Mei-Ann Chen and Blake-Anthony Johnson
Music Director and CEO, Chicago Sinfonietta
In 1987, conductor Paul Freeman had had enough. He had had enough of watching orchestras where there was a lack of diversity in the hiring and programming, of women and minority conductors and composers passed over for important work, and of orchestras playing only in venues accessible to a certain slice of society. So he formed the Chicago Sinfonietta, and set about righting those wrongs. Freeman retired in 2011 (he passed away in 2015), passing the baton to Mei-Ann Chen. Chen set the orchestral world alight, shattering glass ceilings. In 2020, Blake-Anthony Johnson came on board as CEO, and brought about the type of changes that others were talking about but were not putting into practice. This season, the orchestra begins a collaboration with The Auditorium Theatre, along with Naperville’s Wentz Concert Hall. (Aaron Hunt)
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