Before he passed away earlier this year, Stanley “Gibby” Monokoski inspired countless students and others through his nearly four decades of tireless promotion of music, education and the arts at Waubonsee Community College and elsewhere.
Next month, the Waubonsee community will gather for the special Gibby Monokoski Memorial Concert to celebrate the life lived and the music he played.
The evening of heart-felt music, reflection and celebration will begin Friday, Oct. 10, at 7 p.m. in the Academic and Professional Center on Waubonsee’s Sugar Grove Campus, Route 47 at Waubonsee Drive.
The concert will feature a variety of performers, including Waubonsee alumnus and bluegrass recording artist Ashley Lewis; a number of Monokoski’s musical and academic colleagues; and Waubonsee’s student ensembles, including the college’s Steel Band, Concert Band, Jazz Band and Chorale.
Monokoski, of Geneva, was a Professor of Music at Waubonsee, where he taught music theory, composition, music literature and jazz piano, while coordinating the college’s music performance program for more than 39 years.
Within the community, Monokoski served as president of the Fox Valley Symphony until it closed in 2001 and as a member of the Fox Valley Arts Hall of Fame Board of Directors.
He was often noted for his performances across the nation as a trumpeter and a jazz pianist.
Among other honors, Monokoski was recognized as Teacher of the Year among all Illinois community colleges in 1987, and in 2013, he received the inaugural Fox Valley Orchestra’s Champion of the Arts award.
Monokoski passed away April 9, 2014, at the age of 63.
