As our country embraced the mantra “Yes, we can,” during the 2008–9 school year Ravinia’s Reach Teach Play education programs met the three-word mettle of the then newly adopted name by inaugurating Guest Artists in the Classroom, a program connecting Ravinia performers and local soloists and ensembles with students in their schools. Through live classical performances by renowned musicians, the program focuses on inspiring a love of music, introducing young students in Cook and Lake Counties to experiences they may never otherwise have had at their age.
Ravinia saw the opportunity to leverage its concert series that runs through those non-summer months and invite the featured artists, in the days before or after their main-stage appearance, to meet with students and talk with them about their work and experiences as well as bring live performances to partner schools. The impact was immediate. “Right away, I could see the kids being so happy, the rapport between the musicians and the community was great, and the teachers and kids fell in love with the program,” says Luciano Pedota, Associate Director of Reach Teach Play, who has helped oversee the program from its creation.
As that concert series expanded, so did the opportunities for Ravinia and Reach Teach Play to create inspiring experiences for students across a variety of music genres, from classical to bluegrass to jazz. Guest Artists in the Classroom quickly became a pillar of the education programs serving tens of thousands of students annually, an experience that students looked forward to. “These artists are role models for these students,” Pedota adds, “and they love the experience of performing for young audiences that they may never see from the stages of the halls they typically perform in.”
Soprano Kimberly Jones
Since 2018, for Black History Month, Ravinia has partnered with tenor Cornelius Johnson and soprano Kimberly Jones to curate a signature concert where young students are presented with popular spirituals, African American folk songs, and classical repertoire as a way to promote African American history and culture and instill a sense of pride among the students. Pedota says, “We want to honor the history, achievements, and culture of African Americans by bringing talented Black musicians to the schools. When the students see somebody like Cornelius or Kimberly, who are top-notch performers, singing songs that tell the story of their community and their brave struggle, it is powerful and inspires hope. The classroom performances are like a two-way mirror: at the same time the students are absorbing all that the guest artists share, they have the opportunity to see themselves in their place.”
Tenor Cornelius Johnson
Although the students and artists currently cannot meet in person, many Reach Teach Play programs are still being offered virtually, including this year’s Black History Month concert. On Friday, February 19, classrooms were provided with a package that included two recorded performances. The first featured Jones and Johnson performing widely known songs like “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,” “This Little Light of Mine,” and more. The second recording—originally presented in an episode of RaviniaTV (linked below)—called attention to African American spiritual songs and their specific, hidden meanings during the time of slavery, as well as featured a performance by soprano Christine Taylor Conda, Director of Reach Teach Play, with former Ravinia president and CEO Welz Kauffman at the piano.
“The arts lead us to better lives,” Pedota says. “Our programs are a window to what the arts are, what music is, and the opportunities to know that you can become a singer or an instrumentalist, or find your own way to relate to and enjoy the arts.”
To help Ravinia maintain its commitment to providing music education for all through Reach Teach Play programs like Guest Artists in the Classroom, donate today at bit.ly/SupportRavinia. School administrators and educators interested in learning more about the full range of Ravinia’s Reach Teach Play programs can visit www.ravinia.org/Page/ReachTeachPlay.
