Recently, my six-year-old daughter’s violin teacher, Jon Feller (dba Andersonville Suzuki Academy), emailed me to ask whether Cedille Records could help a fellow Chicago not-for-profit organization (Cedille is owned and operated by the not-for-profit Chicago Classical Recording Foundation). Thresholds, an agency that aids mentally-ill homeless people, was about to stage a music student “Play-A-Thon” at Holy Name Cathedral to raise money. In past years, the student who raised the most in pledges for his or her performance won a trip to a recording studio for a professionally engineered recording session resulting in a CD the student could keep of his/her own performances. Unfortunately, Thresholds was unable to make contact with the recording engineer they had worked with in the past.
Thus, Mr. Feller asked whether Cedille Records might be able to step in. Once I confirmed that WFMT would be willing to donate the use of its performance studio, I was more than happy to oblige (and not just because my daughter would be playing in the recital — since I’m sure she did not raise the most pledges). So this year’s highest pledge-raiser (the recital took place on November 5, but I have not been informed of the winner as yet) will win a personal recording session at WFMT which I will produce and Cedille Records engineer Bill Maylone will record.
As the Chicago community’s classical record label, Cedille welcomes opportunities to collaborate with other local charitable organizations in this way. In the past we have produced a CD of a live piano recital by People’s Music School founder Rita Simó (which we remastered from the original reel-to-reel tapes) that the school used as the take-away gift at a major fundraising event. We have secured artists for a recital at the 2005 Chicago Humanities Festival and for a series of free summer concerts at the Harold Washington Library. We organized a free panel discussion at ColumbiaCollege on the historical and present day role and experience of Black composers in classical music, in conjunction with the completion of our three-volume African Heritage Symphonic Series with the Chicago Sinfonietta. We also make regular gifts of our CDs to local schools and libraries and to other Chicago area not-for-profits for use in fundraising (e.g., as silent auction items).
We have also acted as a conduit to help secure new commissions for local composers including Easley Blackwood and Stacy Garrop. Early next year, we will record a benefit recital for Unicef that mezzo-soprano Jennifer Larmore will sing in Oak Park. The resulting CD will be made available to patrons for an additional donation to Unicef.
The Chicago Classical Recording Foundation (dba Cedille Records) is proud to be a member of Chicago’s thriving nonprofit arts community, and to collaborate with others in ventures such as this web site. We are aware, however, that what we do — the production and dissemination of recordings — does not always lend itself to opportunities for “outreach.” So we are particularly glad when such opportunities present themselves, especially in collaboration with other Chicago organizations. If you know of a way our Foundation might be of help, please suggest it in the comments, or email me at jim@chicagoclassical.org
With the holiday season fast approaching, I should note that Cedille Records has just begun its annual Holiday Sale. This year, our special offer is 20% OFF all discs regularly priced at $10 or more. Please visit our web site for details.
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