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@chiyso

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Investing in the future of music and the next generation of leaders! 🎶 Orchestra, strings, steelpan, jazz, & chamber music for ages 6-18.

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Reflecting on our "Grow With Us" gathering at the Obama Presidential Center, We are filled with gratitude for the community and partners dedicated to advancing the vital work of Urban Growers Collective (UGC).
Thank you to Dixie Erwin, Deb Alexander, and Jennifer Vachon for hosting this evening as UGC Advisors. This event was a direct outcome of collective learning at UChicago Graham School Fellows—a testament to what happens when we align resources with deep civic commitment to service and the joy of building the just society we want to live in, where everyone has ample opportunities to thrive.
Gathering at the @Obama Presidential Center in the Hadiya Pendleton Atrium was deeply fitting. The South Side of Chicago is our home, a place of extraordinary strength, culture, creativity, and resilience.
Founded in 2018, UGC carries forward the legacy of community-based food models like Growing Power. Our goal is to move beyond temporary projects and build permanent local infrastructure. As a Black- and women-led nonprofit, UGC is dismantling historical barriers to build a just, equitable food system. Food is our catalyst, but our true harvest includes:
* Community health and healing
* Education and green-tech jobs
* Youth leadership development
* Neighborhood vitality and community ownership
* Community Food Navigator Resource Hub
While our impact is clear in the statistics, it is best understood through our leaders. It was an honor to introduce @mac10_the_farmer Malcolm Evans, Director of Urban Farms, who embodies this mission through his lived experience and leadership.
Thank you to everyone who joined us to support UGC. Together, we are building inclusive, place-based economies that benefit us all.

#Thanks to BAMJoy and Compass for the exceptional hospitality and amazing grazing table and Apps! 🥗🙌✨💜

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June-September semi-chronologically

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perfectly in tune ☺️🎶

#cyso #youthorchestra

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So excited to share what’s happening in my 2026–27 season! Not calling these highlights because I truly believe every performance, premiere, residency, and event is a highlight, no matter the platform! My website + socials will share specifics quarterly, but here’s a little glimpse of what’s ahead!

My opera, The Cook-Off, opens the IU Jacobs School of Music season with a big and new imaginative production! Bonus for my Wheaton + Chicagoland folks: they’re taking the production on the road, with two performances this October at the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music!

One of my new favorite pieces, City of Big Shoulders, gets two more performances this season. Commissioned by the Grossman Ensemble, the work will be performed w/ IU’s New Music Ensemble, where I’ll be in residence, and at Michigan State University. The official WP video comes out later this month! I can’t wait for y’all to see and hear this piece.

My violin concerto gets its second performance at Yale w/ violinist Heather Wittels; ~Nois sax quartet will perform Game Theory through their milestone 10th-anniversary season; Nicholas Phan + Myra Huang will perform The Beautiful across the country, including the Lincoln Center; and presenters will bring many other works from my catalogue to life in lots of different places.

There’ll also be FIVE world premieres this season, including my new oratorio w/ Marcus Amaker by the Handel Choir of Baltimore + Baltimore Chamber Orchestra w/ soloists Karen Slack + Dashon Burton; a new orchestral work for the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra commemorating its 80th anniversary; and a new trio with Tsitsi Jaji for the acclaimed Trio Afori, among others!

I’ll also be making guest appearances + residencies this season, including a visiting professorship at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki.

Y’all I just have to thank my manager, Owen Summers, and the rest of my team. They don’t just help make so much of this happen; they take a HUGE load off of me so I can stay creatively active while still enjoying and being present for the most important part of my life: my wife and kids. 🤎

There’s so much more, and I’m just grateful. Let’s go, 26/27!

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Herbert Blomstedt ( Acryl 2026 ) der großartige Dirigent ist 99 Jahre alt.
#herbertblomstedt #gewandhausleipzig #gewandhauskapellmeister #portaipainting #portrait

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Cresc x Chicago💚🎶 We had the change to stop by the historic Fine Arts Building of Chicago and take a look into the arts while we attended ACT-SO😆 What a great time getting to meet artsits and seeing performance and practice spaces🎻 #explorepage #chicago #finearts #music #crescendo

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An attempt at lolla. Even though our performance got canceled some could say that the true performance is the friends we made along the way...

Jokes aside it was so much fun to see everyone and rehearse some amazing music with some amazing people for one final time.

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Hi Lollapalooza, from across the street! 👋 🎵

Chicago’s famous music festival is back this weekend in Grant Park! That means the Fine Arts Building will have reduced hours due to concerts and celebrations.

The building will close at 5 pm this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, following Champions Of Magic performances.

Going to Lolla? Be sure to catch the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra (@chiyso) for their performance on Saturday at 8!

CYSO photo by Colin Boyle.

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Most of you know, that Toto’s lead vocalist, Joe Williams, is the son of the great composer John Williams. And it was beautiful that the final concert for my son, a huge Toto fan, after 12 years in the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, ended with some of John’s greatest music. What a special memory for all these musicians in Spain❤️

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Congrats to CMPI Class of 2026!

We are excited to celebrate Olivia Doolin as she heads to @mercermcduffiecenter to pursue Viola Performance! A student of Desiree Ruhstrat, Olivia has been a CMPI fellow since 2021, participating in both @chiyso and @meritmusic. When reflecting on her time at CMPI, Olivia shared: "My favorite memory of being in CMPI was definitely getting the opportunity to play in lots of masterclasses and do the Equity Arc convening in Chicago and DC. Along with CMPI generously helping me financially, they also gave me so many opportunities to see my peers perform, to see the CSO perform, and to be a performer. That has truly helped me grow as a musician and got me to where I am today. " She also offered advice to incoming fellows: "To the young musicians out there who want to audition for CMPI, I always say it doesn’t hurt to try. Even the audition in itself is a good experience for young musicians! I think if you have a goal set in mind, you should pursue it, and I know that CMPI will be there for you. " We are so proud of you, and all that you have accomplished. Wishing you the best in your new chapter!

Traducción al español en los comentarios.

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Meet Teddy Thomas
LEARNING Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto in A Minor, RV 356: 1. Allegro
FOR  IN Curriculum — Concerto Class is an advanced, tuition-based program available exclusively at New Music School for serious young musicians studying concerto repertoire. Through mentorship and conductor review, selected students perform with a chamber orchestra in Ganz Hall at Roosevelt University. The program is offered every three years.
ABOUT Teddy Thomas, 10, is a fourth-grade student at Saints Joseph and Francis Xavier School in Wilmette, Illinois. He studies classical violin with Davis King, Yuriy Geyer at New Music School, and currently performs with the Preparatory Strings ensemble of the Chicago Youth Orchestra.
In addition to classical violin, Teddy is an aspiring Irish traditional musician. He placed second in the 2025 Midwest Fleadh in the Fiddle Slow Airs competition and went on to compete at the 2025 All Ireland Fleadh in Wexford, Ireland. Through the Murphy Roche Irish Music Club, he performs in four ensembles and studies Irish fiddle with Katie Grennan and Irish concertina with John Williams. Outside of music, Teddy enjoys spending time outdoors with his five siblings, as well as reading, swimming, and playing tennis.Leo Ma, 13, is a violinist currently studying with Professor Minghuan Xu at the New Music School in Chicago. He began his violin studies at age six at the DePaul Community Music School, where he worked with Hannah Barton, Davis King, and Hui Jin. Since the age of nine, he has been a member of CYSO Prep Strings and currently serves as Concertmaster of the Philharmonic Orchestra.

#classicalmusic #900shops #violin #youngartist

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I'm going to miss you all. 😢

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