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Your donation to EISMA
is music to your child's ears. Support EISMA today!
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Bringing the joy and appreciation of music to Evanston schools since 1971
Our Mission
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Evanston In-School Music Association (EISMA) is a nonprofit arts and education organization dedicated to Inspiring Students, Supporting Local Musicians, and Connecting Community by presenting professional live music programs that bring the joy and appreciation of diverse musical genres to all Evanston elementary and middle school students.
EISMA presents two Concerts for Kids series in the fall and spring each school year. Ensembles perform live in 19 different Evanston schools, sharing musical insights, personal inspiration, and historical and cultural connections. Students sample the full range of musical styles performed by varying combinations of strings, brass, voice, and woodwinds, reflecting the traditions of many eras and cultures. EISMA brings 18 different genres of music to students in school throughout their kindergarten to 8th grade years.
EISMA presents two Concerts for Kids series in the fall and spring each school year. Ensembles perform live in 19 different Evanston schools, sharing musical insights, personal inspiration, and historical and cultural connections. Students sample the full range of musical styles performed by varying combinations of strings, brass, voice, and woodwinds, reflecting the traditions of many eras and cultures. EISMA brings 18 different genres of music to students in school throughout their kindergarten to 8th grade years.
News & Updates
EISMA Performances Return to Evanston Elementary & Middle Schools After a 2.5 Year Hiatus Due to COVID-19
Posted October 31, 2022
In the summer of 2022, EISMA was once again the primary sponsor of the Evanston Starlight Concerts in the Parks, as we originally were during the summer of 2021, and we were thrilled and proud to be able to play a part in presenting live music in outdoor spaces to Evanston students and many other residents. Our goal is to continue to sponsor that concert series into future summer seasons.
However, EISMA's mission is still to bring live music performances presenting diverse genres into the Evanston schools, and after a two-and-a-half year forced hiatus of in-school concerts due to COVID-19, we are thrilled to at last be able to return our concert series to schools this year!
At our last concerts in 2019 prior to the closing of schools, we presented the Chicago-based blues singer and harmonica player Omar Coleman in the Omar Coleman Blues Band and contemporary woodwind Ensemble Dal Niente. This year’s performers will be the quintet Gaudete Brass in the fall, and the Wild Rose Collective Irish music group of Marta Cook (harp), Devin Shepherd (fiddle), and Seán Gavin (pipes) in the spring.
Check out the Concerts page to see when performances are scheduled at your school.
As in the past, we thank everyone for their continued support of these concerts, as we seek to enrich the artistic experience of Evanston children with exemplary performances from a great variety of musical cultures and genres. Thanks to gifts from individuals and grants from both private and public entities, we are proud to have been able to hold our fees to PTAs at the same level, with no increase now in nearly a decade.
Thank you for your support and your patience as we all try to keep our community’s best interests and well-being at the forefront and plan for a return of live music! Please enjoy our education guides and performance clips from our recent past performances (and more to come!) for an uplifting musical reminder of positive past experiences!
Ellen Frolichstein
Co-President
cellenstein@gmail.com
Jen Martensen
Co-President
jenmartensen@gmail.com
In the summer of 2022, EISMA was once again the primary sponsor of the Evanston Starlight Concerts in the Parks, as we originally were during the summer of 2021, and we were thrilled and proud to be able to play a part in presenting live music in outdoor spaces to Evanston students and many other residents. Our goal is to continue to sponsor that concert series into future summer seasons.
However, EISMA's mission is still to bring live music performances presenting diverse genres into the Evanston schools, and after a two-and-a-half year forced hiatus of in-school concerts due to COVID-19, we are thrilled to at last be able to return our concert series to schools this year!
At our last concerts in 2019 prior to the closing of schools, we presented the Chicago-based blues singer and harmonica player Omar Coleman in the Omar Coleman Blues Band and contemporary woodwind Ensemble Dal Niente. This year’s performers will be the quintet Gaudete Brass in the fall, and the Wild Rose Collective Irish music group of Marta Cook (harp), Devin Shepherd (fiddle), and Seán Gavin (pipes) in the spring.
Check out the Concerts page to see when performances are scheduled at your school.
As in the past, we thank everyone for their continued support of these concerts, as we seek to enrich the artistic experience of Evanston children with exemplary performances from a great variety of musical cultures and genres. Thanks to gifts from individuals and grants from both private and public entities, we are proud to have been able to hold our fees to PTAs at the same level, with no increase now in nearly a decade.
Thank you for your support and your patience as we all try to keep our community’s best interests and well-being at the forefront and plan for a return of live music! Please enjoy our education guides and performance clips from our recent past performances (and more to come!) for an uplifting musical reminder of positive past experiences!
Ellen Frolichstein
Co-President
cellenstein@gmail.com
Jen Martensen
Co-President
jenmartensen@gmail.com
EISMA Welcomes New Executive Director Daniel Crane
Posted June 1, 2022
After leading EISMA through a wonderful and very successful 8-year period, Executive Director Annalee Letchinger has retired from her role as a masterful concert coordinator, unfailingly joyful community liaison, and someone who brightened every room and conversation into which she entered. Everyone on our board, in the schools and PTAs, and among the many performers who had the great fortune to collaborate with Annalee is extremely grateful for her talents and passion.
Filling Annalee's formidable shoes was no easy task. EISMA is extremely proud and excited to introduce our new Executive Director, Daniel Crane.
Daniel began his career as a full time musician, and has over 20 years of experience in the creative industries, performing, teaching and curating. He has spent fifteen years performing with a variety of groups and teaching private drum lessons and group classes in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs, and has built legacy programs at the Midwest’s largest tourist destination Navy Pier, won international grants with his company Story7 Inc., and is currently building digital tools and infrastructure for creative entrepreneurs as Program Director for the Center for Creative Entrepreneurship. Daniel loves to design programs that elevate culture and help sustain creative careers, while supporting artistic expression and facilitating the chance for people to connect, learn and get in touch with their own humanity. Born and raised in Evanston, he is passionate about continuing to build culturally rich communities that help push society into equitable and diverse spaces while supporting the creative sector.
We are so fortunate to have Daniel on board, and he has jumped right in to steer the Fall season concerts into place in Evanston Schools.
Ellen Frolichstein
Co-President
cellenstein@gmail.com
Jen Martensen
Co-President
jenmartensen@gmail.com
After leading EISMA through a wonderful and very successful 8-year period, Executive Director Annalee Letchinger has retired from her role as a masterful concert coordinator, unfailingly joyful community liaison, and someone who brightened every room and conversation into which she entered. Everyone on our board, in the schools and PTAs, and among the many performers who had the great fortune to collaborate with Annalee is extremely grateful for her talents and passion.
Filling Annalee's formidable shoes was no easy task. EISMA is extremely proud and excited to introduce our new Executive Director, Daniel Crane.
Daniel began his career as a full time musician, and has over 20 years of experience in the creative industries, performing, teaching and curating. He has spent fifteen years performing with a variety of groups and teaching private drum lessons and group classes in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs, and has built legacy programs at the Midwest’s largest tourist destination Navy Pier, won international grants with his company Story7 Inc., and is currently building digital tools and infrastructure for creative entrepreneurs as Program Director for the Center for Creative Entrepreneurship. Daniel loves to design programs that elevate culture and help sustain creative careers, while supporting artistic expression and facilitating the chance for people to connect, learn and get in touch with their own humanity. Born and raised in Evanston, he is passionate about continuing to build culturally rich communities that help push society into equitable and diverse spaces while supporting the creative sector.
We are so fortunate to have Daniel on board, and he has jumped right in to steer the Fall season concerts into place in Evanston Schools.
Ellen Frolichstein
Co-President
cellenstein@gmail.com
Jen Martensen
Co-President
jenmartensen@gmail.com
Your donation to EISMA is music to your child's ears.
Support EISMA today!
Support EISMA today!