of Michigan
James G. Vella
President, Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services

Gala Chair
Louise Taylor

Gala Committee
Connie Rizzolo Brown
Cheryl Clarkson
Judy Cohen
Kendra Kerr
Russ Larson
Joan Levitsky
Jean Long
Christina Mooney
Benita Maria Murrel
Marjorie Oliver
Elizabeth Palms
Lisa Patrell
Anne Preston
Audrey Schwimmer
Arlene Shy
Becki Spangler
Louise Townley

Sponsorship Levels
Your support helps UMS to provide exceptional educational experiences for K-12 students, teachers, teens, university students, families, adults, and cultural communities. Your Ford Honors sponsorship helps keep School Day Performance ticket prices affordable for area schoolchildren, brings artists into K-12 and college classrooms, and helps UMS to offer workshops for teachers, artist master classes, Night School sessions, and many other events that inspire creativity and enhance learning at all ages.

Maestro
$25,000 for eight people (tax-deductible gift to be determined)
Your benefits include: Private table for eight people at the Gala Dinner, eight Main Floor Gold Circle tickets to the performance, group photograph with Yo-Yo Ma, and a private dinner with an artist on the UMS 2013-2014 season.

Concertmaster
$10,000 for eight people (tax-deductible gift to be determined)
Your benefits include: Private table for eight people at Gala Dinner, eight Main Floor Gold Circle tickets to performance, and group photograph with Yo-Yo Ma

Leader
$5,000 for four people (tax-deductible gift to be determined)
Your benefits include: champagne reception, reserved table for four people at Gala Dinner, four Main Floor Gold Circle tickets to performance

Benefactor*
$1,000 per person (tax-deductible gift to be determined)
Your benefits include: Preferred seating at Gala Dinner

Associate*
$600 per person (tax-deductible gift to be determined)
Your benefits include: Choice seating at Gala Dinner

Supporter*
$350 per person (tax-deductible gift to be determined)

*For these sponsorship levels, concert tickets are not included in the Gala package. Choral Union subscribers do not need to order concert tickets, as they are already included in their subscription package.

Concert Tickets
Main Floor : 150
Mezzanine : 90
Balcony: 60

Invitations will be mailed in early February. For further information, please call 734-764-8489.