South Florida Symphony Orchestra Honors Regional Arts Advocates and Raises $50,000 For Community During 25th Anniversary Gala

South Florida Symphony Orchestra (SFSO) recently celebrated arts and culture advocates who champion musical creativity and innovation at its 25th anniversary charity gala that took place on March 29 at Broward Center for the Performing Arts. SFSO's milestone event debuted its arts recognition program, the "Sound of Success" which honored Fort Lauderdale and Miami arts advocates John Evans, chairman and CEO and Steven Wozencraft, executive vice president of John D. Evans Foundation, Stradivarius Society; Jackie Grimm, co-founder and former board member, Stradivarius Society; Jerry Laskey, Stradivarius Society; Phillip Dunlap, director of Broward County Cultural Division; Charles "Chuck" Lane, board chair, senior VP/senior relationship strategist with PNC Private Bank; Beth Holland "SFSO Godmother," Stradivarius Society; Wilton Manors City Commissioner Don D'Arminio, Marc Martorana, Mark Turner, and Chuck Nicholls, Stradivarius Society; and Brenton Ver Ploeg, founding partner, Ver Ploeg & Marino, Stradivarius Society.

The gala, which featured an exquisite dinner accompanied by an intimate concert by GRAMMY award-winning artist Zuill Bailey, raised $50,000 for SFSO's artistic, community engagement and education initiatives - including the impactful Symphony in the Schools children's program.

During the event, March 29 was proclaimed South Florida Symphony Day and organization leaders Music Director Sebrina María Alfonso and CEO and President Jacqueline Lorber were presented with a proclamation from Wilton Manors City Commissioner Don D'Arminio.

SFSO's 25th anniversary charity gala was sponsored in part by PNC Private Bank, David Valkema of the Maval Foundation and Sip Channé.

"Sound of Success" is part of South Florida Symphony Orchestra's anniversary season of firsts. In this milestone year, the growing symphony announced new Miami performances at the Michael Tilson Thomas Performance Hall at the New World Center (500 17th Street in Miami Beach) and received a commemorative proclamation from the City of Miami Beach. Last month, SFSO received a first-time National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Grants for Arts Projects award of $10,000 for its Symphony in the Schools educational initiative, "Preserving Our Coral Reefs." Since its founding, this signature music education program has reached over 100,000 students from underserved communities and has provided more than $3.5 million in services and resources in the past five years.