advertisement

Ravinia businesses, festival team up for instrument drive

The Ravinia Business District and Ravinia Festival are teaming up to collect used musical instruments that will be refurbished, "recycled" and placed into the hands of children in underserved communities.

Through June 10, 15 businesses in the Ravinia Business District will serve as drop locations for individuals who wish to donate instruments to the program.

Ravinia Festival's Recycled Instrument Drive is part of their Reach*Teach*Play education program, which serves more than 75,000 people each year, ensuring that music education remains accessible to all.

Building on the success of its original El Sistema program in Chicago's Austin neighborhood, which offers students in grades 3-8 daily ensemble and orchestra instruction, this year's instrument drive will be used for a student orchestra program that has been expanded to Waukegan and in other Lake County communities.

The partnership of the neighboring Ravinia Festival with Ravinia Business District merchants is a natural fit. The business district houses a piano school and violin workshop that repairs and sells violins, violas and other string instruments.

Live musical performances can often be found at Madame Zuzu's tea house and outdoors throughout the summer at the corner of Roger Williams and St. Johns avenues and at historic Jens Jensen Park, while Ravinia Festival's park-like setting is the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and endeavors to make music of all types accessible and relatable to everyone.

Businesses serving as pre-Ravinia Festival season instrument drop locations include: Design Quartet @ Ravinia, Field Violin, Full Circle Architects, Highland Park Bank & Trust, J.A. Palminteri Insurance Agency, Jeff Cohen Photography, Jewel Nail Spa, The Nail Shop and Spa, Piero's Pizza, Principessa, Ravinia Coffee Station, SoShee Boutique, Style Hunters, Weiland Flowers and Zina Katsman Piano for Everyone.

Stores will have a green flyer in the window for ease in identification. See individual business websites for hours of operation.

The instrument drive ends June 10, which is when Ravinia Festival opens its doors and summer events kick-off in the Ravinia District, including the Wednesday morning Farmers Market, Highland Park Bank & Trust Family Fest Aug. 18 and Harvest & Harmony Fest, featuring two days of live music Sept. 23-24.

For information on district events, visit www.facebook.com/RaviniaDistrict.HighlandPark?fref=ts. For information on Ravinia District, visit www.cityhpil.com/Index.aspx?NID=631.

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.