Paquito D’Rivera joins Music Institute Jazz Studies faculty For a Concert 9/17

To open the Music Institute of Chicago's 2011-12 season of cultural events, Grammy Award-winning jazz musician and composer Paquito D'Rivera joins Music Institute Jazz Studies faculty for a concert Saturday, September 17, at 7:30 p.m. at Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Avenue, Evanston.

Music Institute Jazz Studies faculty performing with D'Rivera include the program's director, Audrey Morrison, trombone; Pat Mallinger, saxophone; Victor Garcia, trumpet; Jeremy Kahn, piano; Stewart Miller, bass; and Ernie Adams, drums and Latin percussion. The Music Institute launched its Jazz Studies programs for adults and teens in fall 2010, offering opportunities for private instruction and small ensembles as well as classes in improvisation and musicianship.

D'Rivera, joined by veteran sideman and pianist Alexander Brown, will conduct a workshop, open to the public, on September 17 at 11 a.m. at Nichols Concert Hall.

About Paquito D'Rivera
Paquito D'Rivera, "the man to call if you want a concert-hall presentation of Pan-Latin music" according to Ben Ratliff of The New York Times, was a child prodigy in his native Cuba, where he was a founding member and director of Orquesta Cubana de Musica Moderna, played clarinet and saxophone with the Cuban National Symphony Orchestra, and was a founding member and co-director of the jazz-rock-classical-Cuban fusion ensemble Irakere. He has won nine Grammy Awards, most recently for Best Latin Jazz Album in 2007 for Funk Tango. He has recorded more than 30 solo albums of jazz, bebop and Latin music, and he also has performed as a classical music soloist with orchestras around the world. He is a highly respected composer; he won a 2007 John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in Music Composition, and his compositions have been commissioned by the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival and Chicago Chamber Musicians, among others. He is artistic director of the Festival Internacional de Jazz de Punta Del Este in Uruguay and an author as well.

About the Music Institute of Chicago
The Music Institute of Chicago believes that music has the power to sustain and nourish the human spirit; therefore, our mission is to provide the foundation for lifelong engagement with music. As one of the three largest and most respected community music schools in the nation, the Music Institute offers musical excellence built on the strength of our distinguished faculty, commitment to quality, and breadth of programs and services. Founded in 1931 and one of the oldest community music schools in Illinois, the Music Institute is a member of the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts and accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music. Each year, our world-class music teachers and arts therapists provide the highest quality arts education to more than 5,000 students of all ability levels, from birth to 101 years of age at campuses in Evanston, Highland Park, Lake Forest, Lincolnshire, Winnetka, and Downers Grove. The Music Institute also offers lessons and programs at the Steinway of Chicago store in Northbrook and early childhood and community engagement programs throughout the Chicago area and the North Shore. Nichols Concert Hall, our education and performance center located in downtown Evanston, reaches approximately 14,000 people each year. Our community engagement and partnership programs reach an additional 6,500 Chicago Public School students annually. The Music Institute offers lessons, classes, and programs through four distinct areas: Community School, The Academy, Creative Arts Therapy (Institute for Therapy through the Arts), and Nichols Concert Hall.

Paquito D'Rivera and the Music Institute jazz faculty perform Saturday, September 17 at 7:30 p.m. at MIC's Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Avenue, Evanston. Tickets are $25 for adults, $15 for seniors and $10 for students, available at musicinst.org or 847.905.1500 ext. 108. Admission to the workshop with Paquito D'Rivera and Alexander Brown is $10 at the door for non-Music Institute students.

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