Rush Hour @ 10: The Story of Rush Hour

In a moment of daydreaming the other day, the image of a birthday party came across my mind. It was a family event, celebrating the birthday of a younger member who had reached the ripe old age of 10. (We all remember that excitement, when, at last, we arrive in the “2 digit” years.) Family members of different backgrounds and generations surround the “birthday child” wishing him/her well, full of pride, joy, and expectations for a long and healthy life. Songs are sung, laughs are laughed, cake is eaten, memories of preceding years are shared, and future milestones are anticipated.

Now that I think about it, this was probably a “projection” daydream, as I eagerly await the launch of Rush Hour’s 10th concert season in a few weeks! The parallels are striking to me: Rush Hour is moving out of the single digits. It is surrounded at the birthday celebration by a large and diverse group of well-wishers, all of whom have had some stake in Rush Hour’s ability to arrive at this auspicious age of 10!

First comes our artist roster–each member responsible for bringing truly great music to life each week for three summer months of the last 10 years, sharing their art and themselves in weekly conversation with our audiences. Then, there’s the talented author of our weekly program notes, placing each concert in context for the veteran concertgoer and first-timer alike. Next, our board of directors, guiding the growth of Rush Hour, creating its infrastructure and stability, followed by our advisory committee of artists and community leaders, generously making themselves available as Rush Hour grows. The group continues: Chicago community foundations who have invested in us from the beginning…our indefatigable staff, working tirelessly year round to produce Rush Hour in the way our audiences have come to know and love. And of course, our audience members, whose engaged listening continues to play a vital role in the weekly “live concert experience,” and whose generous support keeps Rush Hour free and open to all, year in and year out.

Each person in this celebratory group shares a few particular characteristics: each values great music and the role it plays in human lives of any age. And each lives out a personal understanding of the maxim, “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” This is the story of Rush Hour.

Thank you to all of its parts! Let the celebration begin on June 2 with the music of Mozart (his serenade for thirteen winds, made famous by the movie, “Amadeus”).

I look forward to greeting each of you all summer long!

- Deborah Sobol
Artistic Director

Rush Hour @ 10: The Group to Watch

One of the most exciting developments to me over the last few years at Rush Hour has been watching the size of the under-40 demographic in our weekly audience grow to 20%. Anyone in the classical music world knows this is an impressive figure. To me, it’s inspiring. And the source of that inspiration is Rush Hour’s Fanfare, a group that started small and has grown to over forty members in the last year. Fanfare is Rush Hour’s herald, trumpeting news of Rush Hour’s “great music for busy lives” across the city each summer and throughout the off-season.

What does a typical Fanfare member look like?
- Culturally curious
- Between the ages of 20 and 40
- Doesn’t have a lot of time but wants to make a difference
- Relishes Chicago’s city life (especially in the summer!)

In my career as a performing artist over the last four decades, I have seen audience demographics buffeted about on the tides of social change, educational atrophy, and the competition of universal access to music that is not live. I have campaigned vigorously over the last two decades on behalf of the relevance of great music in all of our lives. I’ve continually refuted the myths that wearing a powdered wig or belonging to some sort of elite club are required for connection to this music to happen, maintaining that all anyone needs are their humanity and ears as entry points. For years, I have watched young adults being thrown into the center of this sociological conversation.

Imagine how heartening it is for me, then, to see emerging from Rush Hour’s accessible, practical concert format, a group of young professionals who not only promote the mission of Rush Hour and support its admission-free policy financially, but are also paving the way for the future of this series a decade from now. Fanfare is truly a herald: a sign that something is about to happen, ushering in a new paradigm of concertgoing and arts philanthropy.

Rush Hour’s 10th anniversary season starts June 2. Expect big things from Fanfare. They will be the group to watch. They have certainly played a major role in bringing their age demographic to the uplifting, energizing experience of live, great classical music, which is Rush Hour’s hallmark. They inspire my work as its artistic director, and, for that, they have my gratitude.

Bravo, Fanfare!

- Deborah Sobol
Artistic Director

Rush Hour @ 10: Community Partnerships

Community partners have been an integral part of Rush Hour since its inception ten years ago. This year, we have joined forces with the largest and most diverse group of partners yet.

We are pleased to announce that we have expanded our roster of dining partners to give you even more affordable options to extend your summer evening downtown. Participating restaurants currently include:

* Argo Tea
* Bijan’s Bistro
* Bistrot Zinc
* Cyrano’s Bistrot and Wine Bar
* Cyrano’s Cafe & Wine Bar on the Riverwalk
* Devon Seafood Grill
* Quartino

Stay tuned for details about the special discounts available through these dining partners starting this spring and continuing throughout the entire summer season.

We are also partnering with the Consulates General of France, Germany, and Switzerland as well as the Alliance Francaise de Chicago to continue to present concerts highlighting each country’s music and cuisine. In addition, our partnership with the Poetry Foundation continues this year with a program celebrating the lives of Chicago’s citizens, past and present, featuring the poetry of Kevin Coval and the music of George Gershwin and Charles Ives.

We thank our partners for their support in creating a rich and varied experience for you, our community of audience members. We hope you will take full advantage of every aspect of the Rush Hour experience!

- Julie Hutchison
Managing Director

Rush Hour @ 10: Introducing the 2009 Season

A week or so ago, we had Groundhog Day, which forecast six more weeks of winter. Despite the bad news of the little furry creature, I was optimistic: I had only to look at the tips of the maple trunks outside my studio window and the sky at 4:30 p.m. to know that spring is indeed around the corner. In fact, it’s been well underway since December 22, when we gained a millisecond more daylight than on the shortest day of the year, December 21!

Here in the land of Rush Hour, we all know what spring means: that summer is not far behind. Remember summer? The azure waters of Lake Michigan, the volleyball leagues on the beaches off Lake Shore Drive, folk walking down Michigan Avenue toward Oak Street beach in their swim togs, and, of course, Tuesdays! Tuesdays at 5:15 p.m.–every Tuesday from June through August–Rush Hour will be bringing you great music for busy lives.

I am happy to report that Rush Hour’s 10th anniversary season is off to the printers! As promised last month, I have posted it here for all to see first hand.

Our 2009 season holds the potential to top all previous seasons in variety, scope and number of artists. Our repertoire ranges from French Baroque to compositions created in honor of Rush Hour’s 10th anniversary. The season opens with clarinetist Larry Combs at the helm of Mozart’s “Gran Partita,” the woodwind serenade for 13 instruments (made famous in the movie Amadeus) and closes with the dynamic and innovative Third Coast Percussion. In between, we will travel to France, Germany and Switzerland with our consulate sponsors, including Couperin on Bastille Day, Bach with Bruce Barber–back by popular demand–and an eclectic program for tenor saxophone and organ featuring two of Switzerland’s most spirited composer/performers.

Ravel’s ravishing Piano Trio, Poulenc’s raucous Sextet for piano and winds, Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in d minor, and Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 12 arranged for brass quintet reflect the “bread and butter” of classic chamber music repertoire.

Chicago poet Kevin Coval, now renowned for his Chicago-centric, social justice artistry will pair with pianist James Giles in a program celebrating “Everyday People,” as Kevin reads from his book of the same title, to the music of George Gershwin and Charles Ives. WIRED, the flutes of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), will be bringing us a dynamic combination of classic and contemporary duos. And, CSO principal oboist Eugene Izotov will be joining CSO cellist Katinka Kleijn and organist David Schrader for a program of baroque music.

Last but not least, the program voted most popular by RH audiences last summer to be repeated in celebration of our 10th anniversary year: An encore of 2007′s “A Cello Celebration,” now expanded to 8 celli and soprano in Villa Lobos’ arrestingly beautiful Bachian Brasileira, No. 5 with members of the CSO and Lyric Opera cello sections and soprano Maire O’Brien, conducted by Michael Mulcahy.

As the snow continues to melt, let us think about bulbs sprouting, temperatures warming, and the vibrancy of summer in Chicago just a few months away. Dust off your sunscreen and mark Tuesday evenings from 5:15-6:15 in your calendars now!

- Deborah Sobol
Artistic Director

Rush Hour @ 10: The Best is Yet to Be

This summer, Rush Hour and I will celebrate an anniversary, too; one that is a year or two shy of the series’ 10 year existence. Given the sometimes impatient nature of modern times, I’m often asked why I’ve stayed connected to an organization for so long. For anyone who’s heard or lived that Robert Browning quote (“Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be…”), you know that part of the fun is seeing something evolve and anticipating what’s coming next. And, with RH, seeing how things haven’t changed–in the best way.

For me, RH is and has been about breaking down any pre-conceived notions about classical music, putting it all out there on the table and welcoming everyone to come over and enjoy, family-style. Like some, I thought classical music was esoteric and complicated–an ephemeral affair with the cornet in 5th grade and hearing “Rhapsody in Blue” at United’s O’Hare terminal were the extent of my exposure with classical music… until I got out of the way of myself and just enjoyed it for the experience it is. Some days, I’m intently following each piece; other days, I’m just happy to have a moment’s rest!

As a member of RH’s Fanfare Board, whose goal is to reach out to new audiences, I’m always telling people to try it, they might like it (to paraphrase that old cereal ad). No tux n’ tails or Ph.D in music theory are required–just an open and curious mind. The series truly offers something for everyone and appeases the senses, whether you’re chatting with friends and musicians, noshing on cheese and wine or letting the music wash over you in a 30-minute respite. Chicago’s notoriously short summers are jam-packed with activities and events, but RH is a great complement to and microcosm of the things that are happening and offered here.

But enough about why I think RH is so great–I encourage you to tell us why the free summer concert series rocks your summer, whether you’re a long-time supporter like me or are planning your first trip in ’09. Email the Fanfare Board at fanfare@rushhour.org and let us know. We’ll be posting and responding to comments here on our website throughout the year.

- Kristin Lunardini
Secretary, Fanfare Board

Rush Hour @ 10: Double Digits

Ten years old is one of life’s important milestones. For a child, it means “double digits” finally, and being taken more seriously – perhaps. For an arts organization, it means “double digits,” and definitely being taken more seriously.

Even with all the good intentions in the world, a young arts organization is very fragile and can cease to exist after only a few years. So, as we celebrate Rush Hour Concerts being ten years old, we can be proud that we survived those first unsure steps.

Eleven years ago, my friend Deborah Sobol told me what she was going to organize: a summer series of short weekly chamber concerts, opening always with light refreshments. She simply asked if I would be a sort of advisor, and of course I said, “Yes.” (It is very hard to say “no” to Deborah.) Also, I am the ideal appreciator of music as I play no instrument, and am in total awe that anyone can read those little black bird tracks and make sense of them, much less make gorgeous sounds from them. I love to listen to music, and I figured that there were many of us out there. I was right.

Within three years, our audience began to grow: from 40 – 50 per week in the first summers, to over 400 per week in recent summers. One of the elements of which I am so proud is that this child grew with many helping hands – many individuals who both volunteered their time and gave their money, as well as the wonderful foundations and organizations who have believed in us.

We never relied on one single individual as a sponsor, as so many fledgling groups do. They have an angel, but that angel is in reality a devilish handicap, because the strong support of one sometimes precludes the need for community ownership and support, thus preventing those baby steps from becoming strong strides.

Rush Hour has thrived, not due to an angel, but due to its own strength: the quality of the music heard – which means that, above and beyond all the hard work of the staff and supporters, it is simply that Chicagoans can hear sublime music every summer Tuesday in the afternoon.

The infant Rush Hour has grown up and is a part of the community, its arrival each summer is eagerly anticipated, and we are moving boldly forward towards our 20 year birthday!

- Anstiss Krueck,
Founding Member and Secretary,
Rush Hour Board of Directors

Rush Hour @ 10: Everybody Wins

As a performer, my longest-standing associations with concert organizations are the ones where “everybody wins”. By this I mean that there are wonderful colleagues to collaborate with, adequate rehearsal time, a fine performance space, and a loyal, attentive audience of people who came specifically to enjoy the music. With RH, my initial involvement came about because of prior experience with Deborah Sobol – but in some senses, I was still taking a (calculated) risk. I didn’t yet know many things about what the complete experience would be. After my enjoyable initial experience, it became a given that I would always desire to perform and be a part of this group of people.

In recent years, I have greatly enjoyed my involvement with Deborah at the conceptual level, putting together some of the programs in which I am involved. We think similarly about many things musical, and it feels great to bounce ideas around and then see them come to fruition months later when the concerts happen. (Last summer’s program with piano, pipa, and cello was the epitome of this: none of us knew of any program with these instruments ever having been done, anywhere. We began by reading some music together and just went from there. Ideas were proposed and several were discarded along the path to that program’s realization.)

It’s hard to speak of one specific memory that is a highlight of my years playing at RH. The Beethoven Sonata in A Major that I performed with Deborah a few years back was particularly enjoyable, and the six-cello ensemble concert from the summer of 2007 was memorable because it is such a rare treat to be able to do something like that. That concert was voted the “Audience Favorite” of Rush Hour’s first nine seasons, which was very gratifying – I’m so pleased that we’ll be presenting an even bigger cello ensemble concert in celebration of the 10th anniversary next summer.

I am particularly happy that RH has lasted and grown into something of real value to our city’s cultural environment. Congratulations, and here’s to many more years of great music!

- Brant Taylor
Rush Hour Advisory Committee member
Cellist, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Lincoln Quartet, & Pink Martini