66th Annual Junior Symphony Ball
Sold out “Purpose With a Party”
Raises $497,000 for music and education programs
The total dollars were tallied for the 66th Annual Junior Symphony Ball (JSB) “Purpose with a Party” fundraiser, and a tremendous sum has been raised by the students. On behalf of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra League, a gigantic check in the record-breaking amount of $497,000 was presented to Nancy Labadie, DSOL President, and Terry Loftis, Chief Advancement and Revenue Officer of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.
JSB is the second largest fundraiser for the DSOL and this year, has broken the mold and taken this fundraiser to a new level in money raised.
The event on January 27th at the iconic Gilley’s Dallas witnessed a historic milestone with an unprecedented attendance of over 2,700 high school students from 35 schools. Tickets for fundraiser sold out within an hour of their release with hundreds more on the waitlist. This outstanding turnout set a new record as the largest in the event's history. The Steering Committee, comprising more than 800 students, played a pivotal role in orchestrating the evening's success.
From start to finish, the committee undertook the task of organizing logistics, planning activities, and implementing crowd control measures to guarantee the enjoyment of the vast gathering. The check-in went smoothly handling the process efficiently for the hundreds of students that came through. Over 200 supportive parent volunteers helped to staff the evening. It culminated in a high-energy and memorable extravaganza for the staggering number of high school students in attendance.
The lineup of the 2024 Event Co-Chairs represents schools across Dallas: Cara Lichty, Episcopal School of Dallas; James Sutherland, St. Mark's School of Texas; Kate Fagan, The Hockaday School; Cash Nix, Highland Park High School; Ela Austin, Ursuline Academy; Ashton Krug, Jesuit College Prep of Dallas; Adelaide Boisture, Parish Episcopal School; Baker Trent, Bishop Lynch High School; Caroline Woram, Highland Park High School.
Their supportive and proud moms are: Suzanne Austin, Jenny Lichty, Ashley Boisture, Jonika Nix, Dana Woram, Holly Krug, Lauren Sutherland, Aimee Fagan, and Katy Trent.
The JSB brought together high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors across the metroplex to celebrate with an evening filled with energetic live music, dynamic dancing, professionally staffed gaming tables, raffles, prizes and refreshments.
“What makes JSB so special is this is the only party in town that every high school Sophomore through Senior is invited to attend,” said JSB 2024 Co-chair, Suzanne Austin. “These precious students are sometimes friends through social media, sports or school activities but this is the only time they can all come and spend an organized fun evening together. This unique opportunity for our kiddos combined with raising money for an incredibly worthy cause is the right recipe for spectacular evening! My co-chairs and I are so appreciative of the overwhelming support from the parents, students, community businesses and underwriters that made this event so incredibly successful.”
From start to finish, the committee undertook the task of organizing logistics, planning activities, and implementing crowd control measures to guarantee the enjoyment of the vast gathering. The check-in went smoothly handling the process efficiently for the hundreds of students that came through. Over 200 supportive parent volunteers helped to staff the evening. It culminated in a high-energy and memorable extravaganza for the staggering number of high school students in attendance.
“This is an event that my friends and I look forward to all year, so when asked if I wanted to be a part of planning it and be a co-chair, I was definitely on board,” said JSB student co-chair, Ela Austin. “My student co-chairs and I all do community service through our schools, but this was an opportunity for us to go beyond our schools and into the community and be a part of something bigger. This was something that was important to each one of us and was our way to help the Dallas Symphony and help the Youth Programs that JSB supports.”
Sponsors include Mr. Tuxedo, Jenny Watts Photography, Competitive Cameras, Sewell, Veritex Community Bank, Highland Park Village, The Sidley Austin Foundation, and Stewart and Arango.
JSB is in its 66th year and is the longest running fundraiser of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra League (DSOL), supporting DSO outreach programs such as the Young Strings program and the Young Musicians program. It was founded with the concept of “student-led, parent-guided” leadership. While JSB has evolved in scope and participation size, it has always been a high school student fundraising event for the DSO hosted by area 10th-12th grade high school students and their parents. JSB has grown over the decades from just a handful of participating schools to over 35 this year.
Photo by Suzanne Austin
Key to photo
Cash Nix, Ela Austin, Caroline Woram, Nancy Labadie, Terry Loftis, Cara Lichty, Ashton Krug, Baker Trent, Suzanne Austin