Happy Festivus!

     Today is December 23rd. Happy Festivus Chicago! Here's our pole:

Feats of strength? How about Ditka

wrestling a bear

with one arm tied behind his back. I don't know about you, but I've still got Ditka winning by a country mile!

     Airing of grievances? Well, how much time do you have? How about Chi-Town Rising? I think it's gonna be cool, but what do you guys think of that slick trick they pulled getting rid of all the free tickets? That's worse than seeing Roger Daltrey topless. The Bears? This was always supposed to be a rebuilding year, and we've already accomplished the one thing I wanted to see(beating the Packers on Brett Favre night. Take that you damned Packers!) But what a way to crap your way out of a fighting chance at the playoffs. Baseball? The White Sox were actually supposed to do something this year. They didn't. Hockey? Let me talk to Mr. Patrick Kane right now: Kaner, I know you've got three Stanley Cups to your name, but you really can't keep carrying on like a drunken frat boy. It makes everyone look bad. The weather? Not many people would complain about 50s this late into December, but I have to say something. Boo to no White Christmas! These guys? Not being able to take a good-old Seinfeld joke? Boo! We do have a lot to be thankful for, but before we celebrate that other holiday on Friday, make sure to take a joke...and celebrate Festivus! 

P.S. If you have any grievances to air, feel free to comment below.

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That's a Wrap! Midwest Day 4

     Music lovers of all stripes were back at McCormick Place West on Saturday to attend the final day of the 2015 Midwest Clinic. After a complimentary breakfast, the first event of the day was a concert by the Tara Winds. The spokesman for the band remarked that he was pleasantly surprised to see so many in attendance for an 8:30 AM Saturday morning concert. I guess we're all just that committed. The Tara Winds is an all-adult symphonic band that hails from the great state of Georgia. Many of its members hail from the Atlanta area, but the ensemble boasts members from all across the state. The band has been performing since 1988, and a few of those founding members even were performing with the group on Saturday. After they played through their program(which even included a piece by Eric Whitacre!), the next piece on the agenda was a morning talk from Arturo Sandoval.

     Mr. Sandoval is a Jazz Trumpeter from Cuba who has played on more than 15 film soundtracks as well as numerous albums of his own. His talk mainly touched on personal anecdotes from his life, like when the first person to give him a trumpet lesson declared that he would never amount to anything musically, which led to the quote "only God could say who will make it or not". Another story revolved around his first time in the United States. When he was signed to a record deal, he went from sitting in Cuba to performing onstage at Carnegie Hall all within the space of 24 hours. He wrapped up his talk by restating the point that you have to learn music by hearing it and playing it, not by merely studying it ad nauseum. After the Sandoval talk, it was back to the Skyline Ballroom for the final event of the day: a concert from the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.

     The Civic Orchestra is a training division of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the only such relationship to exist in the entire country. The ensemble is designed to let younger musicians hone their skills, helping them to succeed as musicians. The ensemble is also known for presenting top-flight orchestral music to the people of Chicago for no charge. Saturday's concert was intended as a tribute to Arnold Jacobs in honor of the 100th Anniversary of his birth. Mr. Jacobs was a prolific tubist, who performed as part of the CSO from 1944 to 1988. To further honor Jacobs, the Vaughn Williams Tuba Concerto was performed, and recorded audio of Jacobs himself was played during the solos. As the concert ended, a representative with Midwest came onstage and thanked all of the attendees for their help in making the 69th Annual Midwest Clinic a success, setting the stage for next year's 70th Annual Convention.

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You'd do it for Eric Whitacre!(and other stories): Midwest Day 2

     The throngs were back at McCormick Place West on Thursday for Day 2 of the Midwest Clinic, and interest was high in a session led by John Phillip Sousa IV. Yes, you read that correctly. Sousa's great-grandson is here at Midwest. He shared several stories about Sousa's life and music, such as the fact that he joined the Navy Reserves at the age of 61, and was so excited about being made an officer that he was even buried in his Naval uniform. He also shared that Sousa loved smoking cigars, shooting guns, and playing baseball. But the most interesting revelation was about the inspiration behind the title of one of Sousa's marches. One day, JP was at a fair when he saw this ravishingly beautiful girl. Feeling so moved he was compelled to write a song about it, which he titled "Fairest of the Fair". After the talk, there was a mad dash for the next clinic, and for good reason foo. This session featured John Mackey, Steven Bryant, Jonathan Newman, and...Eric Whitacre. If Sousa was the first composer to reach rockstar status, Whitacre is among the latest to do so. The anticipation of the attendees could roughly be approximated by this clip right here:

Just replace Randolph Scott with Eric Whitacre and it all makes sense

     By the time the talk started, the room was fulled to capacity. Finally, the four composers came out to reminisce about their time studying at Julliard. Newman shared how he initially was reticent to get into composing because he thought that composers were supposed to just slave away behind the scenes without ever being known themselves. Eventually, Whitacre got the other 3 of them into composing, and the rest is history. The 4 of them also shared some tips for aspiring composers in the crowd. After that session ended, the attendees got a treat. As the exhibit hall closed for the day at 5 PM, close to 100 members of the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Music Fraternity gathered to sing holiday standards(and a few fraternity songs as well). All told, it was a fitting way to close out the second day of the clinic.

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Under Lock and Key(and other stories): Midwest Day 1

     Wednesday morning, hordes of music devotees swarmed McCormick Place West to convene the 69th Annual Midwest Clinic. Greeting them was the usual assortment of Clinics, performances, and exhibits. One such exhibit was at the Hal Leonard booth, which featured concert band arrangements of different pop hits, such as: 

Take On Me,

and Hello

     
     However, the most attractive piece at that booth had a place of honor in the front corner: a score for Star Wars The Force Awakens. It is currently under lock and key, but on Friday they'll be able to start taking orders so that all band directors can have the latest Star Wars music. Also in the hall was something called the pTrumpet. Simply put, it is a Trumpet mad of plastic that sounds exactly like the real thing. This means that it is slightly more durable, which is a good thing if you give to children. Next up was a clinic about how to incorporate the Common Core standards into teaching music. The facilitator offered up several good tips to help out teachers.

     Passing by another booth devoted to selling different kinds of Australian music, the exhibitor was handing out pieces of Australian candy. And it had caramel in the middle! Yes! Another exhibitor was selling flavored reeds. These are exactly what they sound like, and are also quite interesting. Then I ran into another booth selling a program called Learning From The Legends. These videos feature an expert at an instrument giving what amounts to a videotaped private lesson on how to play a piece. They even go measure by measure through the piece and elaborate on how they like to perform it. You can find a link to their site here. All told, the first day of the Midwest Clinic went very well. We'll be back with more news from McCormick Place tomorrow.

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Music To Chicago's Ears

     The chill in the air. The knowledge that Christmas will be here before we know it. And thousands of music educators/students bum-rushing Chicago for 4 days of fellowship. Ever since 1946, the Midwest Clinic has served as a rite of December in Chicago. What started out as a six-hour long meeting on the West Side has grown into a conference so large that it takes over the entirety of McCormick Place West. With 80+ clinics, more than 350 exhibitors, and a selection of the best school bands in the world, it is enough to make any music lover's mouth water. And true to form, I have a press pass for it. For the next few days I'll be giving updates from the Clinic as my schedule(and access to a computer) allows. Stay tuned for all the most current updates.

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Name That Dolphin!

     For the past several days, all of Chicago has been abuzz about news coming out of the Shedd Aquarium. They need some help naming their new pacific white-sided dolphin calf. The male, who was born to Piquet back on June 1, is doing great and hitting all of the milestones that Shedd's Marine Mammals team have set for it. Now the Shedd has partnered with ABC 7 to allow the public to pick a name. Much like last year's naming contest for the sea otter, there are a number of pre-selected names to vote on(but unlike last year's contest, J.K. Rowling hasn't offered up her opinion on the matter):

• Kolohe, which means "rascal" in Hawaiian
• Makoa, which means "fearless" in Hwaiian

     Voting will remain open to the public(at this website) until 3 PM today, and the winning name will be announced LIVE on Wednesday during ABC's 6 AM news. Tune in to Channel 7 to find out the winning name, and make sure to stay tuned to Chicago 365 for all of your local Chicago stories.

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Woo! Protests! Woo!

     The latest day of discord in the streets of Chicago over the shooting death of Laquan McDonald took a sharp turn into the surreal at City Hall today when the Coalition for a New Chicago was holding a press conference in front of the Mayor's office. The Coalition's goal is to gather support for a bill that would allow for Mayor Emanuel to be subjected to a recall vote. While the conference was going on, a man wearing a Cubs uniform jumped in front of the microphone to add his two cents:

     Hold on a second, that guy looks awfully familiar. Could it be?

     Holy Mackerel! It's Ronnie Woo Woo! According to Mary Ann Ahern of NBC5, Mr. Wickers(his actual surname) said in part that "[the] Mayor should go" No word yet on whether or not any Woos! were uttered during the statement.

Running Like a Girl...For Charity.

     Back on October 30, society types from all corners of the city gathered at the historic Drake Hotel to attend the Run Like a Girl Soiree, the annual fundraising event for Girls On The Run Chicago. GOTRC is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to the building up of young girls through training them to run in a non-competitive 5k race. The Gala also had a racing theme to it, with several different areas designated as:

The Coat Check Area

The Food Line

And, The Bar.

     Once you were all settled in, you could peruse the silent auction items, grab food and drink, and even pick up a root beer float(with optional vodka infusion). After all of that, there was a slideshow presentation inside the main ballroom that gave an introduction to what Girls On The Run is all about, as well as featuring testimonials from girls who've gone through the program. After the presentation ended, the evening's entertainment arrived in the form of the band Spoken Four, who helped all of us dance the night away to a wide array of cover songs. Also present was a photo background where attendees could take pictures under a Finish Line(once again, keeping up with the racing motif), like this:

      All told it was a great night, that raised a good amount of money for a great cause.