Chicago Philharmonic looking for West Side musicians to perform with ‘Side-by-Side’
The Chicago Philharmonic symphony orchestra is inviting student and community musicians to rehearse and perform alongside some of the city’s finest musicians on Saturday, July 30 at Columbus Park Refectory, 5071 W. Jackson Blvd., as part of the orchestra’s Side-by-Side program. The Side-by-Side performance is held in conjunction with the city’s Chicago Park District’s Night Out in the Parks program.
Admission to attend, or perform in, the concert is free. Spots for community musicians are available on a first-come, first-served basis, according to a statement released by the Chicago Philharmonic Society.
The July 30 event will include a Side-by-Side rehearsal from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and a Side-by-Side concern from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Musical selections will include Key’s “Star Spangled Banner,” Bizet’s “L’Arlesienne Suite 2: Pastorale and Farandole,” and Williams’s “Star Wars Suit: ‘Imperial March,’ among other numbers.
Alderman opens community service satellite office
Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th) opened a community service satellite office earlier this month. The office, located inside of Kolatek’s Bakery, 2445 N. Harlem Ave., will be open to residents on Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Residents can utilize the office for submitting various city service requests, such as garbage cart requests and tree trim requests. They can also report problems, such as potholes and street light outages to the office.
Gov. Rauner on West Side to sign early childhood education law
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner was on the West Side last Thursday to sign into law an early childhood education bill that would increase the amount of grant money the state sets aside for educating children no older than age 3.
The governor signed SB 238, which would increase the early education set aside from 14 percent of grant money to 20 percent, at Mary Crane early childhood center, 4006 W. Lake St.
On the day of the bill signing, which the governor’s wife, Diana Rainer, said “is one of the things that we can be most proud of,” one of the state’s largest unions issued a statement condemning the signing.
“As Governor Rauner parachutes into the same communities that he has chosen to decimate through manufactured crises and vicious cuts, we remind him that child care providers are people—not props,” said SEIU Healthcare Illinois Vice President Brynn Seibert noted.
“Day care centers like Mary Crane depend on multiple funding streams, including the Child Care Assistance Program, which Governor Rauner drastically cut last year,” he said. “55,000 children have been cut off from affordable care and thousands of jobs have been lost due to the governor’s decision to cut the program. These cuts disproportionately affect women and children of color, who Gov. Rauner will be using as props for his bill-signing ceremony today.”
Seibert said that SB 730, a bill he said would “reverse the damage done to CCAP,” is awaiting the governor’s signature.
