The Southside Friends of Chicago Sinfonietta present “Summer Magic” | August 2020

The Southside Friends of Chicago Sinfonietta presented Summer Magic: A Virtual Brunch on August 4, 2020 to help raise critical funds to support musician operations in the wake of the devastating impact of COVID-19.

The program was a success, providing much needed support for our musicians through general operating expenses with lively performances that celebrated the future of Chicago Sinfonietta.

Let us raise a virtual toast to Chicago Sinfonietta! Pictured: MLK Tribute Concert 2020

Summer Magic: A Virtual Brunch kicked off at 11 a.m. Saturday morning. Many of those speaking on behalf of the Chicago Sinfonietta held a glass flute filled with a sparkling beverage, and by the end of the online event I expect that many of those listening raised their own glasses, or perhaps mugs of tea or coffee, in honor of the group’s achievements and the enjoyable performances from the musicians.” —Hyde Park Herald

Missed the live event? Watch online now.

Chicago Sinfonietta Confronts Racial Bias In Classical Music | Newcity Music, July 2020

Seth Boustead of New City Music speaks with Project Inclusion Director Danielle Taylor for an insider perspective on Chicago Sinfonietta’s groundbreaking fellowship and education program.

Project Inclusion Orchestral & Conducting Freeman Fellows 2019-20/Photo: Chris Ocken Photography

“What does it mean to make art now? When survival is the primary thing on our mind, and then also to do so under circumstances where you can’t make art with people, like in the same room with people, which I think for Black people, culturally has been so, so important in surviving in this country. Being together and making music, from churches to jazz. Being deprived of that at this moment is yet another piece that feels so broken.”

Violinist, violist, writer and thinker Danielle Taylor is not talking about survival figuratively or only in relation to the coronavirus. In a country that routinely murders its citizens for being Black, and too often lets perpetrators get away with it, she is talking about actual survival.

I had contacted Taylor about her role as director of Project Inclusion at the Chicago Sinfonietta to talk about the initiative’s extraordinary work. I had a conundrum on my hands: I had agreed to write the classical music article for Newcity for July but there are no performances to write about and, given our current climate, writing about how classical music groups are reaching audiences virtually felt tone deaf.

As in the wake of the MeToo movement, classical music is having to confront a legacy most organizations would prefer not to talk about—in this case, a long legacy of racial exclusion in nearly every area, from the stage to key administrative and management positions.

It’s this legacy that Project Inclusion hopes to change. “This fellowship exists to make up for the lack of opportunities and all the years that come before,” Taylor says. “Those opportunities look like private lessons but also the privilege of choice, because what money can provide is the choice of saying, okay, this teacher doesn’t work for my child anymore. So we’re going to move to a different teacher who can prepare them at a higher level.

“And there are so many people who come up through very important nonprofit schools, yes; but that does not compare to intensive one-hour lessons where you can choose who’s going to take you to the next level. Then there are festivals which are extremely expensive, and there are people who can’t afford the application fee, let alone a plane ticket to get there.

“We can’t talk about race without also talking about economics, without talking about who has the accumulated wealth in the country. And it has not been Black people and people of color and that leads to exclusion. When there are people not feeling welcomed or encouraged or supported by their institutions and teachers, ultimately that can lead to dropping out, to deciding to take a different career path.

“By the time you get to the people who are actually in the field and have jobs, that’s such a small number of the people who would have worked passionately with all their might to get there.”

Project Inclusion currently has fellowships for string players and conductors, and are adding a composition fellowship this year. The training is intensive and hands-on. The fellows take private lessons and master classes, but perform with the Chicago Sinfonietta as well, an incredible opportunity. They also practice mock auditions and media interviews and master all aspects of being a successful classical musician, on and off stage.

“There’s also the time and the space to talk openly about the challenges that our fellows face navigating the field,” Taylor says, “because it can’t be divorced from race and gender and all of the often-negative ways that we’re perceived. Allowing that space to have those conversations is also important. The power of Project Inclusion comes from building a strong community with all of the fellows and instead of seeing each other as competitors, they see each other as family.”

But Project Inclusion is only one project at one institution. Reaching the goal of changing the face of classical music, it’s going to take all of us. If you use email, you’ve probably been barraged with messages from arts organizations saying they “stand in solidarity” with the protest movements. These are noble sentiments and I don’t doubt the sincerity of organizations sending them out. But you don’t have to look far to see that by not acknowledging the history of exclusion and the pain that it has caused, these messages often do more harm than good. Just by being part of the fabric of a racist society, most institutions are complicit.

“Every single one of these institutions absolutely has enacted harm,” Taylor says. “It’s part of their organizational structure because your organization is not an organization. It is a building filled with people that make decisions, and those people have values and prejudices and all of that. So to me, there’s not a chance that there’s a single organization that hasn’t enacted harm.

“I know people are thinking very carefully and very deeply about the statements about racism. But it’s not clear who they’re speaking to. I think they’re speaking to the general world. So they want them to know that, hey, we see bad things are happening. They’re not speaking to the people who are most harmed. They’re not speaking directly to Black people. Most of the institutions don’t even say ‘Black people,’ it’s vague things like ‘injustice’ and ‘protest.’ Who are you talking to? That’s not for us.”

There’s no easy solution, and classical music is not alone in dealing with a racist legacy. But we in the arts are by and large a sensitive bunch. We can admit that we’ve done harm and have been complicit in doing harm. We can stop pretending that Black people, or any other excluded people, should mistake our feeling bad for real change. Because it isn’t real change. Not while any single person in this country has to wonder if they’ve been excluded from reaching their full potential because of the color of their skin, and certainly not while anyone in this country has to worry about their very survival.

The protests will die down, the pandemic could end. We’ve been given the challenge of reinventing our organizations and we’ve been given plenty of time for self-reflection. What will we do next?

Learn more about the 2020-2021 Project Inclusion Freeman Fellowship class.

Project Inclusion | Largest Project Inclusion Class to Date

Press Contact: Jim Hirsch
Chicago Sinfonietta
312-284-1553
jhirsch@localhost
 

Chicago Sinfonietta Continues Its Commitment to Diversity

With Largest Project Inclusion Class to Date

CHICAGO (August 15, 2019) – In a continuation of its commitment to equity, inclusion, and changing the face of classical music, Chicago Sinfonietta has announced its incoming class for its groundbreaking Project Inclusion Freeman Fellowship Program (PI).

Maestro Paul Freeman
Chicago Sinfonietta Founder Maestro Paul Freeman

Now in its 12th year Chicago Sinfonietta founder Paul Freeman created Project Inclusion to provide mentorship and professional development to diverse and emerging musicians, conductors, and arts administrators. Freeman and CS staff thoughtfully designed the program, which has grown to three multifaceted fellowship tracks, to eliminate institutional bias due to ethnicity, race, and socioeconomics, in hopes of making classical music accessible to all. Chicago Sinfonietta’s PI fellows come from across the globe country to work closely with Music Director Mei-Ann Chen, staff members, CS musicians, and key supporters of the organization to gain hands-on experience to help them compete for and win jobs in U.S. orchestras.  The Orchestra and Conducting Fellows will attend, conduct, and perform at Chicago Sinfonietta’s concerts throughout the 2019-2020 season, Dialogue.

“Nothing Chicago Sinfonietta does captures the legacy of our late founder, Maestro Paul Freeman, like the Project Inclusion Freeman Fellowship program,” said Chicago Sinfonietta CEO Jim Hirsch. “Paul had an incredible eye for talent and a life-long commitment to nurturing orchestral musicians, soloists, composers, and conductors from diverse backgrounds. This year’s class of Project Inclusion fellows would make Maestro proud and they will soon take their places on the stages and podiums of orchestras in the years to come.”

Assistant Conductor Jonathan Rush

Former PI Conducting alumnus Jonathan Rush (left) will serve as Assistant Conductor for the 2019-2020 season, working alongside this year’s PI fellows and taking the podium at this year’s MLK Tribute Concert.

 

“I am so thrilled to serve as Assistant Conductor with the Sinfonietta,” said Rush. “It’s truly an honor to be able to continue in Maestro Freeman’s vision, alongside America’s most diverse orchestra. I’m excited to continue changing the faces of classical with my Chicago Sinfonietta family.”

The 2019-2020 Project Inclusion Freeman Conducting Fellows are Dr. Antoine T. Clark, Alexandra Enyart, and Aaron King Vaughan. Former PI Orchestral Fellow Kyle Dickson, along with newcomers Taichi Fukumura and Yabetza Vivas Irizarry, will serve as Auditors.

The 2019-2020 Project Inclusion Freeman Orchestral Fellows are Najette Abouelhadi (cello), Fahad Awan (violin), Alison Lovera (violin), and Seth Pae (viola).

2018-19 Project Inclusion Freeman Fellows

 

“Project Inclusion is about diversity, talent, and developing talent without bias so that young, promising individuals can go on to contribute to what we see and hear on the world’s stages,” said Music Director Chen It is an honor to further Maestro Freeman’s ideals and nurture the incredible artists that are participating in the 2019-2020 fellowship program. Our past fellows have gone on to make their mark in the arts with major positions in the industry, and this season’s fellows hold the same promise. It is my dream come true to witness Maestro Freeman’s legacy being carried far and wide through the expansion of Sinfonietta’s fellowship program and how it impacts our industry in deep and meaningful ways!”

For more information about Project Inclusion, visit chicagosinfonietta.org

 

 

About the Sinfonietta

Now approaching its 32nd season, Chicago Sinfonietta continues to push artistic boundaries under the baton of Maestro Mei-Ann Chen and organizational leadership of Jim Hirsch and Courtney Perkins.  The orchestra is dedicated to providing an alternative way of hearing, seeing and thinking about a symphony orchestra and promoting diversity, inclusion, racial and cultural equity in the arts. In 2016, Chicago Sinfonietta was the proud recipient of the 2016 Spirit of Innovation Award presented by the Chicago Innovation Awards as well as the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s prestigious MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions (MACEI). The MacArthur award recognizes exceptional organizations that are key contributors in their fields.

Chicago Sinfonietta is grateful to its 2019-2020 Project Inclusion supporters including: The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellow Foundation, The Joyce Foundation, Crown Family Philanthropies, and technology supporter CDW.

 

Project Inclusion | A Brief History and Inside Perspective

CEO Jim Hirsch offers a historical deep dive and insider perspective in to the creation of Chicago Sinfonietta’s groundbreaking fellowship and education program. 

The First Fellowship Class of Project Inclusion

“I just recently saw Hamilton for the second time and the song, “The Room Where It Happens,” has been running through my brain almost non-stop. But as I think about the very beginning of what has become one of Chicago Sinfonietta’s signature programs, Project Inclusion, it’s apropos because I was in the room where it happened! It all came about through a strategic planning process that we began in 2005. First, some background.

Maestro Freeman had a keen eye for finding talented musicians, composers, soloists, and conductors from diverse backgrounds. He had informally mentored and championed individuals throughout his career and helped launch some of the most accomplished artists of the time including Yo-Yo Ma, among others. As we brainstormed what we wanted to accomplish for the future in 2005, it became clear that to help address the dearth of diverse musicians in American orchestras, Chicago Sinfonietta needed to do something about it.  We decided to create

PI Inaugural Class Members Andrew Snow (left) and Demarus Allen-Batieste

a fellowship program that would take early career, diverse musicians and invite them to rehearse and perform with the orchestra for up to two years.

Maestro Freeman, Renee Baker (orchestra personnel manager at that time), and I worked as a team to create the initial program outlines for Project Inclusion. We held auditions and introduced the first class of Project Inclusion in January of 2007 during our MLK concert.

Project Inclusion Double Bassist Brandon Mitchell

The program has been offered ever since and we added a conducting fellowship in 2014 and an administrative fellowship in 2015. When Maestro Freeman passed away we renamed it the Project Inclusion Freeman Fellowship in his honor. We are excited to have recently introduced the 2019-2020 class of Freeman Fellows who will begin their work with us in September and look forward to being in the room where it happens as they begin their career journeys.” —Jim Hirsch

Learn more about the 2019-2020 Project Inclusion Freeman Fellowship class.

Chicago Sinfonietta Celebrates a Joyous 30th Anniversary

“The Sinfonietta celebrated the finale of its 30th season [Monday night in Orchestra Hall]. Though the program ranged from sublime to silly (intentionally so), the high points were unforgettable.”

Howard Reich of the Chicago Tribune recalls meeting the Chicago Sinfonietta’s founder and first music director, Paul Freeman, and praises the energetic finale of our 30th anniversary season. Read more here!

Feature: Sinfonietta’s Diversity Mission Shifts Into High Gear

“Daring. Defiant. Different. That’s how the Chicago Sinfonietta markets itself.

It’s no empty assertion.

“For 27 seasons the mid-sized orchestra has made it its niche mission to promote ethnic diversity among its players, staff, board and audience. It prides itself on the sometimes outrageous eclecticism of its programs. It has been a role model for groups seeking to remove the intimidation factor from classical concerts and get down with the entire community.”

 

Read more about the Chicago Sinfonietta’s commitment to diversity in the Chicago Tribune’s full feature article!