Concert featuring local music students to raise money for juvenile diabetes research returns next year – Shaw Local News Network

Sammy Werderich, left, and Andrew Bordoni, right, perform at the 2019 Rocking for a Cure concert. After being on hiatus since 2019, the concert is set to take place at 3 p.m. Oct. 15 at the Illinois Aviation Academy at DuPage Airport, 32W751 Tower Road, West Chicago. (Photo provided by Bob Laskey)
After being on hiatus since 2019, the Rocking for a Cure concert to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation will once again take place next year.
The 2019 concert raised close to $90,000 for the foundation. Students from Sunrise Music Studio in St. Charles will perform at the concert, set to take place at 3 p.m. Oct. 15 at the Illinois Aviation Academy at DuPage Airport, 32W751 Tower Road, West Chicago.
“It’s not just about the concert, but it’s also about educating people as to why we’re doing the concert,” said Sunrise Music Studio owner Andrew Bordoni. “It’s one of those things that a lot of people don’t know about. And there is no cure for it.”
The concert will support Michael Laskey’s Team Diabetes Destroyers for JDRF. Laskey, one of Bordoni’s students, has Type 1 diabetes.
Sammy Werderich of St. Charles, who is one of Bordoni’s students, also has Type 1 diabetes. His dad runs the Illinois Aviation Academy, and Sammy Werderich, 17, recently got his pilot’s license.
“He finally got his pilot’s license, which is a big deal, because it is really difficult for someone who has Type 1 diabetes to get a pilot’s license,” Bordoni said. “He’s going to be participating in the Rocking for a Cure concert.”
In 2019, the Federal Aviation Administration eased restrictions on pilots who use insulin for diabetes treatment, allowing them to fly commercially for the first time.
Sunrise Music Studio is looking to upgrade and purchase new equipment for live events like the Rocking for a Cure concert. To do that, Bordoni has started an equipment fund. Different items and services are for sale to support the fund.
More information is at sunrisemusicstudio.com/2023-equipment-fund. From 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday, students from Sunrise Music Studio will perform at the Illinois Aviation Academy as part of a recital. Tickets are $5 and proceeds will go toward the equipment fund.
Tickets are available at https://www.sunrisemusicstudio.com/product/sms-student-recital-general-admission/115?cp=true&sa=true&sbp=false&q=false&fbclid=IwAR07k5-RTTbOLneespQuaWIkaf8VxpDvYflbhd1T6Mlcd3C-iIefIVQRrp8.
Bordoni also raved about the accomplishments of both his current and former students, including Brian Macdonald, a member of the popular Nashville band Judah and the Lion.
“I just went to see Judah and the Lion perform at the Riviera Theater in Chicago and it was phenomenal,” he said. “It was unbelievable. It was pretty much a sold-out tour.”
Another former student, Adam Curry, is part of the touring band for multi-platinum award winning country artist Brantley Gilbert and will go on tour with the rock band Five Finger Death Punch. Another former student, Rob Levere, has an electronic bass music project called Homemade Spaceship which has more than 32,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.
“He’s been killing it like crazy,” Bordoni said.
In addition, one of his current students, Joey Wilbur, was recently accepted into Belmont University in Nashville, where he will continue his music studies. For Bordoni, seeing the accomplishments of his current and former students is the most rewarding part of his job.
“It’s the reason why I decided to teach full time,” he said. “It’s the best feeling ever. A lot of music schools will make the promise that they will turn their students into rock stars. My philosophy is these kids are already rock stars, they just need someone to guide them along the way and put them on the right path.”
Copyright © 2022 Shaw Local News Network
Copyright © 2022 Shaw Local News Network

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