A Chicago composer, author and poet is partnering with university students and faculty for two nights of music. One of the evenings will include poetry inspired tunes.
Regina Harris Baiocchi is the founder of Haiku Festival Chicago. She said writing music would mean nothing if she didn’t have contributors like those who are performing during the ninth annual Northern Illinois University New Music Festival.
“But here are these people who spent most of their lives perfecting their art,” she said. “And one of the things they're doing tonight, is showing how artistically invested they are. And they're, you know, bringing life to my music. And I'm grateful to each and every one of them.”
She said it’s important for students to be exposed to composers who they don’t normally get to see often.
“I think it's important to see Black composers, I think it's important to see women composers. So, to see a Black woman composer,” she said, “I felt very, very lonely when I was in college, especially in undergrad, because all of my teachers were white men.”
The first concert takes place at 7 p.m. Nov. 3. It will showcase her classical compositions. The Nov. 4 performance will kick off at that same time and will feature Baiocci’s jazz arrangements and music inspired by poems from Haiku Festival Chicago.
Tickets are $3 for NIU students and $5 for the general public and can be purchased at the university’s website.
- Yvonne Boose is a current corps member for Report for America, an initiative of the GroundTruth Project. It's a national service program that places talented journalists in local newsrooms like WNIJ. You can learn more about Report for America at wnij.org.
