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You can email Kara at kmbancks [at] gmail [dot] [com].
Kara Bancks, an active clarinetist from Chicago, is principal of the Elmhurst Symphony and the Millennium Chamber Players. Recent highlights include an appearance on the Chicago Symphony’s MusicNOW series, a concerto performance with MCP, and live broadcasts on 98.7 WFMT-Chicago Classical Radio. A recent graduate of Eastman School of Music (MMus), she has performed with the Fire Wire Ensemble, Chicagoland Pops Orchestra, the South Bend Symphony, the Eastman Virtuosi, the Eastman Philharmonia, the Eastman Wind Ensemble, OSSIA New Music, Musica Nova, and many other ensembles throughout the Midwest and Upstate New York. Her teachers have included Jon Manasse, Kenneth Grant, Robert DiLutis, Susan Warner, and Charlene Zimmerman.
A passionate teacher in her own right, she has taught at the University of Rochester, Eastman, the Hochstein School of Music and Dance, and currently serves on the faculties of Concordia University-River Forest, Wheaton College, and the Chicago Academy for the Arts. Especially committed to the music of today, she frequently commissions new works from emerging composers, and has participated in workshops, master-classes, and recording sessions with composers as varied as Augusta Read Thomas, Shulamit Ran, Libby Larsen, and Louis Andreissen.
Upcoming Concerts
JANUARY 2009
Millennium Chamber Players Chamber Concert
1/16, 12:00 PM, Fourth Presbyterian, Chicago
1/18, 4:00 PM, Byron Cloby Barn, Prairie Crossing
http://www.mcplayers.com/1/25, 11:00 AM
Millennium Chamber Players Live Broadcast on WFMT
Morse Theater, Chicago
http://www.mcplayers.com/FEBRUARY 2009
2/15, 7:00 PM Recital at Concordia University Chicago
With flutist Jennie Brown and pianist Jeff Panko
http://www.cuchicago.edu/the_arts/music/index.asp2/22, 3:00 PM Elmhurst Symphony
Hammershmidt Chapel, Elmhurst College
http://www.elmhurstsymphony.org/season.aspxMillennium Chamber Players Chamber Concert
2/27, 8:00 PM, Bond Chapel, Univeristy of Chicago
3/1, 11:00 AM, Live Broadcast on WFMT Morse Theater, Chicago
http://www.mcplayers.com/MARCH 2009
3/7, 7:30 PM
Elmhurst Symphony
Harris Theater
http://www.elmhurstsymphony.org/season.aspx3/8, 7:00 PM
Lunaire Ensemble
Downers Grove Chamber Series
With flutist Jennie Brown and pianist Jeff Panko3/14, 7:00 PM
Elmhurst Symphony
Biester Auditorium, Lombard
http://www.elmhurstsymphony.org/season.aspxMAY 2009
5/16, 7:00 PM
Elmhurst Symphony
Hammerschmidt Chapel, Elmhurst College
http://www.elmhurstsymphony.org/season.aspx
Recently
JULY 2008
7/21, 12:00 PM
Millennium Chamber Players
Chicago Cultural Center
http://www.mcplayers.com/AUGUST 2008
8/3-8/7
Millennium Chamber Players
Canadian Tour
http://www.mcplayers.com/8/17, 7:30 PM
Millennium Chamber Players
Benefit Concert
Location TBA
http://www.mcplayers.com/SEPTEMBER 2008
9/14, 7:00 PM
Faculty Recital at Concordia University
With pianist Kuang-Hao Huang
http://www.cuchicago.edu9/27, 7:30 PM
Recital at Wheaton College
With flutist Jennifer Brown and pianist Jeff Panko
http://www.wheaton.edu/conservatoryOCTOBER 2008
10/10, 8:00 PM & 10/12, 3:00 PM
Millennium Chamber Players
Latino Composers Concerts
Locations TBA
http://www.mcplayers.com/10/18, 7:00 PM
Elmhurst Symphony
Hammershmidt Chapel, Elmhurst College
http://www.elmhurstsymphony.org/season.aspx10/20, 7:30 PM
Recital at Concordia University Chicago
Messiaen, Quartet for the End of Time
With violinist Nathan Cole, cellist Ken Olsen and pianist Kuang-Hao Huang
http://www.cuchicago.edu/the_arts/music/index.asp10/28, 7:30 PM
Feature with New Trier High School Varsity Wind Ensemble
New Trier High School
Winnetka, IL
http://www.newtrier.k12.il.us/NOVEMBER 2008
11/3, 8:00 PM
Live from WFMT, with Julia Bentley and friends
98.7 WFMT, Chicago Classical Radio
http://www.wfmt.com/11/6, 11/7, 8:00 PM
Millennium Chamber Players
Music of George Flynn and Pierre Boulez
Locations TBA
http://www.mcplayers.com/11/10, 8:00 PM
Guest Artist on University of Louisville New Music Concert
University of Louisville
Louisville, KY
http://louisville.edu/11/16, 11:00 AM
Live from WFMT
Millennium Chamber Players
Kachaturian and Bartok Trios for Violin, Clarinet and Piano
98.7 WFMT, Classical Radio
http://www.wfmt.com/11/22, 7:00 PM & 11/23, 3:00 PM
Elmhurst Symphony
Biester Auditorium, Lombard
Hammerschmidt Chapelm, Elmhurst College
http://www.elmhurstsymphony.org/season.aspxDECEMBER 2008
12/12, 10:00 AM
12/13, 1:30 PM, 7:00 PM
12/14, 1:30 PM
Ballet Legere presents Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker
http://www.nutcrackerballet.net/html/illinois.html