I briefly want to talk about what's at the heart of AAL's mission, because most of you haven't heard of this organization before and why and for whom it exists. The best description of AAL lies in my personal story and what's happened to me in these past four years after Eastman mistakenly handed me a master's diploma.

Upon graduating, I immediately moved to Chicago and started freelancing full-time as a classical pianist and kept at it for about three years. But I've always had a bit of a personal struggle with the classical world--and the reality of one wrapping him/herself up in practicing for 5, 6, 7 hours a day--to get a "perfectly" executed Chopin etude or Beethoven Sonata. There's a saying in our circles that I always like to joke about: "You're only as good as your last performance." This is a dangerous way for musicians to think about themselves. I certainly fell into this mindset and it's quite a self-serving attitude.

The fact that musicians aren't sharing their musical talent in broader circles of audiences--and this is for various reasons that I hope AAL helps remedy--rubs against me more and more as every day passes. As musicians, this attitude of playing only for a certain "crowd" certainly does NOT serve or further the grander scheme of sharing music and the arts in society. For instance, in the three years I played and performed all over Chicago, I struggle to count on 1 hand the performances meant for elderly people, low-income communities, and the sick.

In 2005 I came to the very important and startling realization of music's power and just how much it can achieve. It was a sad time for me and my family: My dad was staying in cancer hospice convalescent hospital in SF. The recreation room had a really bad upright piano missing one leg and more than a couple of black keys. My brother Mark--also a pianist--and I were able to play for the residents. My heart broke when I was told their ONLY activity every week was someone coming in and playing 1 hour of bingo.

But after our little performances, the outpouring of thanks made me revisit what the word "genuine" means. The staff not only commented over and over on the uplifted spirit of the whole building for weeks afterwards, but particularly difficult residents were in much higher spirits than usual.

What a gift musicians have--and how much more powerful than I had ever realized BEFORE this experience. I asked myself: Why aren't musicians sharing their gift more often with the people who need it most? And how can AAL help fix this problem?

While looking for these answers, my passion for AAL was born, and I only feel more strongly about my service as each day passes. AAL now have a concert series at a low-income building as well as a retirement home and at the Lincoln Park Cultural Center. But these few concert series have only whetted my appetite for expansion. I envision performances at places you wouldn't want to be: homeless shelters, convalescent hospitals, cancer wards, prisons, but also in living rooms of our supporters with our Modern Medici program. Not only do I envision AAL bringing music to new audiences, but also creating as many stages as possible for musicians to share their art more often.

AAL's mission is obviously not feeding hungry people or housing homeless ones. These are very immediate physical needs that should be heavily supported. But once the body is taken care of, what of the soul? Lifting the human spirit through music and the arts is my personal philanthropy of hope, and I hope to see AAL continue to deliver this unexplainable gift of music and the arts for years to come in Chicago.

Anne Breeden, Executive and Artistic Director of Arts At Large
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Since 2005, Arts at Large (AAL) has positioned and presented to the public Chicago's finest young and emerging musicians. Winter, spring, summer, and fall, our audiences attend a string of themed and innovative concert series in the intimacy of small venues. We serve as a rare and free resource to music enthusiasts of all walks of life including those who may otherwise be unable to afford a high caliber musical performance. Our uniqueness is fixed in our aim to venture into various communities to culture, educate, and heal with the magic of music.

The driving force of Arts at Large is fundamental: Music should be available to everyone and musicians should be encouraged and supported. AAL looks to incorporate artists of all disciplines in the vision of bringing the Chicago arts community and the general populace closer together in a variety of settings. Performances take place in neighborhood Park district buildings, retirement day communities such as Great Opprotunities, and private homes. The Park District is moving forward with plans to extend our concert series to Indian Boundary Park and Wicker Park. Next on our list come hospitals, cancer wellness centers, and art galleries. We strive for future growth and wait eagerly for continued success.

Our concert series feature a variety of superb young musicians. These include winners of the International Chamber Orchestra Young Artist Competition, National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts Competition, The Presidential Scholar in the Arts Prize, and second prize in the International Steinway Piano Competition. They have performed in Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Alice Tully Hall and been featured on NPR, PBS, C-Span, WGN, and Oprah. In the spring we will have a jazz vocalist who has appeared on the Black Entertainment Television Network. We will host a German/Jewish classical singer and director who appeared as a soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. All are Chicago-based musicians.

Music knows no boundaries, nor does AAL. We have opened our doors to the young community by offering a specially designed program that teaches parents and young children how to make music together. Taught by trained early-childhood music teachers, our "Mini-Musicians" program includes singing, rhyming, rhythmic movement, drumming, and listening. This is a very exciting endeavor in our repertoire of outreach programming.