Copyright Chicago Tribune
It’s the type of event that would have made Risé Jones’s heart sing. A fundraiser on Saturday will feature the music she loved to share with the greater Elgin community, performed by the people she loved. The money will be used to continue the work of Hamilton Wings, the nonprofit Jones founded with her mother in 1993 that was shaken by her unexpected death at age 58 in December 2024. The event also introduces the community to Brittany Barber, who succeeds Jones as Hamilton Wings’ executive director. Barber has significant community experience and her appointment is noteworthy as Barber was a student of Jones and participant in the Hamilton Wings’ program SCORE!, which stands for Students Creating Opera to Reinforce Education. Each year, students ages 9 to 13 compose and perform roles they’ve created for a play presented at Elgin Community College’s Blizzard Theatre. Before she took over at Hamilton Wings in September, Barber worked as an educator, author, inspirational speaker, trainer, facilitator, licensed minister and founder of Brittany Barber Speaks. She also has worked with Elgin Community College, Outreach Community Center in Carol Stream, and Harper College, where she served as its inaugural cultural center manager. “Throughout the years, Dr. Jones left an indelible mark on our community,” Barber said. “This (fundraiser) honors her legacy and invites all of us to help carry forward her passion for empowering Elgin’s youth through the arts.” Saturday’s tribute, scheduled for 5 p.m. at Evangelical Covenant Church, 1565 Larkin Ave., Elgin, includes local artists and community leaders who helped Jones with her efforts to promote the arts. She also was known for her work on behalf of social justice, a common theme in the music she performed. In high school, Jones joined the choir but did not discover her true musical calling until graduate school when a professor encouraged her to use her “big voice.” She helped create Hamilton Wings with Ann Jones, a longtime Elgin principal who died two years after its launch, leaving her daughter to continue the institution honoring her parents’ legacies. She mentored hundreds of students while also pursuing a career as a consultant through her business, Evaluation Solutions. It focused on violence prevention, public health and school policy. She continued working in public policy as a consultant and mediator until her death, but remains best known for her accomplishments in performance, arts education, and leadership training for children. Saturday’s tribute includes Jeorge Holmes, a celebrated operatic tenor and Elgin native; singer, songwriter and producer CHAR McAllister; and Murna Hansemann, a pianist who accompanied Jones at many of her performances. Their selections will include some in Jones’ repertoire. The event is open to the public, and donations will benefit Hamilton Wings. The group has been sustained over the years by grants and endowments, including the Roots to Wings Endowment Fund Campaign, aimed at securing the long-term sustainability of Hamilton Wings and expanding its impact. It was fueled by a five-year, $50,000 matching grant from the Florence B. & Cornelia A. Palmer Foundation. Jim Davis is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
