Thanks to Magee Capsouto of Equity Arc for contributing this information!
This April 4-6, Equity Arc will be presenting our fourth annual convening, with activities taking place at the Hilton Chicago and Chicago Symphony Center. Equity Arc is a continually growing and evolving alliance of the country’s leading classical music training and professional performing organizations that collectively contribute to the education, training, performance, and sustainability of classical music. This national gathering engages our dynamic network to create lasting local and national impact, ensuring musicians from all backgrounds are empowered to thrive in classical music.
The convening’s opening session features a keynote address by Na’Zir McFadden, an alumnus of the Philadelphia Music Alliance for Youth Artists’ Initiative and the Primavera Fund, who is currently the Assistant Conductor and Phillip & Lauren Fisher Community Ambassador of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and a panel featuring the voices of pathways fellows from across the country.
The Equity Arc convening will provide a critical platform to strategize, collaborate, and galvanize our collective efforts to ensure that the musical excellence of all musicians is celebrated and supported. The classical music ecosystem is complex and interconnected.
To ensure that our efforts are most impactful, we work with partners at all stages of the musical journey. This year, we will welcome participants including parents of musicians, university faculty and admissions representatives, pathways programs from across the country, representatives from music organizations, and early career musicians. We are also working to expand representation of organizations in the Chicago area and its suburbs, such as youth orchestras, high school music teachers, and administrators of music schools.
In addition to convening sessions, Equity Arc will present our 2025 Pathways Orchestra in partnership with the Negaunee Music Institute at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. This year’s Orchestra features 64 exceptional pre-college pathways fellows. They will take part in a transformational learning experience as they prepare for their side-by-side concert with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Civic Orchestra of Chicago. The concert, on April 6th at 2 pm, features the Equity Arc Pathways Orchestra in a performance of Samuel Coleridge Taylor’s Ballade in A minor and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, led by Kyle Dickson. The concert is free of charge. Tickets can be reserved via the CSO website.
As part of the Orchestra activities, Equity Arc will host a College and Summer Study fair at Symphony Center on April 5th. We welcome musicians from across Chicago to join us for the fair.
You can learn more about the convening, the Pathways Orchestra, and the College and Summer Study fair at equityarc.org. We would love for you to join us and share your voice! If you’re interested in learning more, please email us at info@equityarc.org for more information.
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Equity Arc, first Chicago Youth in Music Festival Orchestra