arts&life

music

Local Heroes

Madge Berman and

her late husband, Bill,

will be honored at

the DSO’s seventh-

annual Heroes Gala.

BARBARA LEWIS
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

A

few years ago, Madeleine
“Madge” Berman had an
idea: Why not use the
power of computer technology
to benefit public-school children
in Detroit?
Berman’s brainstorm, and
financial backing from the
foundation started by her and
her late husband, Mandell “Bill”
Berman, led to the creation of
DSOLive: Classroom Edition.
The program provides free web-
casts of the Detroit Symphony
Orchestra’s Educational Concerts
for children.
In recognition of their work
on that program, as well as their
long-term support of the orches-
tra (both have been board mem-

bers), the Bermans will be hon-
ored at the DSO’s seventh-annual
Heroes Gala on Saturday, June
10, at the Max M. and Marjorie
S. Fisher Music Center. The gala
will include red-carpet arrivals,
cocktails and a concert by the
Detroit Symphony Orchestra,
followed by a formal dinner.
Michelle Merrill will conduct
Wei Yi on cello and Jon Kimura
Parker on piano in a program
that includes Bloch’s Prayer,
“From Jewish Life,” No. 1 and
Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.
“Bill and Madge remembered,
as so many of us do, Leonard
Bernstein’s televised Young
People’s Concerts, and they
wanted to do something like that

for our children in Detroit,” said
Anne Parsons, DSO president
and CEO.
Madge Berman of Franklin
said she was concerned that
so many Detroit children have
never heard an orchestra or
even seen a classical instrument.
She wanted to use technology
to bring the joy of great music
into their lives. The Classroom
Edition program is modeled on
Live From Orchestra Hall, which
has been webcasting the orches-
tra’s classical series since 2011.
The DSO is the only major
orchestra that webcasts chil-
dren’s concerts, which can be
viewed on any computer through
the DSO’s website. Since it began
in 2014, Classroom Edition has
reached more than 50,000 stu-
dents worldwide — in Canada,
the UK, Brazil, Spain, Belgium,
Mexico, Germany and Taiwan
as well as all over the U.S. As of
last year, it is available in every
classroom of the Detroit Public
Schools Community District.
Classroom Edition also
provides a detailed Teacher’s
Resource Guide, available online,
which educators can use to cre-
ate lessons around the concert.
Bill Berman, a titan in the
Jewish community, died in
December 2016 at age 99. His
interests centered on Jewish
communal activities while hers
were more involved in the arts
and humanities, but they sup-
ported each other’s endeavors.
“I was proud of what he did,
and he was proud of what I did,”
Madge Berman says. “We both
funded what we thought was
important in the areas that inter-
ested each of us.”
At Madge’s suggestion, a $4
million gift from the Bermans
helped create one of their most
visible legacies, the Berman
Center for the Performing Arts at

details

The DSO’s Heroes Gala will be held
Saturday, June 10. Gala package
tickets are priced from $1,000.
Concert-only tickets range from
$15 to $50. Tickets are available at
dso.org/heroes.

TOP: Madge and Bill Berman in his
favorite photo of the couple.
RIGHT: The DSO’s Classroom Edition
is brought to children in Detroit
Public Schools.

jn

the Jewish Community Center in
West Bloomfield, which opened
in 2010. Among other programs,
the center hosts the DSO’s
Community Concerts series.
Madge Berman has been
involved in the arts on the local,
state and national levels for
decades. She was an original
member of Detroit Arts, appoint-
ed by Detroit Mayor Coleman
A. Young. Gov. William Milliken
appointed her to the Michigan
Council of the Arts in 1983,
she then became the council’s
vice-chair under Gov. James
Blanchard. She has served on
many arts-related boards, includ-
ing the Detroit Community
Music School, Detroit Music
Hall for the Performing Arts, the
Detroit Institute of Arts and the
Michigan Opera Theatre. She’s
now a member of the DSO’s
emeritus board.
In 1994, Madge was appointed
to the President’s Committee
on the Arts and Humanities by
President Bill Clinton. President
Barack Obama renewed her
appointment in 2009. In 2014,
she received the prestigious
Legacy Award from Americans
for the Arts, joining past recipi-
ents Yo-Yo Ma and Richard Serra.
The Bermans have been sig-
nificant patrons of the DSO for
many years. They contributed to
the Orchestra Hall restoration
campaign in the 1980s, and later
to the effort that led to the cre-
ation of the Max M. and Marjorie
S. Fisher Music Center.
Mark Davidoff, chairman of
the DSO’s board of directors,
worked on many projects with
Bill Berman when he was CEO
of the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit.
“He and Madge knew music
education was important and
that it is not available today the
way it was when we were stu-
dents,” he said. “They wanted to
leverage the power of technology
to provide today’s students with
a similar experience.”
The Bermans are a role model
for philanthropy, Davidoff said.
“What I learned from the
Bermans is the art of steward-
ship,” he said. “The manner in
which they curated their financ-
es and community commitments
is a lesson for us all. They created
a sustainable legacy in areas
important to all of us, including
community cohesion, education,
and arts and culture.” •

June 1 • 2017

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