The Negaunee Music Institute makes an impact

On March 15, the Negaunee Music Institute (NMI) holds the annual showcase of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s (CSO) inspiring education and community programs. The concert includes nine works thoughtfully chosen to represent NMI activities and to illustrate their extraordinary impact.

Jonathan McCormick, managing director of the Negaunee Music Institute, answers questions regarding how this unique concert was curated and what audiences can anticipate.

The event opens with a side-by-side performance of Dvořák’s Wind Serenade, featuring members of the Civic Orchestra, the training orchestra of the CSO, and musicians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Why was this work selected to begin the evening’s program?

It’s the perfect way to start the concert because it demonstrates one of our core values —mentorship. I am thrilled that members of Civic will have this opportunity to sit next to some of their coaches from the CSO in an intimate chamber music setting.

The Dvořák is one of those bucket list works that a wind musician hopes to play in their career, not once but many times, and the finale, in particular, is thrilling.

What are the benefits of musical mentorship?

I’m a big believer in working alongside someone who is more advanced and experienced than you. Any opportunity we have to provide this format, we do — whether it’s a high school student playing alongside a Civic musician or a Civic musician sitting next to a CSO musician. That experience unlocks something, a new perspective on what’s possible, or a deeper understanding. It could be a realization of, “Wow! I didn’t know my instrument could make that sound,” or “I didn’t know I could articulate in that way,” or “I’m picking up on the nuances of phrasing and dynamics.”

There are extra-musical things, too, like how to behave in rehearsal, how to collaborate with colleagues across the ensemble, when to lead and when to follow, etc.

You mentioned high school students. Will they be participating in the evening’s program?

Yes, in the Prelude from Greig’s Holberg Suite, Chicago Public School students will perform side by side with CSO and Civic musicians. The Grieg is one of those works in the repertoire that feels fundamental. Most string players interact with it at some point as they progress, so it is a perfect piece to illustrate how NMI’s work extends that pathway of mentorship even further, from CSO to Civic musicians and then to high school students.

The CSO musicians are integral to our school partnership program and regularly visit Chicago Public Schools to perform in chamber ensembles and lead master classes. The same is true for the Civic musicians, several of whom are designated as Civic Mentors and collectively make over 325 visits to ten CPS high school band and orchestra programs each season.

Onstage will be some of those high school students that we’ve gotten to know this year. I can’t wait for them to have the experience of performing together, and on Orchestra Hall stage of all places!

This is the 30th anniversary season of the Percussion Scholarship Program (PSP), which provides weekly percussion instruction on a full scholarship basis to Chicago youth in grades 3-12. Why were Amandi’s Ritmo Bagatello and Zivkovic’s Trio Per Uno selected to represent the program?

A lovely tradition has emerged with Ritmo Bagatello. That’s one of the pieces that program co-directors Doug Waddell and Patricia Dash assign to their first-year students. It was featured at our first-ever live Negaunee Music Institute Showcase a few years ago and has become a way to celebrate our first years annually.

Zivkovic’s Trio Per Uno features the older students, who joined the program when they were in elementary school and are now in their junior or senior year of high school. By putting the two pieces one after the other, we see where the PSP journey begins and where it finishes, with the students going off to college. And it’s so impressive — the virtuosity they develop and the sense of community that Doug and Patsy build. It’s really special.

Winner of the 2025 Crain-Maling Competition will perform a solo work: Chopin’s Etude in A Minor, Op. 25, No. 11 (Winter Wind). How does his selection represent the annual competition?

Jeremy selected this etude because he said he wanted a challenge, and he feels connected to its political themes and this idea of the two hands being in conversation with one another. It is exciting that he’s thinking in this way at such a young age — a 14-year-old already cultivating and communicating an artistic perspective. He is a perfect representative of this prestigious concerto competition and how it supports Illinois’ most advanced soloists. Also, through the competition, we’ve heard Jeremy perform with both the Civic Orchestra and CSO, so this is a unique opportunity to hear him on his own.

The Negaunee Music Institute’s partnership with the Chicago Refugee Coalition is one of its more recent programs, established during the 2023/24 Season. How will it be represented at the IMPACT concert?

Our collaboration with the Chicago Refugee Coalition Partnership weaves music and storytelling to demonstrate and pay homage to the multiculturalism of Chicago. We’ve met so many incredible people who have shared their cultural heritage with us. This includes vocalist Ana Everling, who immigrated from Moldova and is an astounding musician. She’s bringing two pieces: a doina (a Romanian folk music tradition that is improvisatory) and a song by Zlata Tkach titled Baby Birds. Ana performed these pieces with the Civic Fellows last season, so to bring this music and her to the Orchestra Hall stage for a project with the full Civic Orchestra is a dream come true.

This IMPACT concert features another world premiere. Please tell us about it.

The Civic Orchestra, led by Ken-David Masur and featuring vocalist Leah Dexter, will debut the first-ever fully orchestrated arrangement of a song created through the NMI’s Notes for Peace program. Launched in March 2018 in partnership with Purpose Over Pain, Notes for Peace uses the therapeutic benefits of music to support families who have lost loved ones to gun violence. Over 100 songs have been written by the Civic Fellows and teaching artists from the Irene Taylor Trust. Miracle Baby, composed in honor of Tre’ja Kelley (2001–2019), is very acoustic sounding in its original chamber music form, so it felt like the right piece to expand for full orchestra. It is a tender and lyrical song.

I’m especially looking forward to Marlo Fields, Tre’ja’s mother, hearing it. The first time she heard the song live was during the pandemic. We were all masked and distanced. Many of the things that make a Notes for Peace concert feel so welcoming and communal were prohibited. At this concert, Marlo and her family will hear a more liberated performance, supersized with the glory of a full orchestra accompanying Leah.

Do you see a link between these two newly orchestrated pieces that came to life through NMI programs?

Across the entire program there is a theme of supporting, empowering and celebrating the inherent brilliance of young people. Our purpose is to do this through music. With Notes for Peace, we’re paying tribute to a young life lost to gun violence. In Baby Birds, sung by Anna, we’re hearing texts about taking care of children and also acknowledging the fragility of childhood.

How will CSO for Kids programming be represented at IMPACT?

Our concert offerings for children and youth, as well as our school partnership program, are extensive. It’s a challenge to distill it all into a short segment. The side-by-side Grieg performance will highlight our commitment to instrumental music within CPS. In addition, we will give a sneak peek into a new project for very young children titled Cabinet of Wonder. It was produced in collaboration with American singer/songwriter Natalie Merchant and Chicago Children’s Theatre. It’s primarily an online resource with amazing teaching guides and over an hour of compelling multimedia. At IMPACT, CSO Principal Second Violin Baird Dodge and his daughter Rosie will give an introduction, and then we’ll preview some of the videos. I hope it compels the audience to visit cabinetofwonder.org to experience the breadth of this innovative program.

The Civic Orchestra of Chicago will perform Beethoven’s Egmont Overture and the Finale from Elgar’s Enigma Variations. Why were these two works chosen to represent the ensemble, which performs eight concerts in Orchestra Hall and seven concerts at venues throughout Greater Chicago this season?

The Egmont Overture was one of the first pieces Ken-David Masur conducted with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, before he was appointed the Robert Kohl and Clark Pellett Principal Conductor of Civic, back in 2017.

The Enigma Variations Finale is relevant because, of course, it is a piece written in tribute to some of Elgar’s dearest friends. At this concert, we’re paying tribute to CSOA Life Trustee Robert Kohl, a steadfast supporter and advocate of the CSO’s education and community programs for decades.

The Elgar finale is also the last of many variations on a theme, and the central theme of the night is the impact of the NMI’s many programs, so it all comes full circle. This event celebrates the community that we’re building around the programs and the people they serves. That means friendship, that means mentorship, that means acknowledgement, and reverence for artistry. We want the audience to see how our myriad activities are all interconnected and in service of our bigger mission of education and community engagement, and that they play an essential part in all.