Clef Notes Chicagoland Journal for the Arts

Clef Notes Chicagoland Journal of the Arts serves as  Chicago's premier resource for arts and culture coverage with feature stories on music, art, theater and dance.  We provide departments that cover a wide range of the creative muse. Clef Notes examines innovations in culture while at the same time, looks back to the history of art and culture to inform on what they mean to us today.  Our publication brings news, interviews with renowned concert artists and editorials, essays and analysis on a wide variety of subjects all touching art, the artisan and the muse.  In addition, we provide a digest of cultural offerings within the Chicagoland area in the pages of our Cultural Almanac, which features previews, reviews for current running performances and comparative listings of arts events throughout the city.

The hallowed halls of Symphony Center, home to The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, have seen some of the greatest concert artists of all time. From famed conductor Arturo Toscanini to one of the greatest pianists in the past century, Vladimir Horowitz, many of the most iconic figures in the history of classical music have graced the historic Orchestra Hall stage. The institution has served Chicago as a beacon for the world’s greatest musical talents. What it has contributed to our city’s cultural identity is amazing. It's most interesting taking a look back at history’s paths. It generates perspective on where we have been and how far we have come.

Take, for instance, Sue, the famed T. Rex exhibit celebrating its 10th year at the Field Museum of Natural History. In this issue, we examine how the world’s largest T. Rex fossil made its way to Chicago and the ways in which Sue has transformed the scientific community’s understanding of her life and the world she inhabited. We look back at the work of visionary architect Frank Lloyd Wright through the living monument preserved in his home and studio, a tribute to the architect’s Prairie Style, his landmark design aesthetic. Named in 1991 by the American Institute of Architects as “the greatest American architect of all time,” Wright’s work served as a vanguard to the organic architecture that is so widely appreciated throughout the country today. Rachel Boury takes us on a facinating tour of his Oak Park, Illinois home and studio, restored to its original beauty by the Wright Preservation Trust.

Of course, when one looks back, one often finds inspiration for the possibilities of the future. Clef Notes looks toward the future with an examination of children and the arts. We look at ways parents can help cultivate a valuable appreciation of culture within their children in a digital age of constant distraction. We preview the exciting line-up of Ravinia 2010. With a record 50 debut artists, this summer’s annual Highland Park, IL festival of music is taking great steps toward cultivating an ever expanding audience with an extraordinarily diverse calendar—and at a time when many traditionally classical venues everywhere are feeling the financial pinch of a strained economic climate.

And, of course, we look ahead to the CSO and the naming of its 10th music director, Maestro Riccardo Muti. It certainly is an extraordinary opportunity to stand at the precipice of a new era in the orchestra’s history. This pivotal time invites opportunity for discovery with a new music director designate that looks to reach beyond the conductor’s podium to share the genuine power of music with the city-at-large.

The summer 2010 issue of Clef Notes invites you to take a look back, but also to venture forward in one of the most exciting times in Chicago arts and culture. So, take a deep breath, relax and enjoy the journey we’ve prepared in Clef Notes’ summer 2010.