Practice makes for perfect lunchtime concert idea
(Rich Hein/Sun-Times)
Washington Library, 400 S. State
Free
(312) 747-4050
MORE ONLINE: Watch video of the musicians rehearsing at suntimes.com
Curiosity about what was going on "behind closed doors" was the inspiration for today's free "Hidden Talent" concert at the Harold Washington Library.
Turns out, since it opened in 1991, the library has offered six practice rooms and a chamber room -- free of charge -- to musicians seeking to hone their skills.
The rooms, furnished with pianos, are available on a first-come, first-served basis during library hours. Musicians are limited to one hour of practice time if there's a waiting list, and must have some form of identification to use the rooms (call 312-747-4850 for information).
The practice rooms are "a very popular service," says librarian Christopher Popa, who works in the eighth floor music information center. He estimates that several hundred people a week use the rooms.
Popa says he often wondered about the talent of the musicians who use the rooms. So did his colleagues.
"They [the musicians] check in at the desk and then you don't see them or hear them," he says, except for occasional notes that escape from behind closed doors.
Popa thought it would be a good idea to put together a "music showcase in the auditorium to give them a break. Otherwise, they come and practice for an hour and leave and no one hears what they're playing."
After determining that the musicians liked the idea, the library staff chose six musicians with a diversity of experience and styles. The program in the Cindy Pritzker Auditorium covers classical, opera, gospel, jazz and pop. Performers range in age from 17 to 79.
Aspiring opera soprano Pamela Spann opens the program with arias from Wagner's "Tannhauser" and Puccini's "Tosca."
"I wanted to do music I really, really love," she says of her choices.
Spann has been singing professionally for 10 years, mostly in churches and at the Fine Arts Building, where she studies. She temps for her day job. She's been using the library practice rooms for a couple of years, several times a week.
Along with free-of-charge use, the appeal of the rooms, Spann says, is "the fact that they are wonderfully convenient and I can come before a lesson and warm up and come after and review it."
The Dartmouth College music graduate fell in love with opera by listening to her father's collection of recordings. She's excited about today's concert and enjoys the rehearsals.
"It's been great," she says. "Everyone is very warm and generous. Everyone has such encouragement for each other. It's been wonderful."
Soprano saxophonist Shimon Marcucci, who closes the concert, took up the saxophone at age 19. Jazz artist John Coltrane was his inspiration.
"It took me a while to play well," Marcucci says. He's been playing jazz and classical music for 39 years, and for 17 of those years music was his career. Now a federal government employee, Marcucci mostly plays private events and concerts and wants to "work on jazz and improvised jazz and classical music; I'm working on a jazz album that's almost done," he says.
Marcucci learned about the library practice rooms from a musician friend about 3½ years ago. He uses them most weekdays.
What Marcucci likes about the rooms is that "everybody's the same in the library. It's the ultimate equal opportunity. No matter what they do, they get the same hour."
He says he practices more at the library than anywhere else.
"It's very hard to find such a thing unless you're a full-time student somewhere," he adds.
As for the concert, Marcucci says, "This is a great project because it's a community project. It involves people like myself who appreciate the great resources that the library offers. The free practice rooms are an amazing resource."
Marcucci discovered the baroque piece he's playing in the library's music collection and "appropriated" it for himself. It's flute music by Michel Blavet from 1730 (100 years before the saxophone was invented) that Marcucci has arranged for sax.
Rouding out the concert bill will be pianist Chuck Hines, flutist Emma Hospelhorn, baritone Jerimiah Murray and trumpeter Duryving Ternoir. Pianist Irina Feoktistova will accompany all musicians and singers except Hines.
"We hope this comes off smoothly so we can make this an annual feature at the library," Popa says.
Jennifer Burklow is a local free-lance writer.
