Estate and Planned Gifts

The legacy and future of Merit School of Music's programs rely on the generosity and continued support of our donors. To fulfill our mission to remove economic barriers to participation, help young people achieve their full musical potential, and to stimulate personal and educational growth through music, we must achieve lasting resources and build our endowment for future students.

One way that Merit School of Music works to achieve these goals is through our planned giving program. Donors who make provisions for the school's future through planned gifts are invited to join Merit School of Music's Emma Endres-Kountz Society. We have named our Planned Giving Society in honor of Emma Endres-Kountz for her hard work in creating the successful programs Merit School of Music has today.

Emma Endres-Kountz Society

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 School of Music until 1983. Her mission, after teaming up with Alice, was to educate the whole child. She helped to create the school's structured curriculum to achieve this goal, implementing music theory and history classes. We have named our Planned Giving Society in honor of Emma Endres-Kountz for her hard work in creating the successful programs Merit School of Music has today.

We invite you to join the Emma Endres-Kountz Society by informing Merit School of Music of your planned gift. Benefits of membership include:

• A certificate signifying your Society membership
• A listing in Merit School of Music's Annual Report as a member of the Society