40 North | 88 West to Host 5th Annual ACE Awards
Annual awards ceremony celebrates outstanding contributions to Champaign County’s arts, culture & entertainment.
What: The 2009 ACE Awards, presented by 40 North | 88 West – Champaign County Arts, Culture and Entertainment Council. Sponsored by Dreamscape Design and Buzz. Featuring complimentary beverages and hors d’œuvre by English Hedgerow and live music from acclaimed sitarist Indrajit Banerjee, tabla player Subrata Bhattacharya and vocalist Sri Nirmalya Roy.
When: Thursday, October 22, 2009. Ceremony begins at 6:00 PM; doors open at 5:30 PM.
Where: The Highdive, 51 E. Main St., in downtown Champaign, Illinois
Tickets: $20 each, available at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Cinema Gallery, Heartland Gallery, Wind, Water and Light Gallery, online at www.40north.org and at the door.
Discounts available for group purchases: call 217-351-9841.
“The arts are everywhere and everything.” – Jon “Cody” Sokolski, 2007 Advocacy ACE Award winner.
Champaign — 40 North | 88 West Champaign County’s Arts, Culture and Entertainment Council proudly announces the 5th Annual ACE (for Arts, Culture, and Entertainment) Awards to recognize and celebrate outstanding contributions to the cultural life of Champaign County. A panel of independent judges representing a broad cross-section of the community have recently selected the seven ACE Award winners for 2009. Those winners will be announced and the awards given out at the ACE Awards ceremony, held in downtown Champaign’s The Highdive on Thursday, October 22 from 5:30 PM.
The names of the 2009 ACE Awards judges will also be made public at this year’s ACE event. Presenters of the seven 2009 ACE awards will include Brian Hagy (of the Prompting Theatre), Ian Wang (Rantoul Press), Patrick Harness (artist), Scott Schwartz (Sousa Archives, UI), Donna Greene and Chris Shroyer (Busey Wealth Management and Busey Bank), Mike Ross (Krannert Center for the Performing Arts) and Rick Orr (Station Theatre). The ACE Awards honor outstanding achievements in these seven categories: Arts Education, Media, Advocacy, Spotlight, Creative Community Service, Business and Lifetime Achievement.
Tickets are $20 each and are available at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Cinema Gallery, Heartland Gallery, Wind, Water and Light Gallery, online at www.40north.org and at the door. Discounts are available for group purchases: call 217-351-9841 to inquire.
Tickets include admittance to the ACE Awards, complimentary beverages and hors d’œuvre by English Hedgerow, and live entertainment.
Now in its fifth year, the ACE awards honor the achievements of Champaign County’s entire creative community—its patrons, educators, volunteers and supporters. “I think the arts are as healthy here as I could ever remember, and I’ve been in Urbana since 1940,” said 2007 Lifetime Achievement ACE Award winner Daniel Perrino.
During the ceremony, a multi-media presentation (sponsored by Dreamscape Design) will provide brief video profiles on each of the ACE Award winners. “We are fortunate to have such a strong and healthy arts community here…in large part because of these dedicated individuals. The local arts scene simply would not be what it is today without them,” said 40 North Director of Resource Development Megan Wolf.
The Title Sponsors for the 2009 ACE Awards are Dreamscape Design and Buzz. ACE Award Sponsor is English Hedgerow. ACE Awards Supporters are The High Dive, Krannert Art Museum, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, RATIO Architecture and WEFT. ACE Award Benefactors are Champaign Telephone Company, Jon “Cody” Sokolski and Marci Dodds and One Main Development. ACE Contributors are CMH Properties, LLC, Eastland Suites, Russ & Nick Taylor of ReMax Realty Associates. Individual ACE Donors include Peter and Kim Fox, Robert and Nobuko Graves, Kathleen Harleman. Additional support provided by the Champaign County Convention and Visitors Bureau, the City of Champaign, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Rhythm and Raag—an Institute for Indian Performing Arts. This program is supported in part by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.
The seven ACE Award categories are:
Education ACE: The Education ACE will be presented to an individual or institution that has made exceptional strides in educating in – and through – the arts at the elementary, secondary or post-secondary level. The winner will demonstrate a unique and creative approach to merging the arts and education and have made a demonstrable impact on their targeted audience.
Media ACE: This award recognizes outstanding media support of the arts in Champaign County. Nominations for this award may include organizations that offer outstanding editorial support and coverage of the arts as well as donations of air time, print space, and professional services to artists and arts organizations in the county.
Advocacy ACE: This award will highlight the individual or organization that has advocated on behalf of the arts effectively and consistently, forged creative partnerships, or stimulated collaborations that result in broader awareness, accessibility or participation in the arts, culture and entertainment of Champaign County.
Spotlight ACE: This award will be presented to an individual, business or organization that has - through its activities, programs or events - garnered significant national exposure for the Champaign County arts community.
Creative Community Service ACE: This award will be presented to an artist who, through their volunteer efforts, has made an impact on their community beyond the art that he/she produces.
Business ACE: The Business ACE recognizes businesses and their leaders for outstanding support of the arts. The winner will also cultivate opportunities and relationships that support local artists and/or organizations in Champaign County.
Lifetime Achievement ACE: This award will honor the accumulated successes of an individual for continued, outstanding support of the arts in our community.
ACE Award winners each receive an ACE, a stunningly sculptural piece designed by Champaign native Andy Warfel and crafted in polished clear acrylic and stainless steel plate by Paul’s Machine and Welding of Villa Grove, Illinois.
Nominees for the ACE Awards were not limited to, but could include: artists, students, faculty, non-profit administrative staff, business owners and employees, elected and appointed officials, and other individuals and organizations actively supporting the arts, culture and entertainment of Champaign County. You must be 18 years or older and a resident of Champaign County to be eligible to win an ACE Award.
About the Performers:
Subrata Bhattacharya
When talent and devotion to music come together, they almost inevitably give birth to an artist like Subrata Bhattacharya. A tabla player of note on the Indian classical music scene, Subrata’s achievements in the field of percussion have earned him enviable recognition world wide. He has to his credit numerous performances at some of the most prestigious venues in India and abroad. He has appeared at the Dover Lane Music Conference, ITC Sangeet Sammelan Calcutta, Gunidas Sangeet Sammelan, Salt Lake Music Festival, Bhawanipur Sangeet Sammelan, Dakhini Sangeet Sammelan, Golpark Rama Krishna Mission Annual Music Conference, Calcutta, A.I.R.Concerts and Radio FM Music Concert. He has also performed at the National Center for Performing Arts, Mumbai, and India International Center, Delhi. He has received his taalim under Shri Tamal Krishna Chatterjee, Shri Nripen Karmakar and Shri Tapan Kr. Banerjee before he was finally accepted as a pupil of tabla maestro Pt. Shankar Ghosh. Renowned artists he has performed with include Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Dr. L. Subramaniam, Pt. Buddhaditya Mukherjee, Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan, Ustad Ali Ahmed Hussain, Pt.Tarun Bhattacharya, Pt. Ronu Majumdar, Chitraveena Ravikiran, and Pt. Tejendra Narayan Majumdar.
Indrajit Banerjee
Sitarist Indrajit Banerjee was born in 1965 in a family of accomplished musicians. He is a Graduate of Arts from the University of Calcutta and ‘Sangeet Bibhakar’ of Bangiya Sangeet Parisad (affiliated to Rabindra Bharati University). He has taught in England and Germany and his performances are featured on numerous recordings. His performances have been featured on Indian Radio and Television, and he is also an approved artiste of l.C.C.R. (Govt. of India). Indrajit was awarded the ‘Gokul Nag Memorial Gold Medal’ in 1987 by Bangiya Sangeet Parishad (Bengal), ‘Sura-Mani’ in 1990 by Sur-Sringar Samsad (Bombay), and ‘Abhinav Kala Samman’ in 1997 by Abhinav Kala Parishad (Bhopal). “Paragotsava-2007″, (festival Karnataka) recognized him as a veteran.
Sri Nirmalya Roy
Nirmalya began his training in classical music with Prof. Sunirmal Bhattacharya from Bishwa Bharati University. He was also trained in Khayal by the late Govinda Prasad Debnath, a disciple of Pandit Chinmoy Lahiri. Later, Nirmalya came under the guidance of Pandit Amiya Ranjan Banerjee, a renowned vocalist of Vishnupur Gharana. Nirmalya, a Sangeet Visharad, has consistently achieved top ranking in music competitions including in Khayal at Rajya Sangeet Academy, All India Music Competition—Gauwahati, Music India Competition of Ghazals and Golden Talent Contest sponsored by HMV. He participated in Rajgir festival in 1997. In the year of 2000 for his performance, he was awarded the National Scholarship. He has made numerous CDs and recordings for television, mastered light classical, devotional, Hindi and Bengali film songs, ghazals, modern songs, and more. He is also the lead singer of the band “Taal Tantra.”
Past ACE Award Winners:
2008 ACE Award Winners
Spotlight ACE: The Sousa Archives (American Music Month)
Creative Community Service ACE: Patrick Harness
Education ACE: Brian Hagy
Advocacy ACE: Mike Ross
Media ACE: Rantoul Press/Ian Wang
Business ACE: Precision Graphics/Jeff Mellander
Lifetime Achievement ACE: Carl & Nadja Altstetter
2007 ACE Award Winners
Education ACE: Robin Kearton
Media ACE: Jay Rosenstein
Advocacy ACE: Jon “Cody” Sokolski
Spotlight ACE: Ebertfest
Creative Community Service ACE: Danielle Chynoweth
Business ACE: Pages For All Ages
Lifetime Achievement ACE: Daniel J. Perrino
2006 ACE Award Winners
Education ACE: Dr. William Patterson
Media ACE: WEFT 90.1 FM
Community Advocate ACE: Jenny Southlynn
Arts Partner ACE: Janet Soesbe
Creative Community Service ACE: Andy Warfel
Business ACE: Main Street Bank and Trust
Lifetime Achievement ACE: Rick Orr
2005 ACE Award Winners
Education ACE: Brenda Kimble
Media ACE: Melissa Merli
Community Advocate ACE: Yu (Ian) Wang
Arts Partner ACE: Virginia Theatre
Creative Community Service ACE: Kathy Murphy and John Stuff
Business ACE: Busey Bank/Dave Kuhl
Lifetime Achievement ACE: Jane Hobgood
40 North | 88 West
Champaign County’s Arts, Culture and Entertainment Council is dedicated to cultivating creativity in Champaign County. Through advocacy, information and collaboration, 40 North works to stimulate a vibrant, thriving environment for the arts, culture and entertainment essential to the quality of life in Champaign County. For more on 40 North, visit www.40north.org.