Aesthetic Nourishment & Thoughtful Philanthropy

Throughout the course of planning the Rush Hour season, we give a great deal of thought to creating events filled with what Artistic Director Deborah Sobol refers to as “aesthetic nourishment.” RH was created to address the disconnect between what our daily lives are like and what we need to remain physically and mentally healthy. We really believe that taking that time is important in our lives, and the responses we’ve heard from all of you confirm this.

In a recent conversation with a RH supporter, we began discussing philanthropy and what motivates people to support nonprofit organizations. One such “trigger” might be the shifts in mindset that occur as we hit certain milestones in our lives.

One such milestone for me was the birth of my daughter. Like many people in my generation, I worked more or less non-stop until the day before Celia arrived, and it rarely occurred to me that I needed or lacked aesthetic nourishment. (I was culturally diverse, after all. Not only did I have television sitcoms – I attended a lot of concerts in the context of my job.) Most new parents are unaware that the arrival of a baby means the arrival of a new sheriff in town- and that sheriff is in charge of turning your concepts about time upside down. That was the summer that I really began to value my concert attendance as a respite from the demands my life (and infant) placed upon me. Not coincidentally, I think, it is also the year that I began to become thoughtfully philanthropic. To me, that means that not only did I begin to be mindful about my financial support of my favorite nonprofits, but I also took ownership of that stewardship. The amount was not large, but it was a meaningful to me because it was planned and therefore significant. As an executive director now, I mean it sincerely when I say that every donation makes a difference to us. To me, every gift is a tangible sign that we are making a difference in your lives. And every gift directly covers the costs of producing these magical concert events.

My challenge as Executive Director is to raise Rush Hour’s budget before we open the doors on June 3. This year, I have two challenge grant opportunities for our supporters: a $10,000 board challenge grant for all new and increased gifts, and a special $5,000 challenge grant from a major Chicago foundation for all donors under the age of 40. Both challenges are open until June 1 and will give your gift twice the impact. Please click here to help keep RH free and accessible to all.

We look forward to seeing you in less than two months. Happy Spring!

- Megan Balderston

Announcing the Rush Hour Circle

This month, we launch the Rush Hour Circle, in honor and support of the organization’s growth over the last eight years. The Circle recognizes donors of $1,000 and above, and was conceived as the “engine” of Rush Hour – those who drive the success of the organization with financial and intellectual stewardship. Membership in the Circle will include invitations to intimate, in-home musicales, preferred concert seating (when available), and special opportunities to interact with other Circle Members and RH artists. We hope you will consider supporting RH at this level.

To join the Rush Hour Circle, please make a contribution here, or contact the Rush Hour office at info@rushhour.org or 773.338.9480.

Fanfare Committee Corner: April

Don’t miss two exciting upcoming events before the start of Rush Hour’s 9th season!

First, Rush Hour will present the dazzling virtuosity of Third Coast Percussion on Friday, May 2 at the second annual Looptopia.

The FREE performance is scheduled for 5:45 – 6:15 p.m. at the Chicago Temple (77 W. Washington St., between Clark St. and Dearborn St.) No tickets are required – just drop in and enjoy great music amongst all of the downtown festivities.

Then, on Saturday, May 10, the Fanfare Committee will hold its second annual “Rush Hour Tasting.” This intimate event, designed for those under the age of 40, will take place at photographer Sandro’s studio in Ukranian Village. Refreshments will be served at 6:30 p.m., followed by a performance by violinist Jasmine Lin and cellist Clancy Newman at 7:00 p.m. Mingle with the artists and fellow young professionals after the concert. This event is a great way to introduce friends to Rush Hour!

If you are under 40, click here to make a contribution of $25 or more to RH and receive a free admission to the Rush Hour Tasting. Remember – your contribution will be doubled through the challenge grant opportunity.

We are working to make your weekly RH experience even more extensive and rich. As we survey items to offer at our ENSEMBLE table, we’d like to ask you, our audience, what might be of interest to you to have available for purchase. From scores of the works being performed and additional books on music and music-making to more CDs, please send us your thoughts. All proceeds from the ENSEMBLE shop sales go directly to keeping RH free and available to all.

Thoughts & Recommendations from the Artistic Director: April

Well, the Cubs and White Sox celebrated their Spring Equinox for our fair city a couple of weeks ago. This tells me that Rush Hour’s own “Opening Day” is just weeks away! Our season has been put in a beautiful box and tied up with a ribbon, ready to be opened on Tuesday, June 3, at 5:15 p.m.

Lots of people comment on the excitement and diversity of each season’s programming. Many ask me how I plan the season, where the programs come from, and how it all fits together. I thought it might be fun to delve into that a bit for the curious.

It’s actually like a Rubik’s Cube. I begin with an overall “flavor” of what I’d like the season to look (and sound!) like. Sometimes, I have program ideas left over from a year or two ago that didn’t make it on for logistical reasons. Often, over the course of the winter, I hear from artists with program ideas. I revisit old ideas, review new ones and begin to build from there, asking of each program, “Will this serve RH’s mission of promoting the experience of classical music in a welcoming, widely accessible, relevant, and culturally rich environment?” I like to think of the season as one long, extended dinner party, with thirteen parts – each part reacting chemically to the ones on either side of it: balance, diversity, all with the same level of artistic excellence, together forming an arc over the summer of weekly “happenings.” Gradually, programs begin to fall in place around each other and the programmatic ideas line up with the logistical demands of artists’ schedules.

Julie Hutchison, RH’s managing director, is an invaluable aid to me in this process and a wonderful litmus test for each program as well as the composite season. She has a wonderful rapport with all of our artists and works closely with their schedules throughout the summer.

This said, I refer you to our 2008 season and hope you will begin to make a place in your minds already for RH on Tuesdays throughout the summer. We will hear music for brass quintet, piano and woodwinds, percussion quartet, chamber choir (French Renaissance program), a recently penned string quartet by my colleague, Clancy Newman, Chinese and Western crossover music, and Bruce Barber’s “Organ 101” (music of J.S. Bach), among others. Our artists range from internationally esteemed veterans such as CSO principal clarinetist Larry Combs and principal flutist Mathieu Dufour to three seniors from Chicago area public schools who were local winners in the Poetry Out Loud Recitation Competition. We will also continue our partnerships with The Poetry Foundation and the Consulates General of China, France and Germany, highlighting the cuisines of the latter in pre-concert receptions.

Before RH starts, there are several excellent events to recommend this month:

Quintet Attacca is presenting a showcase concert, “Q&A with QA,” on Monday, April 28 beginning at 7:00 p.m. at the Music Institute of Chicago’s Nichols Hall (Chicago Avenue and Grove Street in Evanston). The group will be presenting a lively and interactive concert event with refreshments, great woodwind music, and plenty of opportunities for questions. Get free tickets by mentioning “Rush Hour” when you call the Chicago Chamber Musicians’ box office at 312-225-5226. Click here for more information about the showcase concert.

St. James Cathedral is once again host to the Keiskamma Altarpiece, an incredible work of art created by 130 women and men from the rural Eastern Cape Province of Hamburg, South Africa, as a hopeful response to the AIDS epidemic and poverty in their community. The Cathedral is open for viewing of the Altarpiece Wednesday through Sunday each week through May 11. For more details on viewing the Keiskamma Altarpiece, please click here.

Community Concerns in the Visual Arts is a four-part series being held in tandem with the Keiskamma display. As a work of community-based art and as an example of arts as a tool of economic development, the Altarpiece is a good starting point for conversation about similar issues in Chicago. Attend the last two presentations in this series on Tuesday, April 22 and Tuesday, April 29. Click here for more information on the series.

Best wishes,

Deborah Sobol