Interlude - August 27
August 27, 2020
CEO interview, theater Q&As, Chicago music festivals and more
Welcome back to Interlude! Enjoy today’s roundup of news and online arts opportunities.
Center President discusses new season
Jeff McDermott, President/CEO of the Center and the Great American Songbook Foundation, offers an update on the organizations’ activities in a wide-ranging new video interview with Senior Writer Janelle Morrison of Carmel Monthly magazine.
The two discuss the Center’s response to the global pandemic, the state of the concert industry and the busy schedule of online and hybrid programming the Center is presenting during the 2020-2021 arts season. Watch the interview on Carmel Monthly’s Facebook page.
Theater pros share experience with students
In the latest online session of the Center’s KAR Front Seat series, performing arts students from several states joined in Monday for a fascinating discussion about career networking and the art and science of audio with Tony-nominated theater sound designer Cricket S. Myers. Sponsored by KAR Global, KAR Front Seat invites high school and college students to small-group Q&A sessions with seasoned performers and other arts and entertainment professionals. Watch the archived conversation on our Facebook page.
Program Sponsor
Coming up Sept. 28 is a KAR Front Seat chat with actor, singer and dancer Michael Stiggers Jr., who has appeared on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning Beautiful: The Carole King Musical and more recently in Disney's The Lion King. Students who want to participate should email Outreach@TheCenterPresents.org with a question they would like to ask during the event, along with their name, school and grade level. Questions should be submitted by September 16.
Not a student but interested in tuning in? To be a fly on the wall during this Zoom session, register on our website.
Celebrate W-O-M-E-N's Equality Day
"I think music has the power to transform people, and in doing so, it has the power to transform situations ― some large and some small." ― Joan Baez
What do "I'm a Woman," "We Shall Overcome," and "Over the Rainbow" have in common? They were songs hand-selected by the Songbook Foundation staff to commemorate women of the Songbook who have made a permanent impact on music and American culture. Check out the latest Songbook blog to learn more about the six women and their groundbreaking songs.
To learn more about women of the Songbook, sign up for the Songbook Foundation's bimonthly Hit Kits. This month's Hit Kit focuses on the ratification of the 19th amendment and trailblazing women of the Songbook.
Chicago music festivals go online
The city of Chicago has announced schedules for online versions of the jazz and world music festivals that usually take place each year in Millennium Park.
Millennium Park at Home: Chicago Jazz will present four days of free online performances from 5 to 9 p.m. ET Sept. 3-6, with newly recorded sets by contemporary artists as well as archival footage from previous festivals featuring Orbert Davis, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Von Freeman and Clifford Jordan, Sun Ra Arkestra and the Ari Brown Quintet, among others. See the full schedule.
Virtual World Music Festival Chicago will include free performances by artists from around the globe from 2-4 p.m. ET every Sunday in September as part of World Music Month 2020. See the full schedule.
Both festivals will stream for free viewing on YouTube.
