Eat Out: Expanding the Rush Hour Experience

Community partner Bijan’s Bistro has been offering special post-concert dinner discounts since 2005, making it a frequent stop for many of our audience members during the summer. In celebration of our 10th anniversary, we’re planning to further expand the Rush Hour experience with additional dining partners, both during the summer season and during the upcoming winter and spring months.

As you know, everything at RH is created with you, the audience, in mind. To ensure that our dining partnerships continue to be successful, we need your input. Please take the one-minute survey below now and share your valuable opinions with us.


Thank you for your help!

Thoughts & Recommendations from the Artistic Director: November 2008

I’ve noticed of late that there seems to be an increased focus on young people in our contemporary lives, going beyond the usual cultural obsession with youth and the ubiquitous consumer marketing to that demographic. The national dialogue of the last many months in the political campaigns seems to include the presence of young adults in unprecedented ways. Equally, they are referenced and involved in some of the most pressing issues of our times, whether economic, educational or environmental. As founder and artistic director of an arts organization grounded in the reality of contemporary life, it has always been most gratifying to me to witness the role young adults have played from the beginning.

Our ’08 season is a fine example: Our artistic roster spanned the generations – from high school to internationally acclaimed veteran artists, including young composer Clancy Newman. 20% of our regular, weekly audiences were under the age of 40. This is a stunning statistic for a new arts organization devoted to great classical music. Many of these folk were so excited about Rush Hour and its mission that they formed an auxiliary board – the Fanfare Committee – to help spread the word of RH to their contemporaries and contribute to the annual work of keeping RH’s entire season free and open to all. Their presence at our weekly summer series and their work year-round is an important part of the RH engine.

The presence of young people in RH reflects an inclusive vision of community, with the power of great music identifying common human qualities in need of regular inspiration and nourishment. The music is powerful and the energy contagious.

Before I offer my concert recommendations for this month, I’d like to share the thoughts of author David W. Barber from his humorous book, If It Ain’t Baroque… More Music History As It Ought To Be Taught, on the challenges of the term “classical music”:

“The problem is no one’s been able to come up with a better term, or at least a better term people are willing to accept. Some people call it “art” music, to distinguish it from “popular” music – as if to imply that Bach shouldn’t be popular, or that there’s no artistry in the Beatles… Some people will tell you there are a lot of different types of music. But there are really only two: good music and bad music.”

And, at Rush Hour, there is “Great Music for Busy Lives.”

In your busy lives this month, you might want to make time for these great concerts:

Thursday, November 13 – 7:00 p.m.
St. James Cathedral
The Chicago Bar Association Symphony Orchestra
David Katz, music director and conductor
Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 in C minor
Free admission

Monday, November 10 – 12:15 p.m.
Preston Bradley Hall (Chicago Cultural Center)
Third Coast Percussion
Music of Cage & L. Ligeti
Free admission

Wednesday, November 19 (Symphony Center), Thursday, November 20 (Evanston), and Saturday, November 22 (Hyde Park) – 7:30 p.m.
Baroque Band
The Temple of Apollo
Tickets: $30 (regular)/ $27 (seniors)/ $15 (student)

Saturday, November 8 and Sunday, November 9 - 10:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.
Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier
The Chicago Chamber Musicians
November 8-9 Family Concert - Leaping Leopold! The Mozart Show
Tickets: $18 (adult) / $15 (12 and under)

Sunday, November 16 (Evanston) and Monday, November 17 (Merit School of Music) – 7:30 p.m.
The Chicago Chamber Musicians
November 16-17 Subscription Series
Böhme: Sextet for Brass in E-Flat Minor, Op. 30
Bruce Broughton: Hudson River Valley
Dvorák: Piano Trio in F Minor, Op. 65
Tickets: $16 – 40 (adult)/ $10 (student)

Wednesday, November 12 – 7:30 p.m.
Harris Theater for Music and Dance
Fulcrum Point
Soundtracks in New-Art Music
Tickets: $50 – 75 (adult) / $25 (students & seniors)

And don’t forget the following two regular events:

The Dame Myra Hess weekly free lunchtime series at The Chicago Cultural Center, every Wednesday at 12:15 p.m., presented by the International Music Foundation.

The Chicago Chamber Musicians’ First Monday lunchtime concerts, also at the Chicago Cultural Center at 12:15 the first Monday of each month.

- Deborah Sobol
Artistic Director

Slow Down

Slow down! No, stop.

Flying from task to task at the speed of light, more powerful than a triple latte, able to leap a stack of emails in a single bound? Hmmm. I don’t have superpowers, but I recently encountered some serious Kryptonite.

I believe in taking breaks, being on vacation when you’re on vacation, and setting aside time for reflection. But I waffle on actually doing these things, and I just paid a steep price for that. My body enforced a leave of absence a couple of weeks ago in the form of unexpected surgery. Though I had hoped to make it to my 40th birthday* with all of the original parts, fortunately I have no long-term health issues to deal with. I can now assure you all unequivocally that what we learned in physics class is true: being forced to stop when you’re traveling at high speed is apparently a lot more painful than mindfully slowing down first.

Once I got home from the hospital, the immediate crisis was over, and my family went back to work and school. Then an amazing thing happened: I found myself with several days of absolute silence. The doctors had differing opinions on recovery time, from the cautious, “You will be able to go back to work after two or three weeks,” to the brusque, “You can go rake leaves tomorrow, if you’d like.” (Yeah, right.) I split the difference and spent about a week in bed. My husband, co-workers, and friends immediately and completely stepped into the fray to protect my recovery process, and I love them for it.

It was a still, small place of napping, painkillers and reflection. In fact, I think I spent a good 15 minutes one day wondering about the last time I saw a car painted in my favorite color, British racing green. But I also thought about what is important to me, and how I have been spending my time, and enjoyed the ability to assess and synthesize all that’s happened recently both professionally and personally.

If you are scratching your head and wondering what this has to do with Rush Hour since we are officially “off-season,” the truth is that RH staff works year-round. As executive director, this is a crucial time for planning and writing, though somehow I believe everyone survived my brief absence. There’s a certain symmetry in the fact that I had to stop my mind to help my body heal, since usually I’m talking about the importance of slowing down physically to experience aesthetic nourishment.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “What lies before us and what lies behind us are small matters compared to what lies within us. When we bring what is within us out into the world, miracles happen.” Rush Hour expands the space between what we just did and what we’re going to do, giving us a gift in real time. My recent “retreat” was a gift of real time- and a strong reminder that mental and physical breaks are not just a pleasant idea, they are requirements.

Slow down. Your body may thank you, too.

- Megan Balderston
Executive Director

* If, like me, you’ve not yet celebrated your 40th birthday, read here for important information on how to participate in the under-40 matching grant challenge.

The Under-40 Challenge: Help Us Meet Our Goal

As the saying goes, the best things in life are free. I happen to think that they are often also worth paying for, or at least supporting financially. This year Rush Hour is conducting a fundraiser in conjunction with the Irving Harris Foundation aimed at donors under 40. The goal is to raise $5,000, which the Harris Foundation will match, meaning your gift is doubled ($50 becomes $100, $25 becomes $50, and so on.) Gifts will go toward Rush Hour’s basic operating costs, helping keep admission and refreshments free of charge.

During my time volunteering for Rush Hour, I have been struck by the enthusiasm these concerts inspire in series devotees and random drop-ins alike. I have also been impressed by the increasing number of young people attending concerts (approximately 20% of our audience each week is under 40).

I decided to donate to the under-40 match simply because I see how important Rush Hour is to people. And I want it to remain such that anyone can come by the Cathedral on a summer Tuesday afternoon, throw back some snacks, and hear a concert of the highest quality. Of course, it should be free. But I think it’s also worth paying for. If you agree, then I urge you to contribute, too.

- Charles Cooney
Treasurer, Fanfare Committee