Ravinia 2019, Issue 1, Week 1

CHICAGO CHILDREN’S CHOIR Chicago Children’s Choir is the nation’s preeminent youth choral organization, serving over 5,000 students across the city of Chicago. Founded in Hyde Park in 1956, at the height of the civil rights movement in 1956, CCC has grown from one choir into a vast network of in- and after-school pro- grams driven by the mission of inspiring and changing lives through music. CCC has impacted the lives of more than 50,000 diverse youth throughout its history. With Josephine Lee as its president and artistic director, the choir has forged creative partnerships and new artistic endeavors that have revolutionized the youth choral arts. Recent projects have included the 2018 premiere of the hip-hop musical Long Way Home , written and directed by the renowned Q Brothers Collective; a performance in a new staging of Bernstein’s Mass under the baton of Marin Alsop with two frequent creative part- ners, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Ravinia Festival, which will be reprised later this summer; and collaboration on Chance the Rapper’s Grammy-winning 2016 mixtape Coloring Book . CCC has performed throughout the United States and in Cuba, South Africa, India, Argentina, Uruguay, Korea, Canada, Japan, and Europe, as well as for such dignitaries as former President and First Lady Obama, former President and Secretary of State Clinton, Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, former Chinese president Hu Jintao, former South Korean president Lee Myung-Bak, Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and the Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso. Its choirs have also performed with or for such artists as Renée Fleming, Denyce Graves, Kathleen Battle, Luciano Pavarotti, Samuel Ramey, Yo-Yo Ma, Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, Enrique Iglesias, Quincy Jones, Al Green, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Bobby McFerrin, Kurt Elling, Celine Dion, Eddie Vedder, and Beyoncé Knowles. CCC has coheadlined with many of these artists at Ravinia, where it has also been featured in performances of choral symphonies, operas, and live-score presentations of feature films. In addition to recording for numerous labels, including Chicago’s Cedille ( Songs from Spoon River , 2009), CCC has released six studio recordings under its own label: Harmony Anew (2018), We All Live Here (2016), Holiday Harmony (2010), Songs on the Road to Freedom (2008), Sita Ram (2006) and Open Up Your Heart (2004). JOHNGOODWIN, principal pianist and resident conductor Originally from Birmingham, AL, John Goodwin holds degrees in pi- ano performance from Birmingham-Southern College and Northwest- ern University. In addition to working with Chicago Children’s Choir as principal pianist, he also works with the Chicago Symphony and Roosevelt University Choruses and is music director of the Park Ridge Orchestra Chorus. For six years, Goodwin was a collaborative pianist for Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute Program for Singers, working closely with many now world-renowned singers. He has performed around the world and is in great demand as a recitalist, chamber musician, and col- laborative artist. Goodwin also can be heard on hundreds of public radio stations across the United States each week playing the opening music for Bill McGlaughlin’s popular program Exploring Music . MITCHELL OWENS, resident composer and arranger Mitchell Owens began playing drums at age 2 and later nurtured his mu- sicianship through 10 years in Chicago Children’s Choir. At the age of 16, Owens was commissioned by CCC to compose a piece for its 50th anniversary, resulting in We Need a Word . After becoming its resident composer, Owens arranged many works for CCC, including the score for the world musical Sita Ram in 2012. Recently Owens has added credits as a producer, composer, writer, and conductor working with such artists as Jason Derulo, Ciara, TGT, Trevor Jackson, and Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment (feat. Chance the Rapper). He has also worked on two film scores and is a co-composer with Justin Timberlake on The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea . JOSEPHINE LEE, president and artistic director As its president and artistic direc- tor, Josephine Lee has established Chicago Chil- dren’s Choir as one of Chicago’s premier cultural institutions, leading the choir at performances for such dignitaries as former president and first lady Barack and Michelle Obama at the 2017 Presidential Farewell Ad- dress, as well as the Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso at his 2011 message in Chicago and Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel at his 2011 inauguration. Her re- cent projects include the co-creation of the orig- inal world musical Sita Ram with David Kersnar of Lookingglass Theatre; an original piano com- position, The Good Goodbyes, commissioned by Frank Chaves and River North Dance Chicago; the development and world premiere of Long Way Home , a fully staged theatrical work with the Q Brothers; and an original suite for piano and cello, Ascension , commissioned by Ballet Chicago. JUDY HANSON, associate artistic director As associate ar- tistic director of Chicago Chil- dren’s Choir, Judy Hanson collabo- rates on the artis- tic vision for the organization and guides the conducting staff in serving its 4,800 children singers. She is co-di- rector and main choreographer for the Voice of Chicago ensemble, with which she earned a Jeff Award nomination in for choreographing Sita Ram . Hanson also applies her 30 years’ experi- ence working with middle-school singers as the conductor of DiMension, a choir for young men with changing voices. A nationally known cli- nician, adjudicator, and conductor, Hanson has presented sessions and workshops and conduct- ed Honors Choirs for ACDA chapters, universi- ties, and many other organizations throughout the US. She also judges national show choir competitions and has been on staff at Show Choir Camps of America for 24 years. MAY 31 – JUNE 9, 2019 | RAVINIA MAGAZINE 103