The Musical Offering

The founders of The Musical Offering (The MO) saw a dire need for high-quality music instruction in racially and economically diverse Evanston that would be accessible to all families. The crucial first task in implementing the artistic mission was to decide where to locate. South Evanston was grossly underserved and the local public school, Oakton Elementary, was struggling to provide musical instruction to its students. Thus, The MO located on Custer Avenue, south of Main Street.
From the beginning the MO has engaged only highly trained and active performers as teachers. These teachers perform with such ensembles as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Elgin Symphony, Chicago Chamber Musicians, Bella Voce, Chicago a capella, Music of the Baroque, Ensemble Dal Niente and others. Many of the teachers have been with The MO since its founding in 1999. Because of the faculty’s dedication, the artistic quality of the program offerings at The MO is high across the board.
Central to the philosophy of The MO is providing artistic challenges both to the faculty and students. In 2008 The MO formed relationships with the Ondas Ensemble, which devotes itself to Latin-American repertoire, and the Opera Company, which produces creative interpretations of standard vocal repertoire, but also performs rarely heard works. That same year, the MO collaborated with the Chicago Academy for the Arts and the professional contemporary music ensemble, Dal Niente to organize the 1st Annual Composition Competition. In May of 2008 The MO faculty served as the instructors and performers for the children’s opera Le Chanson de Roland, written by composer James Falzone. Commissioned by The MO in the summer of 2007, this opera garnered city-wide support and involved MO faculty rehearsing more than 300 children at Oakton School for two performances. Additionally, in conjunction with the Chicago Academy for the Arts, the MO has presented two student-composed opera programs, one in the spring of 2009, and another in April of 2010.
In addition, The MO formed partnerships in 2009 with the North Shore Choral Society (large-scale outreach concerts at Oakton and Washington Elementary Schools in Evanston) and the Evanston Public Library (Irish music classes for children ages 6-17). These partnerships further enhance our organization’s ability to provide high-quality arts programming to area Title One school children and the community at large.