Welz Kauffman to Head Illinois Leadership Team for Arts Advancement

Ravinia Festival President and CEO Welz Kauffman has been selected to lead a team of Illinois decision-makers-including leaders from the Illinois State Board of Education, The Polk Brothers Foundation and the University of Illinois-at a multi-state Education Leadership Institute convened by the National Endowment for the Arts. The Illinois team joins four others-led by the Oregon Arts Commission; Washington States Arts Commission; New Hampshire State Council on the Arts; and the Ohio Arts Council-at the NEA Institute in Chicago on July 26-28. The goal is to create strategies to strengthen arts education. The Illinois team will explore the role of the arts in developing 21st-century skills.

"As the son of two teachers, I think of myself as a lifelong student-even when I'm in a teaching role, whether it's running scales with a piano student or shaping the plans and policy for Ravinia's REACH*TEACH*PLAY education programs, which are designed to bring music back to the kids in budget-strapped schools," Kauffman said. "So I am eager for this once-in-a-lifetime learning experience in which the exchange of ideas between leaders from so many walks might integrate cultural awareness into a new curriculum to shape a next generation of leaders who won't have to apologize for the arts but can embrace them-not only as part of the school day but as part of every day."

Kauffman says his recent tour of schools and community centers around the state have helped prepare him to lead the brainstorming sessions. Kauffman designed the Ravinia tour in celebration of Abraham Lincoln's bicentennial with the goal to share festival programming-classical music in particular-with other communities, specifically those downstate that had importance in Lincoln's life. The tour featured performances by the Lincoln Trio of several pieces, including a Ravinia commission-a winning entry in Ravinia's first competition for composers. Under the banner Mystic Chords of Memory (a phrase Lincoln penned in his first inaugural address), the Lincoln celebration allowed Ravinia to expand educational opportunities at all levels-for grade-school kids who witnessed the creation of a new dance-theater piece by award-winning choreographer Bill T. Jones to conservatory-level musicians in Ravinia's own Steans Institute for Young Artists, who were able to hone their skills in performances at the festival. The creation process of the Jones world premiere of Fondly Do We Hope... Fervently Do We Pray has been captured in a feature documentary (now in post-production) from Kartemquin Films and Media Process Group, co-produced by Ravinia Festival, ITVS and American Masters, which will broadcast it nationally. That film, titled A Good Man, recently received a grant from the NEA.

"Working on this tour, from booking venues to narrating on stage, I learned that not only are educational needs similar around this state, but that there is already strong connective tissue between schools and educators, arts organizations and community interest groups. We are poised to get things done," Kauffman said.
According to the Arts Alliance Illinois, the arts are considered a core academic subject by the Illinois State Board of Education and the federal "No Child Left Behind Act." And a 2005 Harris Poll found that 93 percent of Americans agree that the arts are vital to a well-rounded education. However, many schools struggle with financial and time constraints in mainstreaming arts education.
"The Education Leaders Institute offers us an opportunity to take a closer look at the role of arts education as an essential component of a quality education in Illinois," said Christopher A. Koch, Illinois State Superintendent of Education and member of the Illinois team. "The creative arts must be part of a 21st- century education curriculum. The creative industries, including film, television and entertainment, are growth industries, and today's employers are demanding a workforce with the ability to think creatively and bring 21st-century skills to the table. This is an area in which I believe Illinois needs to be a leader."

Launched in 2007, the NEA's Education Leaders Institute brings together policymakers, educators, advocates, and artists to design arts education plans for their respective states. Although Illinois has hosted the conference before, this is the first time the state has been selected to participate. With this upcoming Institute, the NEA will have gathered policy teams from 23 states and the District of Columbia in the past three years. Each state team has six members. In addition to Kauffman and Koch, the Illinois team this year includes Dr. Debasish "Deba" Dutta, dean of the graduate college at the University of Illinois; Sandy Guthman, Polk Bros. Foundation; Cynthia Weiss, award-winning public artist and director of the Center for Community Arts Partnerships; and Dr. Elizabeth Lewin, clinical professor at the Southern Illinois University School of Education. Marcia Cullen, division administrator for curriculum and instruction at the Illinois State Board of Education, will serve as Koch's alternate.

The Illinois team was assembled by a consensus of members from the Illinois Creates Committee, a coalition of agencies dedicated to arts education in Illinois.

"Arts education must be on the agenda when it comes to preparing our young people for success in the 21st-century workforce. At a time when many schools and districts are falling far short in providing adequate instruction in the arts, the Education Leaders Institute represents an exciting opportunity to strengthen arts education policy in Illinois," said
Ra Joy, Executive Director of Arts Alliance Illinois.

"Despite the difficult economy and worldwide cuts to arts programs, this is actually an exciting time to be part of Illinois' vibrant arts scene, and there will be plenty to discuss at our multi-state sessions as many different programs converge. The NEA Institute follows on the heels of the Chicago Arts Learning Initiative (CALI), which tries to even the playing field for arts education in Chicago schools; Illinois Creates, which is the Arts Alliance's coalition to stabilize arts education in all public schools; and the Chicago Community Trust's grants to create a guide to the arts for the school system," Kauffman said. "Even the powerhouse duo of Riccardo Muti and Yo-Yo Ma taking new positions with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra bodes well for the city as they advocate for access and express their desire to turn all musicians into Citizen Musicians."

Building on three decades of artistic leadership from coast to coast-the New York Philharmonic to the Los Angeles Philharmonic-Welz Kauffman dedicated his Ravinia tenure, which began in 2000, to educational goals. These include the expansion of audiences for classical music through innovative programming in a uniquely welcoming setting; diversifying festival repertoire and audiences; exposing new listeners to great music from all genres, especially youngsters in budget-strapped schools without music programs; and developing the artistic and performing strengths of emerging talents from around the world. It's a philosophy he's distilled into three words: "REACH*TEACH* PLAY." For this work, Chicago's Stowe Academy of the Arts recently presented him its prestigious "Voices of Freedom" Award.

Both of Kauffman's parents were professional educators, and he germinated his own music career as a piano teacher. Education remained a key component of his work from the J. Paul Getty Trust to several orchestras where he managed education services, including the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; the Atlanta Symphony, where he collaborated with the legendary vocal conductor Robert Shaw and former President Jimmy Carter; and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, where he developed community programs with Hugh Wolff and Bobby McFerrin.

Working with the Chicago Public Schools, Ravinia has installed classroom programs, teacher training and artist residencies in grammar and high schools that did not have music programs of their own, and Kauffman has established the long-term goal of reaching all K-3 students in Chicago and the surrounding counties. Ravinia also runs a free conservatory in Lawndale, where students of all ages can receive applied music lesson as individuals and as families.

Ravinia's lauded Jazz Mentors program gives performance opportunities to Chicago's brightest young musicians who not only work one-on-one with professional jazz musicians but then also band together as an ensemble that performs throughout the region. In January 2010 the Women's Board of Ravinia Festival, in conjunction with Ravinia's professional education staff and the People's Music School of Chicago, established the creation of a new student orchestra, REACH, for children 8 to 12 years old at the William G. Hibbard Elementary School in the Albany Park neighborhood of Chicago.

Ravinia also offers applied programs to young professionals through its internationally recognized Steans Institute for Young Artists, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2008. Emerging talents from around the world compete for the coveted slots in this program, which allows them to study with the artists who frequent the festival-such as Barbara Cook, George Hearn, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Thomas Quasthoff, Christoph Eschenbach and James Conlon-and to hone their performance skills before Ravinia's discerning audiences.

Arts Alliance Illinois is the statewide arts advocacy and service organization promoting the value of the arts and arts education to all residents of Illinois. With the support of the Chicago Community Trust, the Arts Alliance launched the Illinois Creates statewide arts education initiative in 2004. Illinois Creates dedicated to advancing policies and budget appropriations at the State level to encourage consistent and equitable access to arts education programs throughout the Illinois public school system.

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