The Chicago Sinfonietta Presented The Project Inclusion Ensemble at The Naperville Public Library

Everybody who lives in the Chicago area knows about the Chicago Sinfonietta. It is an upscale local orchestra that describes itself as “a professional orchestra that forms unique cultural connections through the universal language of symphonic music”. But when it comes to music, words are not needed. Just listen. Once you hear these unique musicians play, you will never forget the magic sounds of their instruments that capture your heart and soul, get into your mind and forever change it. Now you are not just a person. Now you are a music lover.

On January 14th, the Naperville Public Library located on 95th street delighted Naperville residents with a beautiful performance of four musicians that are part of that great orchestra. The event happened in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere and was performed in a dialog format. The audience consisted of approximately 40 people that were able to ask questions during the performance. That brought the musicians and the audience members close together and let them learn more about each other. One thing that impressed me was related to the characteristics of this particular group of musicians, but at first I want to tell you how I first met this unique orchestra.

It happened at the Naperville Woman’s Club Art Fair at the Naperville Settlement last summer. Yes, it was my first time, and it was an unforgettable experience. As a new artist and just as an art lover, I was walking through the rows of colorful booths that were full of the amazing paintings and art work of the local artists. I wasn’t in the best mood and was looking for some inspiration.

All the sudden I heard beautiful music in the distance. As a zombie, I started walking in that direction. I love art, but at that moment I didn’t see anything. I just walked to the sound. And finally I saw them. They were in a summer-house, beautiful, talented people that were playing something very familiar and so touching, that my eyes started watering. I was embarrassed of it and tried to hide my tears. But the chemistry happened already – there was a connection between me and those musicians. I found out the name of the orchestra and the name of the piece they were playing. It was a group of musicians who were part of the Chicago Sinfonietta. Later I found out that they were called the Project Inclusion Ensemble. The musical piece they were playing was Palladio written by Karl Jenkins. Since then I love this piece.

Of course, when one of my friends told me about the Chicago Sinfonietta coming to play at the Naperville Public Library, I put all my effort to come to this event. Also, I found out that the performance was going to be again presented by this particular group of the orchestra – the Project Inclusion Ensemble. It was amazing to see these musicians again and hear them play. Besides that, I learned a lot about the Project Inclusion Ensemble and to my surprise realized that there are many things that unite us together.

First of all, I would like to say that Project Inclusion is considered to be the “Chicago Sinfonietta's groundbreaking mentoring program for musicians of diverse backgrounds who are pursuing careers as professional classical musicians”. It means that everyone should have equal rights, independent of their ethnicity, race, background and socio-economic status. Project Inclusion is designed to support young, talented, diverse and promising professional musicians that are provided with two-year fellowships with the Chicago Sinfonietta. It is supported by the City of Naperville SEGA Fund and the Andrew Mellon Foundation. All this was very interesting to learn and here is why.

I am not a young practicing musician, although I do have a degree in music that I received many years ago. However, I still see some similarities between me and these musicians – I consider myself a minority too. I am a Russian American and certainly Russians are not a majority in the United States. But I still know how it feels to be a minority, so I totally relate myself to these people. I believe in the same things they believe in – we are all the same, we are all talented and we all deserve to be noticed and appreciated.

As long as we put a lot of effort in achieving our dreams and are given rights to do that, we will be successful. The Project Inclusion Ensemble proves it in their everyday activities, and I am proud to know that this kind of program exists and helps people to find their place in our society and demonstrate their skills. And no matter what the musicians played at the library during their performance – whether it was classical, contemporary, ethnic or jazz music – it was not just a demonstration of their musical skills. It was a demonstration of their freedom, their rights and their privileges.  

Natalia Dagenhart