Pillar Events
October 2019
Red Jacket Optional: An Evening of Achievement
Red Jacket Optional celebrates champions of Chicago and raises a record $1.5 million dollars!
Thank you to RJO Co-Chairs Kala and Mike Moynihan, Mike Teplitsky, and Ellen-Blair Chube.
Community Concerts
Community Concerts capture the breadth of CCC’s repertoire across all levels of programming. Presented in neighborhoods across Chicago, these special events showcased the accomplishments of the Neighborhood Choir Program, In-School Program, Dimension and Voice of Chicago.
2019 Community Concerts were presented with support from Bank of America.
february 2020
Black History Month Concert Series
More than 3,800 In-School Program singers and the world-renowned Voice of Chicago came together for dynamic educational programs and performances honoring Black culture. The theme of the concert series aligned with the 2020 Black History Month national theme, African Americans and the Vote, recognizing the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment and the culmination of the women’s suffrage movement.
The Black History Month concert series was supported in part by Bob and Rose Fealy and the Vandenberg Family.
MAY 2020
Paint the Town Red
CCC transforms its annual spring event into a virtual global event
For the past 10 years, CCC has hosted the popular Paint the Town Red free concert celebration at Millennium Park featuring singers from every Chicago zip code. In 2020, Virtual Paint the Town Red was the culmination of a year of innovation, perseverance and beautiful music. The broadcast reached more than 15,000 viewers from the United States, Mexico, Canada, the Philippines, Spain, Australia, Brazil, Ecuador, the United Kingdom, Indonesia and the Dominican Republic.
Virtual Performances
I Need You to Survive
CCC embarked on an international collaboration of singers to create a tribute to frontline workers in the pandemic
March 2020
NBC Chicago Today “We All Live Here”
The Choir’s virtual performance of “We All Live Here” premiered on NBC Chicago Today, featuring CCC’s world-renowned ensemble, Voice of Chicago.
summer 2020
1.5 Million views
of Virtual Choir videos
June 2020
Juneteenth
CCC honored Juneteenth with alumni performance amid civil rights protests
Alumni demonstrated their continued advocacy on behalf of the Choir’s mission by sharing their voices as part of CCC’s historic virtual concert, A New Freedom: Black Voices Honoring Juneteenth in a Time of Struggle. This special event celebrated Juneteenth, a day recognizing the dutiful resistance to systemic oppression and criminalization of Black skin, as well as the resilience of our ancestors who endeavored to face fatal risks for the freedoms still fought for today. The broadcast reached more than 15,000 viewers and included music and spoken word from Black CCC alumni.
Featured artists included Phillip Armstrong, Jonathan Green, Nicole Heaston, Chloé Johnson, Keanon Kyles, Brandon Lampkin, Jonita Lattimore, Avilla Martin, W. Mitchell Owens, III, Tramaine Parker, Michael Preacely, Isaiah Robinson, Rachel Robinson, Allison Semmes and Jonathan Swain.
“One of the main things that we want people to get out of this experience is the fact that we have Black alumni who are really changing the world with their voices… I want people to get that message out: Listen to this voice and look for the change.”
— Michael Preacely, Chicago Children’s Choir alumnus
Collaborations
February 2020
NBA All-Star Weekend
NBA All-Star Weekend shook Chicago with exciting events and performances across the city. Voice of Chicago performed on stage alongside GRAMMY® Award-winning artists Chance the Rapper and Queen Latifah. The Englewood Neighborhood Choir performed as part of Choose Chicago’s NBA All-Star Breakfast.
May 2020
Late Late Show with James Corden “This City” with Sam Fischer
Voice of Chicago singers performed on The Late Late Show with James Corden’s digital stage along with Australian recording artist Sam Fischer. The collaborative feature included “This City” from Fischer’s debut EP, Not a Hobby.
