Students from the Music Institute of Chicago’s Academy, a training center for gifted pre-college musicians, are collaborating with the Evanston Art Center (EAC), 1717 Central Street, to perform the first collaboration of a new project, “Melodies on Canvas,” aiming to bring together the music and visual arts genres.
Academy cellist Cameron Chiu introduced this idea to his Academy colleagues and instructors after participating in the Center Stage for Strings summer camp at the University of Michigan. “Students enrolled in the program performed chamber music in front of paintings they selected from the museum. That day, I listened to five completely new pieces. The simple pairing of imagery and sound didn’t just enhance each of the two elements but provided a different experience altogether. I hope that this and other events under the ‘Melodies on Canvas’ banner show my appreciation for art’s impact, while allowing students, adults, musicians, and artists to learn something new about the world.”
Each Academy string quartet will perform in the EAC First Floor Gallery in front of the artwork that inspired the music piece. The program, which features three Academy string quartets, includes the following:
