Kenwood
It’s hard to say what was more exciting for a group of music students at Kenwood Academy last week: celebrating music education at a celebrity-fueled rally simulcast in Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston and Houston, or getting $100,000 worth of new musical instruments.
Students from Jones, Kenwood, Lincoln Park and Pritzker gathered at Kenwood on Feb. 9 for an energetic, uplifting concert announcing the donation as part of the Fidelity FutureStage program. Actress Joan Cusack was on hand in Chicago for the event, while Jamie Foxx and “Lost” actor Dominic Monaghan appeared via satellite from Los Angeles.
Cusack told TheMash that the most gratifying part of her involvement in the FutureStage program is to see that the arts are still alive. As a teenager, Cusack said she was a bit shy, but an extracurricular program at the Piven Theatre Workshop in Evanston helped her break out of her shell.
“During high school, it is very hard to figure out who you are,” Cusack said. “Listen to yourself, so that you can be authentic.”
Statistics from the FutureStage program, which supports arts programs in public schools, say that schools with music programs have graduation rates of 90 percent, compared to only 73 percent for other schools.
At the event, Chicago Symphony Orchestra President Deborah Rutter announced a new partnership between CPS and the CSO. Selected students will perform in a special CSO presentation, plus they’ll have the chance to learn from professional musicians at their schools.
