For over ten years, Ravinia has provided high quality musicians for ten week residency programs in District 112 elementary and middle schools.

For the 2008-2009 school year, Lincoln and Wayne Thomas will enjoy the Ravinia Festival residency experience. In honor of Lincoln School’s 100th birthday and the 200th birthday of Abe Lincoln, Ravinia Festival is presenting a unique program revolving around President Lincoln and various American standards. Students at Lincoln school will learn about these American standards and the famous composers and performers that have created this timeless music. In addition, the students will have the unique experience of hearing the music performed live over 5 weeks by a fabulous quartet of professional jazz musicians led by Jeff Handley.

The fifth graders at Wayne Thomas will benefit from an entirely different, but equally dramatic musical experience. In a series of meetings, the students will learn drumming rhythms from around the world taught by internationally acclaimed percussionist, Doug Brush. This exciting program will culminate in a performance by Doug and the children for their parents. This is the same program that created amazing experiences at both Indian Trail and Braeside last year.

The middle school students at Edgewood, Elm Place and Northwood will benefit from a variation of the Abe Lincoln centered program. Students at the middle schools will be learning about music around the time of the Civil War. They also will experience live, incredible performances by the jazz quartet led by Jeff Handley. Each school choirs will be learning songs of the time period and will all come together for a rousing performance at Ravinia’s Martin Theater in May.

Thank you, Ravinia Festival, for supporting our students with fine musical programming!

2007-2008 Program
For the 2007-08 school year, Indian Trail and Braeside students enjoed the residency experience. Last year, Janet Lubetkin’s fifth graders at Lincoln and Susan Sicilano’s fifth graders at Oak Terrace learned and performed African and Latin American rhythms. Both groups performed several selections for their schools and parents. This year's Ravinia Festival Partnership with the middle schools focused on live composers and their works. Each middle school band director selected a piece for their band from a living composer: Edgewood performed,Alligator Alley by Michael Doughtery, Elm Place performed Ham Bone by Libby Larson and Northwood performed Gotta Make Noise by Michael Colgrass. In addition to each composer visiting the school and working with the students the Chicago Sinfonietta worked with all the performers in ensemble groups over the course of the spring. The Joffrey Ballet also visited the middle schools and worked with the students on incorporating their musical parts into movement and motion! This all came together in a tremendous performance May 28th at Ravinia's historic Martin Theater.

2006-2007 Program
For the 2006/2007 school year, sixth and seventh grade band and choral students in District 112 went avant garde studying under the direction of Northwestern professor emeritus Don Owens, who composed three pieces designed especially for each middle school’s students. According to Robert Goldberg, Community Partnership Associate at Ravinia Festival, very few middle school programs in the country could successfully perform this challenging, non-traditional music, but Northwood choral and Edgewood and Elm Place band students were up to the task. Teachers Amy Stein, Daniela Valdez, Matt Taylor, and Molly McDougall worked to prepare their students for the performance at Ravinia’s Martin Theater.