For this year’s list, we organize everything by category.

Music 45 2023: Who Keeps Chicago In Tune introduction
Music 45 2023: The Record Makers
Music 45 2023: The Venues
Music 45 2023: The Programmers
Music 45 2023: The Performers
Music 45 2023: The Media

Dr. Mark George and Sue Polutnik/Photo: Sandy Morris | Sally Blood Photo

Dr. Mark George and Sue Polutnik
President/CEO and Vice President/Chief Operating Officer, Music Institute of Chicago
“Teaching music is what we do, and what we’re good at,” says Mark George, president and CEO of the Music Institute of Chicago (MIC). Adds Sue Polutnik, vice president and COO, “I particularly love the chamber music. I love to see the chemistry on the stage.” The joy and collaborative chemistry the duo share is palpable, as is their commitment to the more than 1,500 students they serve of all ages, from tots to centenarians (even including a 103-year-old)—across seven area locations. Piano is the most popular instrument of study, but MIC offers lessons, and ensemble and performance experiences on forty different instruments across musical styles. According to George, the collective talent and dedication of faculty is its greatest asset, alongside the 550-seat jewel box Nichols Concert Hall in Evanston. (Sara Stern)

Howard Greynolds
Founder, Overcoat Management
As the founder of Overcoat Management, Howard Greynolds has gone from working in the mail room to managing a stable of international artists like Glen Hansard, Iron & Wine, The Frames and Markéta Irglová. But Greynolds is anchored in Overcoat’s Avondale office, where for the past twenty-five years he fostered a special relationship between music, artists and fans. Alt/Folk/Rock/Country? The music his artists play is hard to categorize. But what they have in common is a sense of realness, real people playing real instruments, singing lyrics about real situations. Two Overcoat artists who are touring, Lydia Loveless and Lizzie No, personify this artistic vision. “To me both Lydia and Lizzie approach songwriting from a narrative, first-person, walk-with-me approach which endears them to the listener,” Greynolds says. “Whether they’re landing a stinger or a smile with the turn of a phrase or the delivery of a word, it’s universal in your ability to identify with the narrative and melody. I don’t think anyone I work with is trying to reinvent the wheel, but hopefully make quality work that will stand the test of time. All I do is try and empower them to do so and stay out of the way.” (David Witter)

Jim Newcomb/Photo: Sandy Morris | Sally Blood Photo

Jim Newcomb
Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer, Old Town School
As CEO of the largest community arts school in the United States, and one of Chicago’s largest and most active presenters of live music, Jim Newcomb of the Old Town School is driven and optimistic. Though Old Town had to pivot to online experiences during the pandemic (and did it extremely well, says Newcomb), he argues that “Music is something best experienced live, where the audience and musicians draw from each other. It’s like learning a language, then going to a party where you learn to use your new vocabulary. It’s exhilarating.” Old Town serves over 15,000 people through its individual lessons and community programs—and some 85,000 come to Old Town School concerts and attend its annual neighborhood Square Roots festival—but Newcomb has ambition to bring The Old Town School to the whole city, to ensure that residents of the South and West Side have the same access as those adjacent to Lincoln Square. The philosophy that “music is for everyone,” is ever-present and always vital. (Sara Stern)

Augusta Read Thomas/Photo: Sandy Morris | Sally Blood Photo

Augusta Read Thomas
Founder, Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition and University Professor, University of Chicago
“If one gives a lot of grace out in the world, you may not get anything back yourself, but the world is a better place,” says Augusta Read Thomas. “Gusty” (as she is known) brings grace and empathy to her gigantic life as composer, educator and creative citizen. Her body of work spans nearly every sort of ensemble for every kind of performance space from Carnegie Hall to an intimate salon. The varied catalog keeps her on her toes too—and her musicians in performance. Her work is widely and often performed, and all over the world. Featured on a Grammy Award-winning CD as well as being a Pulitzer Prize finalist, she teaches, coaches, leads and inspires at UChicago as university professor and as founder and collaborator of the Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition. “I get joy out of the beauty of other people-–their grace, their radiance, their inner essence. That’s why I teach, and why I was central in building MusicNow at the CSO, why I volunteer on many boards, and why I started the Center for Contemporary Composition,” she says. “I don’t just focus on my own work. I want to advance the field.” (Sara Stern)

The Educators and Supporters
Hall of Fame

Scott Fetters and Dan Mahoney
Director and Co-Founder, Fort Knox Studios / 2112 Chicago

Jeff McClusky
Founder/CEO, Jeff McClusky and Associates

David “Boche” Viecelli
President, Billions Corporation