ChiArts Spring Productions Feature Conservatory Collabs & Tributes to Black Culture

The ChiArts production team is preparing for a tremendous spring season with new conservatory collaborations and tributes to Black culture through diverse artistic lenses. This March, look forward to three premieres from the Creative Writing, Dance, and Music Conservatories. The first-ever Dance and Creative Writing collaborative showcase will lead us into the spring season on March 2-3, where dancers become writers and creative writers grow through movement. On March 15, Music presents Tribute to Black Music. Vocal Educator Charles Taylor shares, “The performance will highlight the contribution African-Americans have made to the American and world music tapestry. This year’s subject is The Evolution of the Spiritual, and will take listeners from the birth of the Spiritual to its usage and form in current times.” To close out March, Creative Writing will kick off National Poetry Month with a reading on March 30. 
 
 
 
 
 

ChiArts Launches Summer Camp Registration

Over the past seven years, ChiArts’ Annual Summer Camp has welcomed over 450 young artists to explore the artistic disciplines of Band, Creative Writing, Dance, Voice, Theatre, and Visual Arts thanks to generous support from the Caerus Foundation. Led by ChiArts teaching artists and alums, campers receive pre-professional training in the arts throughout July. Camp Coordinator and ChiArts Spanish Educator Chris Cashman shares, “At ChiArts Summer Camp, middle schoolers from Chicago get a taste of what it is like to be a scholar-artist at ChiArts. They end up accumulating almost a semester’s worth of classroom instruction, and the vast majority of students say the camp experience positively impacts their decision to pursue ChiArts as a student.” This year, ChiArts Summer Camp will offer programs for grades 6-8 from July 10-28 onsite at ChiArts.
 
 

The Impact of ChiArts’ Arts Conservatory Heads

Under the guidance of Executive Director Tina Boyer Brown, ChiArts’ Conservatory Heads and Arts Faculty provide over 2,500 hours of tuition-free, pre-professional arts training to every scholar-artist from freshman year to graduation. Learn more about our Arts Conservatory Heads and the visionary leadership they bring to ChiArts!
 

ChiArts’ 3rd Annual Connections Week Success Stories

On October 13-19, ChiArts hosted its third annual Connections Week. The five-day event connected scholar-artists to post-secondary opportunities with support from a range of well-loved local colleges, to nationally acclaimed universities, to conservatory training programs. Highlights include: a masterclass with the Music Director of Hamilton on Broadway, audition workshops with local universities such as Northwestern and DePaul, one-on-one portfolio reviews, professional development panels from working artists, and evening performances throughout the week.
 
Dance Conservatory senior Raina Wiley took on the week with an inspiring opportunistic spirit! Raina auditioned for ChiArts as a novice with no formal training, but a great passion for dance. Four years later, Raina is now performing for top training programs at Connections Week and pursuing a career in dance. Inspired by Raina’s tenacity, FOX Chicago interviewed Raina about her journey as a scholar-artist. On the live broadcast, Raina shared “My dance experience transformed (while at ChiArts), but I also transformed into an artist and a dancer!”
 

ChiArts’ Most Diverse & Robust Production Season Yet

The ChiArts Production Department is excited to announce a full slate of shows for the 2022-23 season. The Creative Writing Conservatory kicked off the year with the release of ChiArts Writes: Volume 7 featuring original works of poetry and prose, and the School’s first Fall Festival featured the works of students across multiple conservatories. Later this season be sure to catch ChiArts’ own spin on the classic ballet The Nutcracker, an interpretation of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s play In the Red and Brown Water, the return of First Year, First Look featuring all conservatory first-year students, student-produced cultural showcases, and so much more!

Download the 2022-23 ChiArts production calendar. 


 

 

ChiArts Jazz Combo Performs at Navy Pier’s Chicago Live!

ChiArts’ premier small group jazz ensemble joined over 60 of Chicago’s top performing arts organizations to perform at Navy Pier’s Chicago Live! on September 25. The combo performs classic jazz compositions, standards from the popular canon, as well as student and faculty originals at local and national festivals, conferences, and competitions. Third Coast Review recently reviewed the group’s Chicago Jazz Festival performance saying, “This is a tight quartet playing an amazing blend of free jazz, and hard-driving bop. Each member of this quartet can be considered of professional caliber. Saxophone, vibraphone, bass, and drums would seem to be a simple grouping, but these young people tore the roof off.”

See footage of the ChiArts Jazz Combo’s Chicago Live! performance.



Congrats, ChiArts Class of 2022!

Congratulations to The Chicago High School for the Arts‘ Class of 2022! As ChiArts’ 10th graduating class, graduates have completed over 2,500 hours of pre-professional arts training and will join more than 1,000 alumni who are making their way in the world as artists, performers, educators, entrepreneurs, scientists, engineers, and more.
 
 We are incredibly proud of all 130 graduates. As Artistic Director Tina Boyer Brown shares,“Here’s the hope. You are. You are the hope and the promise– not just of the future but of the present.”
 
 

ChiArts Jazz Combo to Join More Than 40 of Chicago’s Cultural Icons for the First Time at Navy Pier for Chicago LIVE Again!

For the first time ever Chicago’s brightest marquee names will light up Navy Pier…

ChiArts is thrilled to announce the ChiArts Jazz Combo will be performing at Chicago Live Again!, Navy Pier’s two-day festival of free outdoor performances from more than 40 of Chicago’s brightest cultural icons, all performing in one place for the very first time. We are honored to join the ranks of performers from Broadway in Chicago, Joffrey Ballet, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Second City, the Lyric Opera and many more! 

Join us in celebrating the return of live performance and the brilliant artists—onstage and backstage—finally doing what they do best. All performances are live and free on September 24 and 25 at Navy Pier. The ChiArts Jazz Combo will be performing on Saturday, September 25 at 4:30 PM on the Navy Pier Lake Stage located south of the pier in Polk Bros Park. Huge congratulations to ChiArts Jazz Combo musicians, Jay Cebrero on bass, Leo Milano on saxophone, Austin Nichols on piano, and Chase Wilkins on drums. Visit Navy Pier’s website linked here for more information regarding the schedule, COVID protocols, and admire our amazing ChiArts Jazz Combo featured on the homepage! 

Chicago Live Again! will also provide masterclasses to ChiArts scholar-artists from professionals at Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Hubbard Street Dance. We are grateful for the opportunities Navy Pier has provided to showcase our scholar-artists’ talent and help grow their pre-professional training.

To learn more about ChiArts’ involvement in Chicago Live Again!, read our press release here

See ChiArts Artistic Director Tina Boyer Brown on ABC 7’s Chicago Live Again! feature here.

 

3 ChiArts Winter Shows You Cannot Miss

ChiArts produces over 70 showcases a year! From creative writing readings to jazz showcases, we work hard to balance a full academic load, conservatory classes, and rehearsals! Here are three upcoming winter showcases that truly champion ChiArts’ overachiever spirit. 
 
Student Choreography Showcase: On January 28, senior dancers become choreographers! Watch ChiArts original pieces choreographed, auditioned, and directed by the dance class of 2020. Each senior will speak on behalf of their piece, along with their industry mentor who helps guide the process and production.
 
Spring Large Ensemble: The ChiArts music department is currently the number one high school program in the state! This concert on February 14 showcases our instrumental ensembles, and will include pieces they will perform at the IHSA competition.
 
Feature Musical: Every year, we produce a full scale musical inviting all five conservatories to audition! This year, a cast of 50+ scholar-artists from all conservatories will perform the Tony- and Grammy-nominated show CHICAGO, THE MUSICAL. The production will run from March 8-10, 2020.

 

Congrats ChiArts Class of 2019! What’s next?!

The Chicago High School for the Arts’ 7th class of graduates are off on their next adventure. We’re honored to have been a stepping stone for these future leaders of our world. Did you know that the ChiArts class of 2019 spans universities in 20 states, three countries, and 66 of our scholar-artists are attending local universities in-state?! Get to know more about our recent graduates below: