ChiArts' premier small group jazz ensemble joined over 60 of Chicago's top performing arts organizations to perform at Navy Pier's Chicago Live! on September 25. The combo performs classic jazz compositions, standards from the popular canon, as well as student and faculty originals at local and national festivals, conferences, and competitions. Third Coast Review recently reviewed the group's Chicago Jazz Festival performance saying, "This is a tight quartet playing an amazing blend of free jazz, and hard-driving bop. Each member of this quartet can be considered of professional caliber. Saxophone, vibraphone, bass, and drums would seem to be a simple grouping, but these young people tore the roof off."

Under the guidance of Artistic Director Tina Boyer Brown, ChiArts' Conservatory Heads and Arts Faculty provide over 2,500 hours of tuition-free, pre-professional arts training to every scholar-artist from freshman year to graduation.

This week, ChiArts is continuing to host its third annual Connections Week. The five-day event connects scholar-artists to post-secondary opportunities with support from a range of well-loved local colleges, to nationally acclaimed universities, to conservatory training programs. Highlights include: a masterclass with the Music Director of Hamilton on Broadway, audition workshops with local universities such as Northwestern and DePaul, one-on-one portfolio reviews, professional development panels from working artists, and evening performances throughout the week.

Dance Conservatory senior Raina Wiley has taken on the week with an inspiring opportunistic spirit! Raina auditioned for ChiArts as a novice with no formal training, but a great passion for dance. Four years later, Raina is now performing for top training programs at Connections Week and pursuing a career in dance. Inspired by Raina’s tenacity, FOX Chicago interviewed Raina about her journey as a scholar-artist. On the live broadcast, Raina shared “My dance experience transformed (while at ChiArts), but I also transformed into an artist and a dancer!"

The ChiArts Production Department is excited to announce a full slate of shows for the 2022-23 season. The Creative Writing Conservatory kicked off the year with the release of ChiArts Writes: Volume 7 featuring original works of poetry and prose, and the School's first Fall Festival featured the works of students across multiple conservatories. Later this season be sure to catch ChiArts' own spin on the classic ballet The Nutcracker, an interpretation of Tarell Alvin McCraney's play In the Red and Brown Water, the return of First Year, First Look featuring all conservatory first-year students, student-produced cultural showcases, and so much more!

ChiArts Foundation is developing alumni programming through new roles, partnerships, and professional development opportunities. Daniel Gayden (Music Conservatory '17) joined the Foundation team this year as the Alumni Platform Intern to help create and support an active online alumni network. The Foundation also launched an Alumni Ambassador program which welcomed six alumni ranging from ChiArts' first graduating class to the Class of 2020. Alumni Ambassadors will work with the Foundation over the course of 10 months to help define and strengthen alumni programming and opportunities. 

Alumni Performance Partnership with Epiphany Center for the Arts

Alumni in the Media
The Chicago High School for the Arts (ChiArts) is Chicago’s first public arts high school and the only pre-professional arts high school in the nation that actively recruits novice students. ChiArts Proud is the ChiArts Foundation's seasonal bulletin that celebrates scholar-artist and the ChiArts Community, and connects you to events and productions. To learn more about ChiArts, visit chiarts.org and follow @ChiArtsHS on social media. 

To learn more about the ChiArts Foundation and how you can support access to pre-professional training in the arts, visit chiartsfoundation.org.