Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass members hornist Blair Hamrick, trumpeters Peter Everson and Rodney Marsalis, trombonist Greg Freeman, and tuba player Manny Shuford (Photo: Kyle Dunleavy/Ravinia)

Ravinia Em-brass-es Expanded School Partnerships with Reach Teach Play

December 17, 2024 in Reach Teach Play, Music Education

All 600 students turned out December 9 for a presentation by the Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass during just the second all-school assembly in the Neal Math and Science Academy’s still-new building in North Chicago. Band Director Nathan Massa couldn’t have been happier at every step.

That appearance, and another for the band and choir students at the nearby North Chicago Community High School, came a day after Marsalis’s group performed as part of the Ravinia’s Winter Weekend and took place under the auspices of the Highland Park organization’s Reach Teach Play education and community engagement program.

Music Celebrating Matters

July 07, 2024 in Music Education, Reach Teach Play, Ravinia Magazine

Ravinia celebrated another successful edition of its annual Music Matters fundraiser on Saturday, May 11, expertly hosted by the Ravinia Associates Board.

National Seminario Ravinia unites students of El Sistema-inspired orchestras

June 28, 2023 in Music Education, RaviniaNews, Reach Teach Play

To celebrate the rise of Sistema music education in the United States and help spur even more growth, the Ravinia Festival is teaming with Chicago Philharmonic to present the first-ever National Seminario from July 5 through 8. The event will bring together 130 students from 23 Sistema-style initiatives across the country and Canada to participate in intensive orchestral training and to present a culminating concert on the Pavilion stage as part of Ravinia’s Kids Concert Series.

Maestro Jonathan Rush and Acclaimed Duo Black Violin Join Sistema Ravinia Students in a Workshop

June 29, 2022 in RaviniaNews, Music Education, Classical

Sistema Ravinia students participated in a workshop with rising conductor Jonathan Rush and prominent violin- and viola-playing hip-hop duo Black Violin at Ravinia Festival on June 18.

’Tis the Season for Reach Teach Play Programs

December 15, 2021 in Music Education, RaviniaNews, Reach Teach Play

Reach Teach Play programs are still in full swing this off-season, and our students have been busy showcasing their hard work. Just last week, our Sistema Ravinia Orchestra presented a winter concert at Gregory Elementary School located in Homan Square. Trumpet and clarinet students gave an auditorium performance to their fellow classmates.

In Ravinia’s Reach Teach Play programs, it’s never been clearer that music matters

September 13, 2021 in Music Education, Ravinia Magazine, Reach Teach Play

Every year Ravinia sends hundreds of musicians into Chicago Public Schools as well as classrooms in Highland Park, Waukegan, and North Chicago. What began in 1965 with the Women’s Board’s program of making lawn passes available to low-income music lovers has grown into Reach Teach Play, a year-round operation that reaches 75,000 children annually through a dozen distinct programs.

Sistema Ravinia Joins El Sistema from Venezuela on a Virtual Tour

May 25, 2021 in Music Education, Reach Teach Play

This spring, Sistema Ravinia became the first program in the world to connect virtually with El Sistema, spending a month, from April 12 to May 15, on a “virtual tour” together. The young musicians in Sistema Ravinia collaborated with students like themselves in Venezuela and rehearsed with Venezuelan coaches and teachers.