Music Institute Celebrates Evanston 150 with Day of Family Music

The Music Institute of Chicago joins the local celebration of Evanston’s 150th anniversary and the national celebration of Music In Our Schools Month with a day of music for all ages Saturday, March 16 at Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Avenue, Evanston. 

The day begins at 9 a.m. with an open house in the Nichols Concert Hall lobby. Kids can enjoy playing a variety of instruments at the Music Institute Instrument Petting Zoo, parents can talk with faculty and staff, and everyone can take advantage of special discounts on lessons and classes.

At 10 a.m., Sergei Prokofiev’s musical tale Peter and the Wolf entertains and educates families by representing each character with an instrument or instrumental family. James Setapen conducts a Music Institute faculty orchestra featuring members of ensemble-in-residence Quintet Attacca.

Between 2 and 6 p.m., in tribute to Evanston’s 150th anniversary, the Music Institute offers a series of free public performances involving generations of Evanston music makers who participate in Music Institute programs, its Arts Link school partnerships and additional local programs: 

• 2–3:30 p.m.: Joining the Music Institute in celebrating Music in Our Schools Month is Evanston’s Nichols Middle School Advanced Jazz Band and Director Cary Jacobs, receiving the Music Institute’s third annual Excellence in Middle School Music Award for exemplary music ensembles and programs in the Chicago area, which helps ensure music will continue to flourish in our schools. This award recognizes the hard work and dedication of Jacobs and his students with a monetary award for the band program and student scholarships for private study or jazz camp at the Music Institute. At this concert, the Evanston students perform with the Music Institute’s New Horizons Band and jam with jazz faculty member Victor Garcia and Jazz Studies Director Audrey Morrison. 

• 4–4:45 p.m.: Students from Arts Link partners Lincoln and Walker Elementary Schools who participate in the Music Institute’s Brass for Beginners program perform, followed by Music Institute advanced trumpet ensembles.

• 5–6 p.m.: Evanston Escola de Samba, which offers classes at the Music Institute, leads an interactive presentation of music and dance.

Quintet Attacca

Founded in 1999, Quintet Attacca is one of Chicago’s most dynamic chamber music ensembles, dedicated to bringing the unique sound of the wind quintet to all types of audiences. Grand Prize Winner of the 2002 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, the quintet has spent the past four years in residence as the Outreach Ensemble for the Chicago Chamber Musicians, in addition to being in residence at the Music Institute. Quintet Attacca is one of only two wind quintets in the 35-year history of the Fischoff Competition to receive the Grand Prize. In that same year, the quintet was invited to be a finalist for Chamber Music Society Two at Lincoln Center. Quintet Attacca delights in bringing music education to all ages and abilities and prides itself on its imaginative and engaging outreach programs.

Arts Link

Arts Link is the Music Institute of Chicago’s distinctive outreach program, serving more than 6,500 students in Chicago and suburban schools annually. Arts Link programs, created and taught by experienced educators who have advanced degrees in the arts as well as significant classroom teaching experience, focus on skill development in each of the arts modalities—music, drama, dance/movement, and visual art—while providing opportunities for collaborative learning and social development. The programs cultivate connections between the arts and other subjects, such as science, language arts, and social sciences, through activities that integrate the arts with traditional subject areas. Music Institute ensembles-in-residence collaborate with the Arts Link program to provide exceptional concerts and classroom experiences to students in the public schools.

Music Institute of Chicago

The Music Institute of Chicago believes that music has the power to sustain and nourish the human spirit; therefore, our mission is to provide the foundation for lifelong engagement with music. As one of the three largest and most respected community music schools in the nation, the Music Institute offers musical excellence built on the strength of its distinguished faculty, commitment to quality, and breadth of programs and services. Founded in 1931 and one of the oldest community music schools in Illinois, the Music Institute is a member of the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts and accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music. Each year, the Music Institute’s world-class music teachers and arts therapists provide the highest quality arts education, reaching more than 10,000 students of all ability levels, from birth to 102 years of age, at campuses in Evanston, Highland Park, Lake Forest, Lincolnshire, Winnetka, and Downers Grove and through its longstanding partnership with the Chicago Public Schools. The Music Institute also offers lessons and programs at the Steinway of Chicago store in Northbrook and early childhood and community engagement programs throughout the Chicago area and the North Shore. The Music Institute offers lessons, classes, and programs through four distinct areas: Community School, The Academy, Creative Arts Therapy (Institute for Therapy through the Arts), and Nichols Concert Hall. 

The Music Institute of Chicago’s day of music for families takes place Saturday, March 16 at Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Avenue, Evanston. Tickets are $10 per family (up to six family members) for Peter and the Wolf, available online or 847.905.1500 ext. 108. All other events are free. For more information visit musicinst.org.

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