Ravinia 2019, Issue 7, Week 15

Just before Ravinia’s summer concerts began, joyous music was made under the festival’s name as Catalyst Circle Rock Charter School unveiled both its new Kehrein Cen- ter for the Arts and Sistema Ravinia Auditorium on May 22, fulfilling a 25-year dream of becoming the cultural cornerstone and social forum for the entire West Side community of Austin. Planning on the $4.5 million projects began in 2013, and ground was broken in April 2018. “This unique music and fine arts space presents a critical area to engage our children in the field of the arts as well as contin- ue to emphasize values of reverence and respect,” said Illinois Senator Kimberly A. Lightford, Assistant Majority Leader and member of the Education Committee. Catalyst named the redesigned auditorium, complete with proscenium, mezzanine, and balcony, in honor of Ravinia Festi- val’s Sistema Ravinia program, which builds student orchestras for schools without music programs of their own by supplying the instruments and the instructors trained in the highly im- mersive El Sistema style of musical training. The Sistema model embraces the philosophy that groups of children can transform into communities of musicians who then transform their com- munity at large. Ravinia started this work at Circle Rock 11 years ago, and now alumni from the Circle Rockets Orchestra have gone on to attend the Chicago High School for the Arts and national music festivals. Sistema Ravinia is just one of the festi- val’s Reach Teach Play education programs that serve more than 85,000 people each year. “The goal of this arts center mirrors the goal of El Sistema music training. It’s all about connection. The students learn to connect with the music, then with each other. Their families, in turn, connect to the children’s new passion and path. The com- munity connects at the concerts,” said Catalyst Schools CEO Gordon Hannon. “We would not be able to provide a wonderful home for this thriving connection if Ravinia had not remained deeply committed to Chicago’s West Side for decades. If the cor- nerstone of this new space is the children, then the sign above the door is a classy reminder of the pride growing inside.” Sistema Ravinia Auditorium and Kehrein Center for the Arts Inaugurated at Catalyst Circle Rock Charter School 34 RAVINIA MAGAZINE | AUGUST 26, 2019 – MAY 9, 2020