On a Sunday afternoon, Jacobsen Woollen, director of the Illinois Youth Symphony Orchestra, gently conducts 45 young musicians with patience in the Grant Conservatory of Music and Dance. This is in preparation for their Nov. 24 concert at the University of Illinois Springfield’s Performing Arts Center. Their “HQ,” as Woollen called it, is a beautiful […]
Cesar Toscano
Cesar Toscano graduated from Columbia Chicago with a B.A. in creative writing and found love for journalism during his last year of college editing for the Columbia Chronicle. He is studying in the Public Affairs Reporting program at University of Illinois Springfield this fall.
Posted inArts & Culture
Storm on stage
Hurricane Diane opens like an ancient Greek stage play. The perpetual character Diane comes out from the audience entrance in a gold gown and a leaf-made diadem on her head. She walks into the circular stage that sits before a barely lit setting that resembles a suburban kitchen. What starts as a comedic monologue quickly […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Exhibit honors Illinois sculptor Richard Hunt
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum will open “Freedom in Form: Richard Hunt” on Oct. 25, an exhibition dedicated to world-famous Chicago-based sculptor Richard Hunt, who died Dec. 18, 2023. This will be the first major show of Hunt’s work since his death. Hunt is known for his large abstract metal works utilizing welding […]
Posted inArts & Culture
RockBallet celebrates its 30th anniversary
Copper Coin Ballet Company will host the annual “RockBallet” show at the Muni this Saturday, Sept. 7. Celebrating its 30th anniversary, the theme of Rockballet for this year is influenced by Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. It’s sequenced in three parts: Classic rock, 80s/90s fusion rock, and modern rock. Formed from the split of the Springfield […]
