HISTORY

  

 

1997  American Music Festivals (AMF) founded by Artistic Director Philip Simmons.

 

 

1998  “American Music Festival in Saint Petersburg, Russia” performed in the Great Hall of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonia.  Participating guest artists were AMF's first Artistic Advisor William Warfield and Chicago Symphony Orchestra clarinetist John Bruce Yeh.

 

 

 

 

1999  “American Music Festival in Russia,” concerts in Saint Petersburg and Moscow.  

 

 

On July 4 a free concert of American music was presented at the Moscow Conservatory by the Russian State Symphony (former U.S.S.R. Symphony), which was televised across the entire country. 

 

Mr. Warfield performed Russian and American works with the Lincolnwood Chamber Orchestra at the Chicago Cultural Center.

 

 

2000  “Second American Music Festival in Russia,” with concerts in Saint Petersburg, Sochi, Novgorod, and a recording project with the Yaroslavl Symphony.  A third consecutive July 4th concert in Russia was given by the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra at the Yusupov Palace.

 

In Chicago, the premier of Ilya Levinson’s (AMF’s Composer in Residence) “Chicago Fantasy.”

 

 

2001  “American Music Festivals visits Eastern Europe” included concerts in Russia, the Czech Republic, and Bulgaria.  A U.S. Memorial Day program in Moscow with the President's Orchestra (Orchestra of the Kremlin Theater) was presented by the “Chicago Days in Moscow” Festival.

  

Concerts by the Community Players Orchestra (with the Chicago Board of Education) and collaboration with Chicago Silent Summer Film Festival.

 

 

2002  After 9/11, American Music Festivals merged with the Lincolnwood Orchestral Association, focusing on community based programming in the Chicago area.  “Three Russian Tenors in America” concert by the Glenview Symphony.

 

Collaboration in the Czech Republic with the International Dvorak Society, “American Spring Festival.”

 

Itzach Rabin Memorial Concert at Northwestern University, with the Israeli Consulate in Chicago..

 

 

2003  Exchanges brought Czech artists Radoslav Kvapil, piano, and mezzo soprano Edita Randova to Chicago, with Mr. Simmons performing as guest conductor in Jilhava and Hradec Kralove. 

 

Side by side concerts with the Lincoln Hall Jr. High School Orchestra and educational outreach to Lincolnwood School District 74.

 

 

2004  AMF’s first tour group travelled to Saint Petersburg, attending a sold-out July 4 concert of American music by the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic.

 

 

 

North Shore (Chicago) Concert Series, including a performance by the Lake Bluff Sinfonietta in collaboration with Lake Forest Academy.

 

Performances in Chicago by Belorusian Associate Conductor Anatol Lysenka. 

 

 

2005  Lukas Foss, AMF’s second Artistic Advisor, performed with the Lincolnwood Chamber Orchestra at the Chicago Cultural Center, as conductor and piano soloist.

 

  

 

“Pictures at an Exhibition” performed by the Glenview Symphony with the Glenview Art League

 

Chinese violinist Yang Liu performed music of Gao Ping at the Lincolnwood Jewish Congregation. 

 

 

2006  In cooperation with the Village of Lincolnwood and Mayor Jerry Turry, AMF participated in a fundraising concert by the LCO in support of victims of Hurricane Katrina.

 

Orchestral programs of American music were facilitated in Belgrade (US Embassy) and Prague ( Chicago Sister Cities International).

  

 

2007  First collaboration with Chicago Bosnian community.

  

Artistic direction of Tutti Chamber Orchestra, Skokie, IL.

 

 

2008  Adjudication at Dimitri Nenov International Piano Competition in Razgrad, Bulgaria

 

Concert with Classic Avante Garde Soloists Ensemble, Belarus, made possible by a grant from the US Embassy in Minsk.

 

Collaboration with Wilmette Fine Arts Commission.  

 

 

2009  Abraham Lincoln Bicentenial Concert by the Lincolnwood Chamber Orchestra

 

Collaboration with Varna International Arts Forum (Bulgaria).

 

Concert by Sarajevo Philharmonic.

  

Return to Russia for concert celebrating USA-Russian Relations in Sochi.

 

 

2010  Formation of the Orchestra of the Hawaiian Islands

 

 

 

20^th Anniversary Season Celebration of Lincolnwood Chamber Orchestra.

 

Cultural exchange with Japan, Kona Coast-Sendai.

 

 

2011  Concert of All-Hawaiian music with the Orchestra of the Hawaiian Islands.

 

Preperations for West Side Story in Minsk, Belarus.

 

100th Anniversary Gala Concert Celebration for the Village of Lincolnwood, November 12.