Fall classical music preview: A deep dive into Soviet era
U. of C.'s Shauna Quill
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During her four years as executive director of the University of Chicago Presents concert series, Shauna Quill has made it her business to think boldly. Her boldest vision to date is about to become reality.
Quill has spearheaded and organized what promises to be one of the largest collaborative arts festivals to be given in the Chicago area: "The Soviet Arts Experience," which begins in October, will bring together 25 of the city's leading arts institutions in a 16-month showcase of artworks created under the thumb of the Stalinist regime in Russia.
More than 100 events are scheduled to take place in 25 venues across the city, from October to January 2012. This includes more than 50 concerts, nine dance performances, eight art exhibitions and two theater productions. (You will find an overview of the festival schedule at its newly launched Web site, sovietartsexperience.org.)
The idea of developing a multidisciplinary survey of art created under the Soviet system began to germinate in Quill's mind in May 2009, when she found out over lunch with members of the Pacifica Quartet that the university's resident quartet was planning to present a complete Shostakovich string quartet cycle here this season.
She thought: Why not expand the cycle into a comprehensive exploration of Stalin-era visual art, dance, music and theater? She quickly arranged a think tank of U. of C. scholars, which, she says, led to "a million wonderful ideas."
"Everybody I talked to from that point on, from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to museum people to the Goodman Theatre, was very enthusiastic about (being part of) the project," Quill says. Several organizations that already were planning on presenting Russian repertory were pleased to be able to put them in a festival context.
Word spread quickly, and after the announcement of the festival last spring, the number of participants has jumped from 11 to 25. "I have had people calling from New York, California and even Moscow wanting to take part in this," Quill reports. "I wish we had room for everybody!"
Given the fierce pressures put on Russian artists to conform to the dictates of Soviet communist society, inevitably any examination of the arts of that turbulent era must touch on the politics as well. That, says Quill, is where the festival's educational component will prove essential. Numerous lectures, classes and symposiums are on the docket, and more are in the planning stages.
Quill hopes the festival's eclectic bounty will tempt audience members to venture beyond their usual areas of interest to take in events and subject matters they would not normally be drawn to. "That's really what I'm going for: the deepening of people's artistic experiences," she says.
If nothing else, festival patrons should come away marveling anew that one of the most brutally repressive dictatorships history has ever known produced so many important and lasting works of art. And they will have Shauna Quill to thank for making it possible.
jvonrhein@tribune.com
Quill has spearheaded and organized what promises to be one of the largest collaborative arts festivals to be given in the Chicago area: "The Soviet Arts Experience," which begins in October, will bring together 25 of the city's leading arts institutions in a 16-month showcase of artworks created under the thumb of the Stalinist regime in Russia.
More than 100 events are scheduled to take place in 25 venues across the city, from October to January 2012. This includes more than 50 concerts, nine dance performances, eight art exhibitions and two theater productions. (You will find an overview of the festival schedule at its newly launched Web site, sovietartsexperience.org.)
The idea of developing a multidisciplinary survey of art created under the Soviet system began to germinate in Quill's mind in May 2009, when she found out over lunch with members of the Pacifica Quartet that the university's resident quartet was planning to present a complete Shostakovich string quartet cycle here this season.
She thought: Why not expand the cycle into a comprehensive exploration of Stalin-era visual art, dance, music and theater? She quickly arranged a think tank of U. of C. scholars, which, she says, led to "a million wonderful ideas."
"Everybody I talked to from that point on, from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to museum people to the Goodman Theatre, was very enthusiastic about (being part of) the project," Quill says. Several organizations that already were planning on presenting Russian repertory were pleased to be able to put them in a festival context.
Word spread quickly, and after the announcement of the festival last spring, the number of participants has jumped from 11 to 25. "I have had people calling from New York, California and even Moscow wanting to take part in this," Quill reports. "I wish we had room for everybody!"
Given the fierce pressures put on Russian artists to conform to the dictates of Soviet communist society, inevitably any examination of the arts of that turbulent era must touch on the politics as well. That, says Quill, is where the festival's educational component will prove essential. Numerous lectures, classes and symposiums are on the docket, and more are in the planning stages.
Quill hopes the festival's eclectic bounty will tempt audience members to venture beyond their usual areas of interest to take in events and subject matters they would not normally be drawn to. "That's really what I'm going for: the deepening of people's artistic experiences," she says.
If nothing else, festival patrons should come away marveling anew that one of the most brutally repressive dictatorships history has ever known produced so many important and lasting works of art. And they will have Shauna Quill to thank for making it possible.
jvonrhein@tribune.com
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