It all started when…
we asked ourselves, what if we did a student version of Chicago Stories? We approached The Peoples Music School with our idea to help young composers create their own musical works and from there we started our first residency in the spring of 2020. When the pandemic happened we decided to move forward anyway, and make the residency happen over zoom. The result was one of our absolute highlights of the year, and was such a success that we are now on our third residency!
Didn’t let the pandemic stop us! Our very first residency over zoom in Spring 2020. Pictured: David Sands, program director at People’s Music School; Brandi Berry Benson, Artistic Director of the BBE, Leighann Daihl Ragusa, Development Director of the BBE; Heidi Joosten BBE composer, and star students from PMS’s SLAM program.
A few scenes from our 2023 residency at Peoples Music School.
about the residency
We meet with a select group of students from all five campuses of The Peoples Music School for a series of 90-minute sessions led by BBE composers, Heidi Joosten and Michelle Isaac. The students then sketch out their works, and BBE instrumentalists and vocalists drop in to the sessions to play students works and offer more guidance from the performers perspective. By the end of the residency, students have completed their composition with a recording in hand provided by BBE musicians.
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