Music Institute Jazz Festival Salutes Charlie Parker

Concerts, Lecture, Jazz Invitational Take Place November 7 and 8

The Music Institute of Chicago presents its fifth annual jazz festival, this year celebrating the career and influence of jazz icon Charlie “Bird” Parker, November 7 and 8 at Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Ave., Evanston.

Friday, November 7, 7:30 p.m.: Bird with Strings
The festival opens with a rare performance of music from the legendary Bird with Strings recordings, with jazz veteran Charles McPherson as saxophone soloist and Music Institute Artist in Residence Tammy McCann singing “Easy Living” and “I Thought About You.” Also on the program is a newly commissioned work for jazz quartet and strings by Northwestern University Director of Jazz Studies Victor Goines.

Saturday, November 8, 4 p.m.: Lecture and Book-Signing
The festival continues with a lecture by acclaimed cultural critic and author Stanley Crouch, who discusses his recent book Kansas City Lightning: The Rise and Times of Charlie Parker. WBEZ’s Richard Steele serves as moderator.

Saturday, November 8, 7:30 p.m.: Bebop Extravaganza
The closing concert features Charles McPherson on saxophone and the Music Institute jazz faculty quintet, with Victor Garcia on trumpet, Jeremy Kahn on piano, Stewart Miller on bass, Ernie Adams on drums, and Music Institute Jazz Studies Director Audrey Morrison on trombone performing Charlie Parker classics, such as “Confirmation,” “Moose the Mooch,” and “Ornithology.”

A Jazz Invitational Saturday, November 8 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. features high school student jazz ensembles performing and receiving coaching from Charles McPherson and Music Institute jazz faculty. Participating high schools to date include Chicago High School for the Arts (ChiArts), Glenbrook South, and Pritzker College Prep. A master class with McPherson follows at 3 p.m.

Music Institute of Chicago
The Music Institute of Chicago is a community music school dedicated to transforming lives through music education. The institution exists to lead everyone in its community toward a lifelong engagement with music. Founded in 1931, the Music Institute has grown to become one of the three largest and most respected community music schools in the nation. Offering musical excellence built on the strength of its distinguished faculty, commitment to quality, and breadth of programs and services, the Music Institute is a member of the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts and accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Pre-collegiate Arts Schools (ACCPAS). Each year, the Music Institute’s teachers and arts therapists reach thousands of students and clients of all ages and levels of experience. Music Institute locations include Chicago, Evanston, Winnetka, Lincolnshire, Lake Forest, and Downers Grove. In addition, the Music Institute is proud of its longstanding partnership with the Chicago Public Schools through its Arts Link program. The Music Institute offers lessons and classes, creative arts therapy, and concerts through its Community School, Academy, Institute for Therapy through the Arts (ITA), and Nichols Concert Hall.

The Music Institute’s 2014–15 Faculty and Guest Artist Concert Series at Nichols Concert Hall continues with a Community Music Festival, opening with the Cavani Quartet April 19, closing with the Ying Quartet May 2 and featuring 100 community concerts by Music Institute students during that time period.

The Music Institute of Chicago’s Jazz Festival celebrating Charlie Parker takes place at Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Avenue in Evanston. Tickets to the November 7 and 8 concerts at 7:30 p.m. are $30 for adults, $20 for seniors and $10 for students; the November 8 lecture at 4 p.m. is $10. Individual event tickets or a jazzPASS—$55 for adults, $35 for seniors—are available at musicinst.org/charlie-parker-jazz-festival or 800-838-3006. For information, call the Nichols Concert Hall Box Office at 847.905.1500 ext. 108. The Jazz Invitational is $5 at the door, with proceeds benefiting the Billy Strayhorn Scholarship in Jazz Studies. All programming is subject to change. For more information, visit musicinst.org.

Photo, left: Tammy McCann
Photo, right: Charles McPherson