Blog – Page 29 – Clef Notes Chicagoland Journal for the Arts

It takes a village is an old African proverb that is often heard in the context of raising a child. Of course, harnessing the collaborative powers a village can often come in quite handy in a few other worthwhile pursuits as well. Take, the arts, for instance. Collaboration is often the life’s blood of cultural presentation. Whether it’s multi-disciplinary collaboration mixing idioms like dance and opera or two similar artistic entities coming together to share a unique work, the village approach to cultural presentation can be used quite effectively to bring about unique cultural programming local audiences might not otherwise enjoy.

Art

Chicago Monuments Project Advisory Committee Release Final Report to the City

August 27, 2022 Isaac Jacobs City of Chicago

The Chicago Monuments Project (CMP) Advisory Committee recently released its final report, synthesized from a comprehensive, community-focused engagement process over the past year or more — the first of its kind in a major U.S. city. Thousands of Chicagoans from diverse communities contributed to this conversation on the city’s public monuments through several modes including surveys, live discussions and free-response public feedback submitted via ChicagoMonuments.org. The recommendations overwhelming conveyed the public’s desire for the creation of new monuments that memorialized Chicago’s true and complete history. As a result, DCASE has announced its support of the creation of eight new works each with a $50,000 planning grant, in addition to ongoing programs and investments to help diversity the collection.

Dance

Congo Square to Partner with Lookingglass Theatre to Remount “What’s to Send Up When it Goes Down”

August 27, 2022 Fred Cummings Congo Square Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre

Congo Square Theatre Company, one of the nation’s premier African American ensemble theater companies, and Lookingglass Theatre Company announce that single tickets are now on sale for the remount of Congo Square’s production of What to Send Up When It Goes Down in residence at Lookingglass Theatre Company’s historic Water Tower Water Works theater, 821 N Michigan Ave.

Dance

Giordano Dance to Host Dancing with the Giordano Dance Stars

August 27, 2022 Fred Cummings Giordano Dance Chicago

Giordano Dance Chicago (GDC) hosts its wildly popular “Dancing With The Giordano Stars” ballroom dance competition to benefit GDC’s Jazz Dance/Science & Health outreach program, company operations, and jazz dance advocacy and mentorship programs 7 -11 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6. The event will take place at Park West, 322 W. Armitage Ave. This annual gala, patterned after the hit ABC series “Dancing With The Stars,” teams GDC professional dancers with partners from the who’s who of Chicago’s civic, social and business communities to vie for “Best Male Dancer” and “Best Female Dancer” honors before a panel of celebrity judges. WGN’s Anna Davlantes will emcee.

Music Summer 2022

LUMINARY: Q&A with Singer/Songwriter Dan Navarro

August 25, 2022 Fred Cummings Dan Navarro, Hey Nonny

Saying singer/songwriter Dan Navarro is a versatile artist is like saying the past two years were kind of challenging for live music. It’s an understatement of epic proportions. Navarro is as prolific a master of all trades as they come. In addition to singer and songwriter, he routinely excels as producer, voice-over actor and all-around “road warrior,” all mounting a convincing argument for Navarro as the Hercules of the performing arts.
For years, he worked prolifically as part of the acoustic duo, Lowen & Navarro, releasing 14 albums and performing 1,500 gigs before Eric Lowen’s retirement in 2008 and subsequent passing from ALS in 2012.

Art

Pilsen-Based Street Artist Sentrock to Receive First Solo Exhibition at Elmhurst Art Museum

August 22, 2022 Isaac Jacobs Elmhurst Art Museum, Sentrock

Throughout the Elmhurst Art Museum’s 25th year of inspiring its community, the museum will host a year-long celebration with a focus on the three major hallmarks of its mission: architecture (spring), education (summer), and art (fall). The milestone year will culminate in the fall season with the first solo museum show of Pilsen-based street artist Sentrock, who seeks to uplift and empower youth through his murals and educational projects. The multi-media exhibition will feature new work by the rising artist that reveals for the first time the origin story of his distinctive Bird City Saint character, which appears in over 20 prominent murals Chicago and other cities. Sentrock: The Boy Who Wanted to Fly is open September 9, 2022, to January 15, 2023.

Music

Illinois Philharmonic Unveils Youth Music Education Institute

August 5, 2022 Fred Cummings Illinois Philharmonic

Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) unveiled its new Youth Music Education Institute this spring during an exclusive concert at Olympia Fields Country Club, and in the process, surprised longtime supporter Marilynn Tannebaum by dedicating the Institute in her honor.

Theater

Chriss Henderson to Step Down as Executive Director of Chicago Shakespeare Theater

August 2, 2022 Oscar Peterson Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Chriss Henderson

Chriss Henderson who has steered Chicago Shakespeare Theater from a fledgling start-up theater in 1990 through 33 years of expansive growth, award-winning productions, and nationally recognized education and community engagement programming, has announced that he will be stepping down from his executive director role at the end of 2022.

Summer 2022 Theater

Full Circle: Court Theatre Names Gabriel Randle-Bent Associate Artistic Director

August 1, 2022 Oscar Peterson Court Theatre, University of Chicago

In any real artistic pursuit, there comes a time when you simply have to invest in what you believe in. After all, as the old saying goes, you have to put up or shut up. And Court Theatre, who’s collaborated generously with a host of emerging and talented Chicago-based artists, directors and playwrights, has done just that in their recent appointment of Gabrielle Randle-Bent as associate artistic director. Bringing a uniquely powerful combination of academic excellence, artistic acumen and collaborative experience with with Court Theatre’s artistic team, Randle-Bent finds herself uniquely qualified to fill the post for which Court has been searching since early this year.

Ballet Dance Summer 2022

Voice of Resistance

August 1, 2022 Fred Cummings Auditorium Theatre, Kyiv City Ballet

One sleepy evening this past February, the full company of the Kyiv City Ballet boarded a flight out of its home city of Ukraine to embark upon a long-planned European tour. Little did anyone know at the time that it would be one of the last flights out of the country as Russia would invade its borders the very next day. That flight made its way to Paris, a city and its country that would adopt the ballet company in the wake of the Russian invasion. There and throughout Europe, the Kyiv City Ballet has performed since and now embarks upon a US tour that will bring them to the landmark Auditorium Theatre stage this fall.