“Begun decades ago as intimate and friendly events, what we used to call block parties, most street fairs have become predictable gatherings of predictable fare,” writes Rick Kogan in Sunday’s (8/7) Chicago Tribune. “That’s a harsh assessment, I know, but others share this feeling, and Seth Boustead is one of them…. And so he has created his own street fair. It is called the Thirsty Ears Festival and takes place Saturday. It will be the first and only Chicago street fair celebrating classical music. It runs from 1 to 8 p.m. on Wilson Avenue.” Performers include the Ravenswood Trio, Odyssey Quintet, Black Oak Ensemble, Calumet Chamber Musicians, and New Moon Opera, which “will present an abridged version of ‘Hansel and Gretel.’ That show will be kid/family-friendly.… In 2004 [Boustead] founded and remains the executive director of Access Contemporary Music [through which] he has commissioned and presented more than 100 pieces.” Says Boustead, “I want to change how and where classical music is performed and in so doing change how it is perceived by the general public, and what better place than at a street fair?”
Posted August 8, 2016
