Chicago native Chance the Rapper met a handful of West Side students Saturday and listened to them perform three orchestral songs.
During a summer band camp field trip, Sistema Ravinia participants gathered at Ravinia Festival in Highland Park on Aug. 8 to watch musician Chance the Rapper run through a sound check. Then, the 25 Chicago students — including those from Catalyst Circle Rock and George Rogers Clark Elementary School in Austin, plus Frazier International Magnet School and Gregory Math and Science Academy in North Lawndale — performed for Chance the Rapper in the Martin Theatre on Ravinia’s grounds and asked him a handful of questions.
“I hope they feel empowered,” said Carmenita Peoples, program manager for Sistema Ravinia West Side, after the performance and meet-and-greet. “I want them to feel confident. Whether they become professional musicians or not, I want them to feel capable.”
Every year in May, participants from Ravinia’s Reach Teach Play — a program that includes Sistema Ravinia, which provides instruments and free after-school music lessons for 14 area public schools — perform inside the Martin Theater. But they rarely do so for an artist performing on Ravinia’s main stage.
After watching Chance the Rapper perform multiple songs for sound check, Sistema Ravinia’s Encore band, where most current participants have played for at least three years, played three songs for the rapper. A handful of younger Sistema Ravinia students watched the performance from the stage.
“I was really excited and nervous at the same time,” said Alanah Perry after her performance for Chance the Rapper with the Encore band. Berry plays alto saxophone and is a rising eighth grader at Catalyst Circle Rock — where Sistema Ravinia launched in 2012.
“I was happy he was going to hear me because I was the only trombone,” said Ethan Thomas, also a rising eighth grader at Catalyst Circle Rock, of his reaction when he heard he was going to perform for Chance the Rapper. “Playing music will get you to meet famous people.”
“I was super excited. I felt like this might finally be my chance to meet a celebrity,” said Elijah McCullough, a rising sophomore at William Jones College Prep downtown — where Chance the Rapper also attended high school. McCullough plays saxophone and rapped during the Encore band’s performance of “My Shot” from “Hamilton.”
“I was nervous when I first got on [stage], but it went away when I started to play,” McCullough said. “Music, to me, is my favorite thing to do. It’s something I want to pursue.”
During a Q&A after their performance, students asked questions about how Chance the Rapper writes music, when he became popular and his favorite song to perform (His answer: “Blessings” off of “Coloring Book,” the album he’s touring right now for its tenth anniversary).
“Ya’ll sound really good,” Chance the Rapper said to the Encore band after their performance.
Sistema Ravinia’s Encore band is performing six times in August. On Aug. 15, they will be at the Taste of Austin, held from noon to 5 p.m. in Columbus Park.