Violist brought top musicians to the Northwest suburbs

Jan Paul Varney was a classically trained viola player, whose vision was to bring professional musicians to the Northwest suburbs and make classical music accessible.

Since 1993, Mr. Varney orchestrated a series of outdoor concerts in the Palatine Park District's Fred P. Hall Amphitheater, under the name of the Suburban Summer Symphony.

Its tagline read: "Like Ravinia, only without the drive."

Mr. Varney died Saturday. The former Hoffman Estates resident was 63.

"They were wonderful performances," says Carol Lange, cultural arts director for the Palatine Park District. "These were professional musicians, and the music was absolutely beautiful."

Mr. Varney formalized a nonprofit organization in 1994 with a volunteer board of directors, drawn from Palatine, Inverness, Barrington and Arlington Heights. Their major responsibility was to solicit private donations to help pay the musicians.

"In the early years, they used to perform a few concerts each summer, but more recently they only performed one a summer," Lange adds. "The fundraising just became too much."

Now called the Summer Serenade, the group is scheduled to perform July 28 at Palatine's outdoor amphitheater, though with Mr. Varney's death that is in question, Lange says.

"We have a committee meeting set for next week to decide what to do," Lange says. "Whether we'll hire someone else to conduct, or just fold up, we just don't know."

Mr. Varney not only conducted each concert and selected all the music, he also hand picked all the professional musicians - including some from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra - to perform.

According to colleagues, he insisted on bringing professional musicians to the series, drawing from a network he had formed through playing in Chicago area orchestras himself, including ones in Park Ridge and Evanston, and the Northwest Symphony.

Mr. Varney played viola. He studied the instrument under Prof. Robert Oppelt at Illinois State University, where he also earned a master's in performance.

"He was a fabulous viola player," says Libby Louiseau of Barrington, who studied in ISU's music department with Mr. Varney. "He could really get those deep, mellow tones out of his instrument."

Mr. Varney also studied under Milton Preeves, former principal violist for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

When he wasn't conducting musicians, Mr. Varney was working with instruments. He ran Vintage Violins in downtown Palatine, where he rented stringed instruments to students and also repaired them.

Mr. Varney is survived by his wife Linda, as well as his daughters, Cheyney (Ed) Bieber and Betsy Varney, as well as four grandchildren.

Visitation takes place from 3-9 p.m. tonight, with funeral services taking place at 8 p.m., all at Ahlgrim & Sons Funeral and Cremation Services, 330 W. Golf Road in Schaumburg.