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Chicago Tribune
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Tinley Park violinist who has played London, Paris and Broadway graduates to Grant Park Music Festival
All those hours of practice on the violin, first alongside her mother and later for hours on her own, have paid off for Amanda Schuler, who will be performing with the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra at the Grant Park Music Festival June 12 and then at Lollapalooza later in July. 'This marks the first time in Lollapalooza history that an orchestra will perform solo on one of the festival's main stages,' said Schuler, who recently graduated as valedictorian from Mother McAuley High School in Chicago. 'We have been invited to perform at many places, but this one brought on the loudest cheers when the orchestra found out.' The free concert June 12 in Grant Park is a way to celebrate the orchestra's upcoming 10-day concert tour of Spain. Though Schuler, who lives in Tinley Park with her family, won't be able to make that trip, she said she is excited about being part of the concert. The orchestra will be playing its repertoire for the Spain tour. The CYSO's Kaiso Steelpan Orchestra will be performing in the North Promenade Tent. Schuler picked up the violin at about 3 years old and her mother, Dorothy, learned to play just so she could be there doing so next to her daughter. 'It was a great help to have her learning the violin with me,' Schuler said. She kept at it and auditioned for the CYSO at age 8, was accepted and started in the organization's Preparatory Strings orchestra at 9. 'I was eager to connect with other kids my own age who shared my passion for music, especially classical music,' Schuler said. Then every year she pushed herself to audition for the next higher orchestra. 'I was so excited every June to say, oh, I finally made it to the next orchestra,' she said. Along the way, Schuler said she found tremendous inspiration from Christie-Keiko Abe, her violin teacher for 11 years. 'She's helped me in so many ways,' Schuler said. 'She's such a positive person with so much energy and that energy she puts into making her students better. She really cares about her students, which is why I've been with her for so long.' Schuler said Allen Tinkham, CYSO's music director, had been a great influence, too. 'I think what makes him such a great conductor is he breaks things down into little pieces of music and he really knows how to identify problems in tempo, dynamics, etc.' she said. 'Another reason is that he relates it to the outside world really well, so if an instrument or brass is rushing, he says, 'Don't be in such a hurry to get there like cars on the street.' Her talent also was nurtured at Mother McAuley, where Schuler was concertmaster of the string ensemble each year. She was also Illinois Music Education Association's High School State musician in her sophomore, junior and senior years and part of the school's golf cart ride tradition. She also went to state for math each high school year. Plus she was invited to perform in one of her school alum's weddings. Schuler also won first place in two Grand Prize Virtuoso International Music Competitions, where she got to perform as a soloist at the Royal Albert Hall in London and Philharmonie in Paris, received the Music Inspiration Award from the CYSO, and was a finalist in the Houston International Music Competition and received an honorable mention in the DePaul Concerto Competition. She was also part of the orchestra's recording of Good Night, Oscar, which played on Broadway. Tinkham, the CYSO music director, applauded Schuler for her accomplishments. 'There are so many of our students who excel in all areas of their lives and she is a perfect example of someone who does everything she does to the highest level,' said Tinkham. 'She's so dedicated and she's one of those students we love to assign to special projects because she's dependable.' The program receives roughly 300 applications and accepts only the top 40, but also wants students who are well-rounded and making a path to other future careers. 'You know, one of the reasons we trademarked the phrase, 'Listen to the future,' is because that really is what you're hearing at the CYSO and not just the future of music, but the future of so many disciplines … law, medicine, business,' said Tinkham. 'This is what we mean when we talk about nurturing leaders on and off the stage. 'It's about so much more than just cranking out notes,' he said. Schuler will be attending Purdue University, majoring in nursing, starting classes this summer, and auditioning for their orchestra. She's been working for Adventures in Mr. Math, an online non-profit for gifted students, which she plans to continue. But the CYSO will always be with her in spirit. 'It's definitely been a big part of my life,' said Schuler. 'I will miss it, now that I have graduated, but I am happy for the friendships that I have made over the years.'
Chicago Tribune
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Classical and jazz for summer 2025: From concert halls to the open air of Millennium Park
Condolences to everyone's calendar. Despite sobering news of canceled summer festivals and slashed National Endowment for the Arts grants, Chicago summer — knock wood — looks to be as busy as ever. Classical and jazz programming alone is packed with blockbusters. Before the subscription arts season is out, Riccardo Muti is back at the Chicago Symphony, closing out the season with Verdi's Requiem, his calling card, and trumpeter Esteban Batallán as a featured soloist (June 12-24). After that, Giancarlo Guerrero begins his tenure as director of the Grant Park Music Festival, bringing with him a bevy of music by living and American composers (June 11-Aug. 16). Musicians and celebrity chefs team up for the Ravinia Festival's Breaking Barriers, with audiences taste-testing the results (July 25-27). Then, to close out the season, the Chicago Jazz Fest returns, this time with esperanza spalding, Monty Alexander, Kermit Ruffins and Eliades Ochoa as headliners (Aug. 28-31). But with so much excitement afoot, it's all too easy for other cultural highlights to get lost. Here's a handful to keep on your radar well ahead of summer's dog days. Before the boycott: Rosa Parks was just the most famous representative of a group of women who worked to desegregate Montgomery's public transit system in the 1950s. Chicago Opera Theater's 'She Who Dared' — with music by the talented young composer Jasmine Barnes and a libretto by Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton — foregrounds their overlooked story. June 3, 6 and 8 at the Studebaker Theater, 410 S. Michigan Ave., tickets $60-$160, Price's precocious champion: Still in his 20s, Randall Goosby has become one of the leading interpreters of Florence Price's music. The violinist brings her music — specifically her second violin concerto — back to its home city alongside the CSO and conductor Sir Mark Elder. June 5-7 at Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Ave., tickets $39-$299, What happens to music never heard?: In the case of Oscar Peterson's 'Africa,' it gets resurrected. Peterson performed and recorded movements of the suite throughout his career, but never the entire thing. Thanks to bandleader and arranger John Clayton, the late jazz pianist's epic finally sees the light of day. 8 p.m. June 13 at Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Ave., tickets $39-$299, Soundtrack to the 21st century: World-class soloists and contemporary classical music are both hallmarks of the Grant Park Music Festival, but they don't always converge. This summer is a refreshing change of pace, with several guest artists platforming pieces written in the new millennium. First among them: cellist Inbal Segev, who plays Mark Adamo's 'Last Year' (July 9) and Anna Clyne's 'Dance' (July 16) as this year's artist-in-residence. Also on tap are trumpeter Pacho Flores in Arturo Márquez's Concierto de Otoño (June 20-21); the Imani Winds in a concerto grosso penned by former ensemble member Valerie Coleman (June 25); mezzo-soprano J'Nai Bridges in Peter Lieberson's 'Neruda Songs' (Aug. 1 and 2 at Harris Theater); and Glen Ellyn native Jennifer Koh in Jennifer Higdon's epic 'The Singing Rooms' for solo violin, orchestra and chorus (Aug. 8 and 9). All at Millennium Park, 201 E. Randolph St., free admission, Paired pipes: From 2018 to 2020, Camille Thurman — as alluring a singer as she is a tenor saxophonist — made history as the first woman to join the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra roster. But she's a commanding, charismatic bandleader in her own right, as this local run of shows will no doubt co-sign. June 26-29 at the Jazz Showcase, 806 S. Plymouth Court, tickets $25-$45, more information at Big news for people who hit things: Chicago institution Third Coast Percussion is turning 20. The quartet rings in the milestone with 'Rhythm Fest,' an all-day bash with collaborators past and present. Noon to 10 p.m. June 28 at Epiphany Center for the Arts, 201 S. Ashland Ave., tickets $60-120 and $30 for students, Irakere at 50: The iconic Cuban ensemble technically celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023. Then again, no celebration is big enough to capture its outsized mark on contemporary Latin jazz. Founder and bandleader Chucho Valdés is joined by former bandmates Paquito D'Rivera and Arturo Sandoval — a rare convening of the genre's elder statesmen — for this one-night-only Ravinia extravaganza. 7:30 p.m. July 9 at the Ravinia Pavilion, 201 Ravinia Park Road, Highland Park, tickets $29-$65, One day, two premieres: Slather on sunscreen if you must, because new music fans are advised to post up at the Ravinia grounds on July 20. Steans Institute musicians debut a string quartet by American composer Joel Thompson at Bennett Gordon Hall (1:30 p.m.). A few short hours later, the CSO gives the first performance of Malek Jandali's 'Rhapsody for Orchestra' (5 p.m.). Both July 20 at Ravinia, 201 Ravinia Park Road, Highland Park, free admission for the Steans recital, tickets $15-$95 for the Pavilion concert, Early music everywhere: 'Baroque-and-before' need not mean 'boxed in.' Creative and unconventional early-music performances abound this summer, starting with 'Secret Byrd,' a theatricalized account of William Byrd's Mass for Five Voices devised by Bill Barclay. (Barclay was the mind behind 2023's excellent 'The Chevalier.') Meanwhile, at Ravinia, Cleveland- and Chicago-based early music troupe Apollo's Fire presents a 'dueling double concerto' program — as do actual fencers, demonstrating the sport on the lawn. Haymarket Opera Company also makes its festival debut with a semi-staged 'Alcina'; soprano Nicole Cabell, who starred in the company's recent 'L'Amant anonyme,' sings the title role. 'Secret Byrd,' two shows each, 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., on July 20 and 21 at Salvage One, 1840 W. Hubbard St., tickets $65-$75, 'Fencing Match' with Apollo's Fire, 7:30 p.m. Aug. 13 at Ravinia's Martin Theatre, tickets $15-$75, Handel's 'Alcina' with Haymarket Opera, 1 p.m. Aug. 24 at Ravinia's Martin Theatre, tickets $15-$75, Partitas na praia: Bach and Brazil meet in Plínio Fernandes. The São Paulo-born guitarist's 'Bacheando,' featuring Bach arrangements, was one of the illustrious Decca label's most striking 2023 releases. He picks up where the album left off with this Ravinia recital. 7:30 p.m. Aug. 26 at Ravinia's Bennett Gordon Hall, tickets $20,
