Dozens of Highland Park High School students will have the thrill of playing in an orchestra with 10 professional musicians or performing with Broadway stars at the opening event of Focus on the Arts, 7 p.m. April 1 in the school’s auditorium.
Focus on the Arts, a biennial festival, has been inspiring Highland Park High School students since 1964. The 2025 event, which runs through April 4, includes 330 workshops, performances, and master classes for the students, covering everything from architecture to art, creative writing, dance, drama, film, media, music, television, theater, and visual arts.
“These workshops are led by very accomplished artists,” reported Tamara Jenkins, Director of Festivals of the Arts for Township District 113 and the Executive Director of Focus on the Arts. She noted that “25 to 30 percent of people teaching are graduates of this program that have made successful careers in many different areas of the arts. It’s literally a life-changing program.”
Jenkins conceived and wrote the opening night program which is called “The Artist Speaks.”
“The evening is built around what it means to be an artist, what drives an artist, and their artistic journey,” she said.
The numbers and scenes are introduced by two student emcees.
Jenkins was able to lure top Broadway stars to the event because the Deerfield native worked in musical theater in New York for many years as an actor, artistic director, and producer.
“I wanted the students to have the opportunity to work side-by-side with people that are very, very accomplished,” Jenkins said.
The guest artists include Hugh Panaro and Andréa Burns.
Panaro is best known for playing The Phantom in “The Phantom of the Opera” on Broadway over 2,000 times. He will perform a few songs from “Peter Pan,” “Music of the Night” from “The Phantom of the Opera,” and will play George Seurat in scenes from “Sunday in the Park with George.”
Burns, who just completed the Broadway run of “The Notebook,” won a Drama Desk Award for playing Daniela in the Tony Award-winning musical “In the Heights.” She will perform a song from “In the Heights” with three students. Burns will also sing, “I Feel Pretty” from “West Side Story” and perform one of the roles in a scene from “At the Ballet,” with student dancers.
Broadway actor Kate Loprest will also perform with students at the event.
Jenkins connected with Jeffrey Haydon, CEO and President of Ravinia, to ask for their participation in the opening event. As a result, thirty-five Highland Park High School musicians will perform in the Focus 2025 Orchestra with ten professional musicians.
Madelyn Tan-Cohen, Director of Teaching and Learning at Ravinia, said, “Ravinia has always had a longstanding partnership with District 112 and 113. In the past we have been involved with Focus on the Arts.”
She noted that at one time “the late great jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis, who was Ravinia’s Artistic Director, and our former CEO and President Welz Kauffman, performed and spoke together at the opening night, talking about the importance of music and arts education.”
This year Ravinia is partnering with the Chicago Philharmonic to provide ten musicians for the opening night performance. They will rehearse with the students three times.
Tan-Cohen said, “The kids in the orchestra will definitely have the experience of playing next to professional musicians, seeing how they rehearse. I think it will really be an exciting experience for them.”
Tan-Cohen concluded, “We really believe in providing access to students through live performance or side-by-side performances with professional musicians.”
The orchestra will be conducted by Focus Artist-in-Residence Jeffrey Saver, a long-time Broadway conductor. “He has so much to offer these kids,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins noted that Saver burst into tears when she showed him the workshops that are scheduled at the festival. “He said, ‘The fact that this exists has given me so much hope for the future,’” Jenkins related.
The production will be directed by Michael Unger, Artistic Director at Skylight Music Theatre in Milwaukee.
“He’s an alumnus of this high school and he is one of the people whose life was changed by this program,” Jenkins said.
All of the artists are paid through a 501(c)(3) community fund.
There will be two other public programs: Art Night, 6:30-8:30 p.m. April 3 in the cafeteria, and Dance Night, 7 p.m. April 4 in the auditorium.
Highland Park High School is at 433 Vine Ave. Tickets for the opening night event are $5. For more details on Focus on the Arts and reservation information (not yet on the website), visit hphsfocus.org.
Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
