The Hyde Park Jazz Festival is back again for its 4th season bringing together thousands of jazz fans of all ages to enjoy 13 hours of FREE, non-stop jazz performed indoors and out from Saturday, September 25 at 1:00pm until 2:00am. Many of Hyde Park’s finest visual arts, music, theater, and architectural venues on Chicago’s Culture Coast will be hosting the wondrous jazz performances. The Festival opens at the James W. Wagner Main Stage on the Midway Plaisance and finishes with the Midnight Jam session, both on 59th Street.

Check the schedule for your favorite performers’ times and locations!

For break-time eats between performances, check the vendor list for some of Hyde Park’s well known eateries!

See you there!

Produced by HyPa (Hyde Park Alliance for Arts and Culture) and the Hyde Park Jazz Society.

No matter your age or artistic ability, the Hyde Park Art Center has something for you at Fun For All on Sunday, Sept. 12 from noon-4 p.m. Enjoy free, all-ages art workshops in the School and Studios, as well as performances by the Flamenco Arts Center and film screenings from the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival.

Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell St., Chicago. Sunday, September 12 from 12:00pm-4:00pm. For more information call 773.324.5520 or visit www.hydeparkark.org. This event is free and open to the public.

Building off the “Something is Wrong” curriculum guide released in February 2010, community-based organizations from across Chicago will model how to engage youth in dialogue about the root causes of violence. Includes: concrete resources and curriculum to use with youth in their own communities; hands-on training in how to facilitate workshops with youth; Q & A with experts who work with youth.

Workshops will be offered by Beyondmedia Education, Blocks Together, Build Inc., Family Rescue, Gender Just, Literature for All of Us, Mikva Challenge, Project NIA, Rogers Park Young Women’s Action Team, Umoja Student Development Corporation, and the Young Women’s Empowerment Project. Lunchtime keynote presentation by Anisha Chablani, Deputy Director of ROCA Inc. (http://rocainc.org/).

International House, 1414 East 59th Street, Chicago, Assembly Hall. Friday, September 17th from  7:30 am – 6:30 pm and Saturday, September 18th from 9:00 am – 6:00 pm. ON-LINE PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NQGRDN3

International House’s Global Voices Author Series presents a celebration of the release of “Let Freedom Swing: Collected Writings on Jazz, Blues, and Gospel” with Howard Reich in discussion with Nicole Mitchell.

Howard Reich has been an award-winning Chicago Tribune arts critic and writer since 1983.  He is also a correspondent for DownBeat magazine.  “Let Freedom Swing” represents some of the very best columns, profiles, and criticism of his career.

Nicole Mitchell has been noted as “a compelling improviser of wit, determination, positivity, and tremendous talent…on her way to becoming one of the greatest living flutists in jazz,” (Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader).    She was also awarded “Jazz Flutist of the Year 2010″ by the Jazz Journalist Association and “Chicagoan of the Year 2006” by the Chicago Tribune.

International House, 1414 East 59th Street, Chicago. Home Room. Saturday, September 25, 2:00-3:00pm. This event is a part of the Hyde Park Jazz Festival and is free and open to the public.

Perhaps best-known for her brash, unfired clay sculptures of female figures, Rebecca Warren has developed a body of work distinguished for its formal risk-taking and the shrewd humor with which she faces the long, male-dominated tradition of figurative sculpture. For the exhibition at The Renaissance Society, Warren will be presenting all new work, including floor sculptures and wall pieces. The show will be presented in collaboration with The Art Institute of Chicago, where three new site-specific bronzes will be installed on the Bluhm Family Terrace above the new Renzo Piano-designed Modern Wing.

Cobb Hall, 5811 S Ellis Ave, 4th flr, Chicago. From October 3rd to December 12th. Opening reception is Sunday, October 3rd from 4:00pm – 7:00 pm. This event is free and open to the public.

The Collectors of Contemporary Works by Artists of African Descent presents the 2010 Annual Art Collectors’ Home Tour.  There will be a trolley provided to tour five art collections where guests are can learn how collectors live with their art, how they started collecting and discover original works by some phenomenal artists.

The Diasporal Rhythms mission is to promote the collection of visual art by individuals and institutions in the African American communities of Chicago through the sponsorship of activities honoring, celebrating, analyzing and presenting the works of those active contemporary artists of African descent recognized by our organization as being of quality, merit and cultural and artistic significance.

Sunday, October 17 from 12:00pm – 5:00pm. Tickets: advance – $40; tour day – $50. Tickets can be purchased via PayPal or credit card on website. Members may purchase via cash or check. For additional information contact Cynthia at 773-548-8213 or email cynthbwm2@aol.com. Locations of Tour A and Tour B collector homes and trolley pickup sites coming soon.

The local operatic artists in Chicago collaborated with the South Shore Cultural Center and its Advisory Council to bring you the South Shore Opera Company of Chicago. We are an anchor partner with the Chicago Park District. Founded by Dr. Marvin Lynn in 2008, South Shore Opera has presented two or more free concerts yearly in the magnificent, historic South Shore Cultural Center to enthusiastic overflow audiences!

South Shore Opera Company of Chicago is presenting its Second Annual Benefit Gala: Highlights from Porgy and Bess. The cast includes sopranos Kimberly Jones and Joelle Lamarre, tenor Cornelius Johnson and an ensemble from the Chicago Community Chorus, Dr. Keith Hampton, Director.

South Shore Cultural Center, Paul Robeson Theater, 7059 South Shore Dr., Chicago. Friday, October 29th at 5:30 p.m. Tickets: $75 including concert & dinner catered by The Parrot Cage; $25 if for concert only at 7:00 p.m. Parking is available on site at $1.00 per hour. To receive your invitation or reserve contact Raymond Davis at 773-684-8514 or footedavis@sbcglobal.net. Send reservations for tickets with check made out to:

South Shore Opera Company c/o
Raymond Davis
5555 S. Everett Avenue #8C
Chicago, IL 60637