An accomplished and extremely talented piano player, Emma Endres-Kountz performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at age nine and later went on to receive a performance diploma at Juilliard. Moving to Chicago in 1964, Emma began her tenure of helping disadvantaged children find themselves through music. Emma Endres-Kountz co-founded Merit School of Music with Alice Pfaelzer in 1979. She served as Artisitc Director from the opening of Merit until 1983. Her mission, after teaming up with Alice, was to educate the whole child. She helped to create Merit’s structured curriculum to achieve this goal, implementing music theory and history classes. Merit has named its Planned Giving Society in honor of Emma Endres-Kountz for her hard work in creating the successful programs Merit has today.

• We invite you to join the Emma Endres-Kountz Society by informing Merit School of Music of your planned gift. Once a member of the Society, a donor receives certain benefits which include:
  
  • An annual invitation to our exclusive Donor Reception to honor your generosity and support of Merit School of Music
  • A certificate signifying your Society membership
  • Listing in the Annual Report as a member of the Emma Endres-Kountz Society

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