CHICAGO YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS HONORS “WOMEN IN MUSIC” IN GALA FEB. 25

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Evening’s honorees include CYSO alum, visionary artist/musician

Laurie Anderson 

who will also perform with CYSO’s Symphony Orchestra

Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras (CYSO) hosts its 2023 gala “Women in Music” at The Geraghty, 2520 S. Hoyne Avenue, Saturday, Feb. 25 beginning at 6 p.m. This is CYSO’s largest fundraising event of the year. Attendees will enjoy cocktails, gourmet dinner provided by Boka Catering, live auction, and performances from more than 100 of CYSO’s talented young musicians, including orchestra, steelpan, and jazz ensembles. Proceeds from the evening directly support CYSO’s award-winning music education programs for dedicated young musicians from across the Chicago region.

This evening of glamour and music will highlight the achievements of the many pioneering women who continue to pave the way for the future of music. The event will feature three inspiring honorees including groundbreaking artist/musician and CYSO alum, Laurie Anderson, who will also join the organization’s flagship Symphony Orchestra for a live performance of one of Anderson’s pieces; CEO of Mesirow Natalie A. Brown; and CYSO Director of String Ensembles Daniella Valdez. Event chairs are Laura Mandel & Richard Blessen and Pamella Der & Wei Shih. WGN anchor and investigative reporter Lourdes Duarte will once again emcee the event.

Individual tickets to the gala are $450 per person. Standard and VIP tables are available. Cocktail attire, black tie optional. Valet parking available. Rideshare options also recommended.  For more information visit cyso.org/gala or contact Marc Bitler by email at mbitler@cyso.org or by phone at 312.939.2207, ext. 200.

Sponsors for CYSO’s “Women in Music” Gala: Premium Level - Sheppard Mullin; Gold Level - Jenner & Block and The Bricker Vinik Family and Cynthia Van Osdol & John Sandwick; and Silver Level – Conagra Brands, Mesirow, Pritzker Traubert Foundation and Stephen & Terry Schwartz.

About Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras

Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras’ mission is to inspire and cultivate personal excellence through music. After more than 75 years of music-making, CYSO continues to shape generations of young leaders and musicians. Students collaborate and create in a learning environment like no other, developing fundamental skills including leadership, teamwork, and resilience. We are committed to educating, encouraging, and empowering each young musician so that they may pursue personal excellence both on and off stage.

CYSO works with young musicians ages 6-18 in on-site and school-based ensembles, and offers community programming reaching audiences of all ages across the Chicago region. Our programs include symphony orchestras, string orchestras, steelpan, jazz band, chamber music, and music composition. We invest in our community through CYSO@CPS school-based ensembles and free concerts that reach more than 10,000 young people annually. 

CYSO promotes and provides ensemble-focused programming because we believe in the power of community. A young musician’s time at CYSO is a pathway of opportunity and growth, but they do not walk it alone. By bringing together young people from across the region, CYSO students build bonds with those who come from different backgrounds and share a passion for music. They develop the skills necessary to thrive as an ensemble. Whether or not a student continues musical studies after their time in CYSO, young people leave with increased self-confidence and a deep appreciation for music and the arts.

Major support for CYSO's 2022-2023 season is provided by: the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Ross Bricker and Nina Vinik, Dr. Louanne Carabini and Shawn O'Leary, Pam and Dave Conroy, J. Lawrence and Susan Costin, Crown Family Philanthropies, the Julius N. Frankel Foundation, Kelly and Dennis Howe, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, The MacArthur Fund for Culture, Equity, and the Arts at Prince, Jim and Ginger Meyer, Ms. Jennifer Myerberg and The Alvin and Louise Myerberg Family Foundation, Inc., the Negaunee Foundation, Angela and Dana O’Banion, Bonita and Delano O’Banion, John and Joyce Schladweiler, Mr. and Mrs. Stephen L. and Terry Schwartz, Brittany Viola and Justin Bernbrock, and the Zell Family Foundation.

Honoree Biographies

LAURIE ANDERSON

Artist, composer, director and 1965 CYSO alum

A native of Glen Ellyn, Laurie Anderson’s five-decade career spans the worlds of art, theater, experimental music, and technology, with live shows ranging from simple spoken word to elaborate multi-media stage performances. Her recording career was launched by the hit ‘O Superman’ in 1981 and she was appointed the first artist-in-residence of NASA. Earlier this year, Anderson opened her largest solo exhibition at The Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum titled "The Weather."

NATALIE A. BROWN

CEO of Mesirow

Natalie A. Brown is Chief Executive Officer of Mesirow, just the 6th CEO in the company’s 85-year history and the first woman to serve in the role. She is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and the Executives’ Club of Chicago and sits on the boards of multiple youth education nonprofit organizations.

DANIELLA VALDEZ

CYSO Director of String Ensembles

Daniella Valdez has led CYSO’s string orchestra programs for the past 17 years. She oversees three on-site ensembles, engaging with hundreds of string players each season. Valdez is an active clinician working with fellow music educators, including playing an important role as mentor to members of CYSO’s artistic staff.

TONIGHT: Blue Man Group and CYSO Collaborate In a FREE Show At Millennium Park at 6:30pm

BLUE MAN GROUP AND 

CHICAGO YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS TEAM UP FOR SECOND 

COLLABORATIVE PERFORMANCE 

IN MILLENNIUM PARK 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 1

Free Outdoor Concert Event Features Selections of Popular Classical Music Performed with Blue Man Group

Photo credits:  “BMG in Millennium Park with CYSO” – credit Ed Spinelli

Blue Man Group, in conjunction with the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras (CYSO), will return to the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park for a collaborative performance on Wednesday, July 1 at 6:30 p.m. The free public performance will feature a program of full orchestral works performed by CYSO’s inaugural summer orchestra, as well as collaborative performances and thrilling surprises with Blue Man Group.

“Last year’s concert was great and this year’s will be bigger and better,” says CYSO Music Director Allen Tinkham. “The partnership between Blue Man Group and CYSO brings a highly entertaining and innovative spin to a classical music performance that our musicians relish and audiences won’t want to miss.”

At the July 1 event, Blue Man Group and CYSO will unite for a medley of classical favorites by Amilcare Ponchielli, Franz von Suppé and Richard Wagner. CYSO is also scheduled to perform three full length classical works: Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “Symphonic Dances,” op. 45, Dmitri Kabalevsky’s “Colas Breugnon,” op. 24: Overture and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Capriccio Italien,” op. 45.

The Blue Man Group and CYSO performance event is free and open to the public. For more information, please visit: cyso.org.

About Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras

CYSO’s Symphony Orchestra has earned an international reputation as a premier orchestral ensemble featuring extraordinary young musicians from the Chicago area. Allen Tinkham was appointed Music Director of CYSO in 2001. During his tenure, CYSO has won eight of its 11 ASCAP National Awards for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music, as well as four Illinois Council of Orchestras awards (two Programming of the Year Awards and two Youth Orcehstra of the Year Awards). Under Tinkham’s direction, CYSO ensembles have performed at Orcehstra Hall, Millennium Park, Ravinia, Carnegie Hall and several international locales. CYSO has taken the stage three times at Lollapalooza, Chicago’s legendary rock music festival, the first time in August 2007 when it became the first ever classical music ensemble to do so. They will team up with The National’s Bryce Dessner for a May 17 concert at Orchestra Hall and Ben Folds at the Chicago Theatre June 6.

Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra (CYSO) has provided musical education through orchestral programs and performance opportunities of the highest caliber since 1946. 

CYSO currently serves 475 Chicago area musicians ages 7-18 through three full orchestras, two string orchestras, multiple steel orchestras and supplemental programs that include chamber music ensembles, music theory and composition. It also reaches the diverse population of Chicago Public School students, educators and community members each year through its Music Pathways program. Music Pathways includes an In-School Residency Program with several partner Chicago Public elementary schools, Clinics for partner Chicago Public high schools, free Community Concerts, a Private Lesson Program for current CYSO students and Neighborhood Ensembles. CYSO, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization is investing in the future of music and the next generation of leaders. For more information, visit cyso.org or call 312.939.2207. CYSO also can be followed on Twitter at twitter.com/ChiYSO. Like CYSO on Facebook at facebook.com/ChicagoYouthSymphonyOrchestras.

About Blue Man Group

Blue Man Group is a unique and thrilling multi-sensory experience that fuses innovative theatrical spectacle and powerful original music with hilarious comedy to create a performance experience unlike any other. The iconic, silent, inquisitive Blue Man character has remained consistent since the show’s opening, but the world he reacts to is continuously changing, allowing for a production that continuously evolves. One of the world’s most popular theatrical productions, today’s Blue Man Group is a blend of signature material that has been in the show since the opening, as well as newer passages that examine the influence of technology on today’s world with a funny and perceptive look at contemporary communication vehicles. The performance then closes with a pulsating finale that has audiences up and out of their seats, featuring an original Blue Man Group music score.

Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune gave the show a Four Star rating and said the material was “brilliantly revamped” and “truly joyous.” After seeing the new material, Hedy Weiss for the Chicago Sun-Times wrote, “The show's creators have cleverly updated the production with new wizardry while retaining its essential mind-set.” Chicago Parent editor Tamara L. O'Shaughnessy said “the coolest blue guys in Chicago just got cooler.”

Currently, Blue Man Group theatrical shows can be seen in New York, Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Orlando, Berlin and on tour throughout the U.S.

The company’s music, featuring custom made instruments and signature, percussive sound, can be heard on five albums, including the Grammy-nominated “Audio,” as well as various film and television projects. As the company grows, it remains true to its vision of providing exciting experiences in a variety of media, appealing to a broad range of age groups and cultural backgrounds.

For more information, visit blueman.com.

TONIGHT: FREE Fam Friendly Fun Blue Man Group Joins Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra

BLUE MAN GROUP MAKES SPECIAL APPEARANCE DURING CHICAGO YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS PERFORMANCE IN MILLENNIUM PARK  

SUNDAY, JUNE 8, 2014  

Free Outdoor CYSO Concert Event Features Passages of Well-Known Classical Repertoire Performed with Blue Man Group!  

Here at ChiIL Mama we know there's culture and then there's CULTURE. Get a good dose of both in a FREE, family friendly show TONIGHT.

ChiIL Mama's ChiIL Tips:

• Take the el and avoid the parking 'ell. It's easy!
• Bring a picnic!  Wine is fine too.

(CYSO) announces a collaborative performance on June 8, 2014 at 6:30 p.m. at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. The free public performance will feature a program of selections to be performed during CYSO’s June 2014 tour of China, as well as special pieces featuring Blue Man’s thrilling multi-sensory audience experience, bringing an innovative Blue Man Group spin to the classical repertoire. 

“CYSO is excited to bring this rare confluence of talents to the Millennium Park Stage with Blue Man Group this June,” said CYSO Music Director Allen Tinkham. “Combining Blue Man Group’s hilarious theatricality with the youthful energy of CYSO’s talented musicians will make for a potent blend that is certain to offer a singularly exciting concert experience for audiences that night.”

On June 8, Blue Man Group will perform teasers of well-known classical pieces from Khachaturian, Wagner, and others along with the orchestra. CYSO will perform an array of pieces from its tour to China, including Johannes Brahms

’Variations on a Theme of Joseph Haydn, op. 56a, Zhou Long’s “The Rhyme of Taigu” and Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra. 

The special programming will also include other audience favorites, with an infusion of colorful surprises from Blue Man Group.  

The Blue Man Group and CYSO performance event is free and open to the public at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park (201 E. Randolph Street). For more information please visit: www.cyso.org

ChiIL Tech Tip:

Download the new CYSO App now for access to exclusive content!

The new CYSO App is now available for download on all Apple and Android devices. This FREE app will provide access to exclusive content for CYSO concerts and events. 

* What’s New

Shows the next event and the most recent music, videos and news.

* Events

Browse upcoming events. Get complete performance information including CYSO ensemble, venue, dates, repertoire & artists. 

* Music

Listen to select CYSO recordings on your mobile device. All repertoire information including composers, works, soloists, conductors and ensembles is included. High quality audio options are available if you are connected through a high speed network.

* Videos

Watch your favorite and new CYSO videos, including CYSO Webisodes and concert footage.

The CYSO App is powered by InstantEncore.

**The first event featured in the app is the June 8 Millennium Park concert with Blue Man Group! Download this free app now to gain access to program notes, artist information, and special offers from CYSO and Blue Man Group!**

Click Here on Apple Devices

Click Here on Android Devices

Or search CYSO in the App Store or Google Play

About Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras 

CYSO’s Symphony Orchestra has earned an international reputation as a premi

er orchestral ensemble featuring extraordinary young musicians from the Chicago area. Allen Tinkham was appointed Music Director of CYSO in 2001. During his tenure, CYSO has won eight of its 11 ASCAP National Awards for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music, as well as four 

Illinois Council of Orchestras awards (two Programming of the Year Awards and two Youth Orchestra of the Year Awards). Under Tinkham’s direction, CYSO ensembles have performed at Orchestra Hall, Millennium Park, Ravinia, Carnegie Hall and several international locales. CYSO has taken the stage three times at Lollapalooza, Chicago’s legendary rock music festival, 

the first time in August 2007 when it became the first ever classical music ensemble to do so.  

Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras (CYSO) has provided music education through orchestral programs and performance opportunities of the highest caliber since 1946. CYSO currently serves 475 Chicago area musicians ages 7-18 through three full orchestras, two string orchestras, multiple steel orchestras and supplemental programs that include chamber music ensembles, music theory and composition. It also reaches the diverse population of Chicago Public School students, educators and community members each year through its Music Pathways program.  Music Pathways includes an In-School Residency Program with several partner Chicago Public elementary schools, Clinics for partner Chicago Public high schools, free Community Concerts, a Private Lesson Program for current CYSO students and Neighborhood Ensembles. CYSO, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, is investing in the future of music and 

the next generation of leaders. For more information visit www.cyso.org or call 312-939-2207. 

Click here to follow CYSO on Twitter.   Click here to "Like" CYSO on Facebook. 

About Blue Man Group  

Blue Man Group is a unique and thrilling multi-sensory experience that fuses innovative 

theatrical spectacle and powerful original music with hilarious comedy to create a performance experience unlike any other. The iconic, silent, inquisitive Blue Man character has remained consistent since the show’s opening, but the world he reacts to is continuously changing, allowing for a production that continuously evolves. 

One of the world’s most popular theatrical productions, today’s Blue Man Group is a blend of signature material that has been in the show since the opening, as well as newer passages that examine the influence of technology on today’s world with a funny and perceptive look at contemporary communication vehicles. The performance then closes with a pulsating finale that has audiences up and out of their seats, featuring an original Blue Man Group music score. 

The company’s music, featuring custom made instruments and signature, percussive sound, can be heard on five albums, including the Grammy-nominated “Audio,” as well as various film and television projects. As the company grows, it remains true to its vision of providing exciting experiences in a variety of media, appealing to a broad range of age groups and cultural backgrounds.   

Blue Man Group Ticket Information: 

Tickets are available from $49-$99. Tickets may be purchased at the Briar Street Theatre by 

calling the box office at (773) 348-4000; by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 982-2787; at all 

Ticketmaster ticket centers or via the Internet at 

www.ticketmaster.com/bluemanchicago

For more information, visit 

www.blueman.com/chicago

CHICAGO YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS' SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PERFORMS SPRING CONCERT AT ORCHESTRA HALL MOTHER’S DAY, SUNDAY, MAY 11 AT 7:30 P.M.

Turntabalist Jordan “Madhatter” Lee Joins CYSO for the U.S. Premiere of the Full Version of Gabriel Prokofiev’s “Concerto for Turntables and Orchestra” 

ChiIL out in style for Mother's Day in Chi, IL 

with The CYSO at Orchestra Hall.

Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras’ (CYSO) 130-member Symphony Orchestra presents its spring 2014 concert at Chicago’s Orchestra Hall (220 S. Michigan Ave.), Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 11 at 7:30 p.m.

The concert will open with CYSO's Concert Orchestra, conducted by CYSO Associate Conductor Terrance Malone Gray, performing Franz Liszt’s “Mephisto Waltz No. 1, 'Der Tanz in der Dorfschenke'.” Then, the award-winning CYSO Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Music Director Allen Tinkham, will take the stage to perform the U.S. Premiere of the full version of Gabriel Prokofiev’s “Concerto for Turntables and Orchestra” featuring guest Turntablist Jordan "Madhatter" Lee. After intermission, the Symphony Orchestra will complete the program with Zhou Long’s “The Rhyme of Taigu” and Béla Bartók’s “Concerto for Orchestra.”

"With this program, we celebrate the evolution of instrumental music on an epic scale, from ancient to modern," says Tinkham. "There will be music featuring ethnic Chinese percussion, among the oldest known musical instruments, and music featuring the turntable, a machine we thought we knew for many decades, now an instrument capable of surprising musicality. We'll conclude with Bartok's iconic “Concerto for Orchestra,” named for its virtuosic treatment of every instrument in the orchestra. It will be an exciting and highly entertaining evening for musician and audience member alike."

The full program for the May 11 Concert is as follows:

Franz Liszt (1811-1886): “Mephisto Waltz No.1, S.110/2, 'Der Tanz in der Dorfschenke'.” (Dance at the Village Inn)

Performed by CYSO’s Concert Orchestra

Terrance Malone Gray, conductor

The Faust legend was based on a real person, Johann Faustus, who bragged of having supernatural powers, and being a companion of the Devil. This eventually morphed into the legend of a man who sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for power and gratification of all his desires while he’s alive. In the Mephisto Waltz No. 1, we find that Mephistopheles (the devil) has taken up a violin, playing a feverish waltz so that Faust can have the chance to dance with and romance a girl who he has met during a stop at a village inn.

Zhou Long (b.1953): “The Rhyme of Taigu” (2003)

Performed by CYSO’s Symphony Orchestra

Allen Tinkham, conductor

Many Eastern composers have utilized the soundscape of Western instruments to transmute their musical ideas. In “The Rhyme of Taigu,” Zhou Long transforms the orchestra into an engine of energy and pulse, evoking the ancient drum ceremonies of the Tang dynasty (preceding the Japanese iteration, taiko), and the power of the largest Chinese drum called dagu.

Gabriel Prokofiev (b. 1975): “Concerto for Turntables and Orchestra” (2006)

Performed by CYSO’s Symphony Orchestra

Allen Tinkham, conductor

Guest Turntabilist, Jordan "Madhatter" Lee.

Within the last century, the combination of electricity and music has revolutionized composed sound. Prokofiev’s “Concerto for Turntables and Orchestra” merges thousands of years of music making into a synthesis of ancient and ultra-modern. In this work, the turntable serves as an instrument and the turntablist (or DJ) is the solo musician, employing hip-hop and pre-recorded sounds from the orchestra to put an entirely new spin on the power struggle and dialogue between soloist and ensemble inherent in the concerto tradition.

Béla Bartók (1881-1945): Concerto for Orchestra

Performed by CYSO’s Symphony Orchestra

Allen Tinkham, conductor

In the 20^th Century, when borders and governments started to rend, and the world tumbled into two world wars, Bartók (along with many other European composers) left to take up residence in the U.S. Sadly, he would discover he had leukemia, and would never return to Europe. Right before his diagnosis, the famed conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Serge Koussevitzky, commissioned Bartók to write a piece commemorating the recent death of Koussevitzky’s wife, Natalie. The result was Concerto for Orchestra, which became Bartok’s his final orchestral work.

During the second half of the concert, CYSO will present two scholarship awards to Symphony Orchestra students (recipients to be announced at a later date):

• Albert Pick III Award –This award, inspired by the memory of Albert Pick III for his love of the students of CYSO, comes with a $1,000 prize and is given to a well-rounded individual with the intent to be used to keep music a creative and joyful part of the recipient’s life.

• Mollendorf Award – This award comes with a $1,000 prize is awarded to a deserving graduating senior in Symphony Orchestra to be applied to further musical study
•  

That evening, CYSO will also present the “Note of Excellence Award for Outstanding Achievement by a CYSO Alumnus” (recipient to be announced). Past recipients for this award have included Seattle Symphony principal flutist Demarre McGill and his brother Anthony McGill, Principal Clarinet of the Metropolitan Opera; and premiere performance artist Laurie Anderson.

Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras (CYSO) presents its spring 2014 concert at Chicago’s Orchestra Hall (220 S. Michigan Ave.), Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 11 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20-$40. Boxes available at $50 per seat, Children 7 and under free. Tickets on sale now. For more information visit cyso.org or call 312-939-2207 x310.

Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras

CYSO’s Symphony Orchestra has earned an international reputation as a premier orchestral ensemble featuring extraordinary young musicians from the Chicago area. Allen Tinkham was appointed Music Director of CYSO in 2001. During his tenure, CYSO has won eight of its 11 ASCAP National Awards for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music, as well as four Illinois Council of Orchestras awards (two Programming of the Year Awards and two Youth Orchestra of the Year Awards). Under Tinkham’s direction, CYSO ensembles have performed at Orchestra Hall, Millennium Park, Ravinia, Carnegie Hall and several international locales. CYSO has taken the stage three times at Lollapalooza, Chicago’s legendary rock music festival, the first time in August 2007 when it became the first ever classical music ensemble to do so.

This summer, CYSO’s Symphony Orchestra will perform a free public outdoor concert of selections to be performed during its June 2014 tour of China at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park on Sunday, June 8, 2013 at 6:30 p.m.

Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras (CYSO) has provided music education through orchestral programs and performance opportunities of the highest caliber since 1946. CYSO currently serves 475 Chicago area musicians ages 7-18 through three full orchestras, two string orchestras, multiple steel orchestras and supplemental programs that include chamber music ensembles, music theory and composition. It also reaches the diverse population of Chicago Public School students, educators and community members each year through its Music Pathways program.  Music Pathways includes an In-School Residency Program with several partner Chicago Public elementary schools, Clinics for partner Chicago Public high schools, free Community Concerts, a Private Lesson Program for current CYSO students and Neighborhood Ensembles. CYSO, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, is investing in the future of music and the next generation of leaders. For more information visit www.cyso.org or call 312-939-2207. 

CYSO also can be followed on Twitter at twitter.com/ChiYSO. Like CYSO on Facebook at facebook.com/ChicagoYouthSymphonyOrchestras.