ABOUT CAIC
"Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago continues
to do a praiseworthy job in keeping the local flame
alight for art song and lieder recitals"
-CHICAGO CLASSICAL REVIEW
MISSION
Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago seeks to make Chicago a world home for the study and performance of art song and vocal chamber music repertoire by curating performances and providing educational opportunities.
HISTORY
As founding partners of Collaborative Works, LLP, pianists Nicholas Hutchinson and Shannon McGinnis have been providing high quality affordable coaching and accompanying services in the Chicago-land area since 2006. In 2010 they joined forces with tenor Nicholas Phan to establish the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago with the goal of providing educational and performance opportunities for musicians, specifically through the promotion and advancement of art song and vocal chamber music repertoire.
Since its first event, a small, private house concert in 2010, CAIC’s educational and performance programs have expanded to include an annual series of public concerts and master classes, workshops, an four-day festival, and a fellowship program for promising Chicago area singers and pianists. Opera News has described CAIC “as one of Windy City’s primary musical treasures”.
CAIC regularly partners with prominent arts organizations, universities and schools throughout Chicago. Praised by Chicago Classical Review for consistently producing “art song performances of the highest order”, its performances feature an international roster of singers, pianists and instrumentalists who are leading performers of this repertoire world-wide. CAIC is the only arts organization in Chicago, and one of very few nationwide, to devote itself exclusively to art song, and reaches hundreds of Chicagoans each year with its performance and educational activities. The Chicago Tribune has written “the genre of art song singing will never lack a forum in the city’s musical life as long as the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago is there to affirm its importance and promote its growth."
Since its first event, a small, private house concert in 2010, CAIC’s educational and performance programs have expanded to include an annual series of public concerts and master classes, workshops, an four-day festival, and a fellowship program for promising Chicago area singers and pianists. Opera News has described CAIC “as one of Windy City’s primary musical treasures”.
CAIC regularly partners with prominent arts organizations, universities and schools throughout Chicago. Praised by Chicago Classical Review for consistently producing “art song performances of the highest order”, its performances feature an international roster of singers, pianists and instrumentalists who are leading performers of this repertoire world-wide. CAIC is the only arts organization in Chicago, and one of very few nationwide, to devote itself exclusively to art song, and reaches hundreds of Chicagoans each year with its performance and educational activities. The Chicago Tribune has written “the genre of art song singing will never lack a forum in the city’s musical life as long as the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago is there to affirm its importance and promote its growth."
CO-FOUNDERS
NICHOLAS HUTCHINSON
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Nicholas Hutchinson, piano has performed throughout the United States as both collaborator and soloist. He was a prizewinner in the Kosciuzko Foundation National Chopin Competition and the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, and was a finalist in the Oberlin International Piano Competition. A passionate teacher, Dr. Hutchinson is currently a lecturer at DePaul University and has taught at a number of educational institutions including the Steppingstone School for the Potentially Gifted and the Chelsea Center for the Arts. He is also co-director of Friends Music Camp, a Quaker-based summer music camp in southeast Ohio.
He received both his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Accompanying and Chamber Music and his Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from the University of Michigan and his Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from Michigan State University. His former teachers include Martin Katz, Louis Nagel, Arthur Greene and Yong Hi Moon.
He received both his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Accompanying and Chamber Music and his Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from the University of Michigan and his Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from Michigan State University. His former teachers include Martin Katz, Louis Nagel, Arthur Greene and Yong Hi Moon.
SHANNON McGINNIS
DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION
DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION
Pianist Shannon McGinnis has been recognized for her skilled performances and solid support in partnerships with some of the brightest stars in the classical vocal music world. Recent highlights include appearances with tenor David Portillo; sopranos Nicole Heaston and Laquita Mitchell as part of the 2015 Collaborative Works Festival; tenor Nicholas Phan, on multiple live broadcasts for WFMT’s “Impromptu” series; soprano Deborah Voigt, as part of a star-studded gala performance for Sing for Haiti; and mezzo-soprano Jennifer Rivera, for A Prairie Home Companion, broadcast live from the Ravinia Festival. In summer 2015, she served as vocal coach and principal pianist for the world-premiere performances of Matthew AuCoin’s Second Nature, with Lyric Opera of Chicago’s “Lyric Unlimited”. 2017-2018 brings performances as part of the Collaborative Works Festival and the Laguna Beach Music Festival, and an appearance at Carnegie Hall as official pianist for the Weil Music Institute’s renowned master classes with Joyce DiDonato.
In 2015 McGinnis was appointed Lecturer in Vocal Coaching at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, where she serves as music director for the undergraduate opera and oversees the undergraduate and graduate diction curriculum. A passionate advocate for art song and the education of young singers, McGinnis is a founding board member and the Director of Education of Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago and serves on the board for Fourth Coast Ensemble, a Chicago-based vocal chamber music quartet.
Prior to moving to Chicago in 2006, McGinnis held the position of Assistant Professor of Piano and Coordinator of Accompanying at Truman State University. She was awarded the Doctor of Musical Arts in Accompanying and Chamber Music from the University of Michigan, as a student of Martin Katz, and is a recipient of the 2017 Emerging Artist Award in Music, given by the School of Music Theatre and Dance Alumni Society Board of Governors.
In 2015 McGinnis was appointed Lecturer in Vocal Coaching at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, where she serves as music director for the undergraduate opera and oversees the undergraduate and graduate diction curriculum. A passionate advocate for art song and the education of young singers, McGinnis is a founding board member and the Director of Education of Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago and serves on the board for Fourth Coast Ensemble, a Chicago-based vocal chamber music quartet.
Prior to moving to Chicago in 2006, McGinnis held the position of Assistant Professor of Piano and Coordinator of Accompanying at Truman State University. She was awarded the Doctor of Musical Arts in Accompanying and Chamber Music from the University of Michigan, as a student of Martin Katz, and is a recipient of the 2017 Emerging Artist Award in Music, given by the School of Music Theatre and Dance Alumni Society Board of Governors.
NICHOLAS PHAN
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
American tenor Nicholas Phan continues to distinguish himself as one of the most compelling young tenors appearing on the prestigious concert and opera stages of the world today. Praised by National Public Radio as “an artist who must be heard," Phan’s previous albums for Avie, A Painted Tale, Still Fall the Rain and Winter Words have all made many “Best of ” lists, including those of The New York Times, The New Yorker, Toronto Star, Chicago Tribune and Boston Globe. His album Gods & Monsters, was nominated for the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. His growing discography also includes the Grammy-nominated recording of Stravinsky's Pulcinella with Pierre Boulez and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Bach’s St. John Passion with Jeannette Sorrell and Apollo’s Fire, Scarlatti's La gloria di Primavera with Nicholas McGegan and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, an album of Bach’s secular cantatas with Masaaki Suzuki and Bach Collegium Japan, the opera L'Olimpiade with the Venice Baroque Orchestra, and the world premiere recording of Elliott Carter's orchestral song cycle, A Sunbeam's Architecture.
An artist with an incredibly diverse repertoire that ranges from Claudio Monteverdi to Nico Muhly and beyond, Mr. Phan appears regularly with many of the leading orchestras in the world, including the Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Lucerne Symphony, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, BBC Symphony, English Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, and the Royal Philharmonic. Among the conductors he has worked with are Marin Alsop, Harry Bicket, Pierre Boulez, Karina Canellakis, James Conlon, Alan Curtis, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Charles Dutoit, James Gaffigan, Jane Glover, Matthew Halls, Manfred Honeck, Bernard Labadie, Louis Langrée, Nicholas McGegan, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, John Nelson, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Helmuth Rilling, David Robertson, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Masaaki Suzuki, Michael Tilson Thomas and Franz Welser-Möst. Mr. Phan's many opera credits include appearances with the Los Angeles Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Glyndebourne Opera, Maggio Musicale in Florence, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, and Frankfurt Opera.
Phan is also an avid recitalist and a passionate advocate for art song and vocal chamber music. He has been presented in recital by Carnegie Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, San Francisco Performances, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Atlanta’s Spivey Hall, Boston’s Celebrity Series, and the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. In addition to regular appearances with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Musicians from Marlboro, he has collaborated with many chamber musicians, including pianists Mitsuko Uchida, Richard Goode, Jeremy Denk, Graham Johnson, Martin Katz, Roger Vignoles, Myra Huang and Alessio Bax; violinist James Ehnes; guitarist Eliot Fisk; the Telegraph, Jasper, and Spektral Quartets; harpist Sivan Magen; and horn players Jennifer Montone, Radovan Vlatkovic and Gail Williams. www.nicholas-phan.com
An artist with an incredibly diverse repertoire that ranges from Claudio Monteverdi to Nico Muhly and beyond, Mr. Phan appears regularly with many of the leading orchestras in the world, including the Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Lucerne Symphony, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, BBC Symphony, English Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, and the Royal Philharmonic. Among the conductors he has worked with are Marin Alsop, Harry Bicket, Pierre Boulez, Karina Canellakis, James Conlon, Alan Curtis, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Charles Dutoit, James Gaffigan, Jane Glover, Matthew Halls, Manfred Honeck, Bernard Labadie, Louis Langrée, Nicholas McGegan, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, John Nelson, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Helmuth Rilling, David Robertson, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Masaaki Suzuki, Michael Tilson Thomas and Franz Welser-Möst. Mr. Phan's many opera credits include appearances with the Los Angeles Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Glyndebourne Opera, Maggio Musicale in Florence, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, and Frankfurt Opera.
Phan is also an avid recitalist and a passionate advocate for art song and vocal chamber music. He has been presented in recital by Carnegie Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, San Francisco Performances, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Atlanta’s Spivey Hall, Boston’s Celebrity Series, and the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. In addition to regular appearances with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Musicians from Marlboro, he has collaborated with many chamber musicians, including pianists Mitsuko Uchida, Richard Goode, Jeremy Denk, Graham Johnson, Martin Katz, Roger Vignoles, Myra Huang and Alessio Bax; violinist James Ehnes; guitarist Eliot Fisk; the Telegraph, Jasper, and Spektral Quartets; harpist Sivan Magen; and horn players Jennifer Montone, Radovan Vlatkovic and Gail Williams. www.nicholas-phan.com
BOARD
LEADERSHIP
BOARD OF DIRECTORSMichael Freilich
Chief Technology Officer, Renaissance Alliance Adolfo Laurenti European Principal Economist, Visa London Shannon McGinnis Lecturer in Vocal Coaching, Roosevelt University Nicholas Phan, Vice Chair Tenor Jonathon Thierer, Treasurer Director, Thierer Family Foundation Frank Villella, Chair Director, Rosenthal Archives of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra |
ADVISORY BOARDJane Bunnell
mezzo-soprano Marc Embree bass-baritone Amy Iwano Executive Director The University of Chicago Presents Martin Katz pianist Lisa Seischab Vice President, Development George Eastman Museum Louise K. Smith Management Consultant |
all performance and master class photography by Elliot Mandel