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For the past 50 years, the Shakespeare Club has become particularly well-known for its Broadway musicals staged annually to benefit various worthy charities in our community. In recent years, these have become semi-professional productions involving an entire year of planning and preparation. Under professional direction and choreography and with professional sets and orchestra, club members, husbands, and friends volunteer thousands of rehearsal, production, and promotion hours to bring the show to the public. Proceeds from these productions have been donated to various charities: The Association of Retarded Citizens, Wellness Community, Villa Esperanza, the Pasadena Ronald McDonald House, and Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Currently, our proceeds go to fund college scholarships for outstanding high school graduates in Pasadena high schools.

Blue Bear School of American Music was founded by a rock band in the early '70's. Why not teach Rock instead of Bach, the Blues instead of Beethoven? Including solid music theory courses along with professional mentoring, electric Band Workshops and Songwriting courses, Blue Bear continues to offer high quality popular music education at affordable prices to music lovers of all ages. Scholarships are awarded annually to promising talent ages 12-22, funded by contributions from individuals, music industry professionals and businesses. Blue Bear has an active outreach programs serving at-risk kids in the Bayview and Tenderloin districts and runs after-school music programs at over 15 sites in San Francisco. Our mission statement is: Empowering people to play the music they love!

Storycatchers Theatre guides young people to transform their traumatic experiences into powerful musical theatre, inspiring them to develop the courage and vision to become leaders and mentors. By creating support for youth within the criminal justice system, Storycatchers prepares them to change their lives and emerge successfully from court involvement. Storycatchers was founded in 1984 to create and perform original musicals inspired by the stories of middle and high school students. In 1990, the company began developing its immersive residential program model for system-impacted youth at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center. It was at this time that the methodology expanded to incorporate the youth into the full process of writing and performing as a way to explore and begin to move beyond past trauma. Storycatchers initiated a remarkable partnership with the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice in 2002 when the company moved into the Illinois Youth Center-Warrenville, where Storycatchers established its nationally recognized, award-winning process of delivering creative youth development programs through a trauma lens. Storycatchers has been conducting year-round residential programs in three separate facilities since 2010. In 2014, the company expanded into post-release support with the Changing Voices performing arts jobs program for young people ages 17-24 returning to Chicago.Storycatchers amplifies and elevates the voices of youth impacted by the carceral state, empowering them to envision and pursue productive post-release futures of their choosing.

The Vietnam Education Society was established in 2005 to raise funds to cover the cost of construction for new preschools and primary schools in rural Vietnam. Local authorities manage and operate the facilities, which are inspected by VES and our partner, East Meets West, on a regular basis. VES opened its first school in Vietnam in June 2007, a ten room school that serves close to 400 students in the small community of Cat Ne, Thai Nguyen Province, Vietnam. A multipurpose room and early childhood development centre were added to the school. Since that time, VES has built three other schools and is currently (Spring 2013) working on plans for the fifth facility. VES also works with the Pacific Links Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping stop human trafficking along the border regions in Vietnam. VES provides 40 scholarships for at risk girls and sponsors a summer camp to provide these girls with support and life skills

WT EDUCATION PROJECT OUR VISION The Wilmette Theatre is the premiere multi-arts and performance center anchoring the downtown business district by providing vibrant entertainment, education and enrichment for the community. We are a 501(c)3 not for profit organization so all donations are fully tax deductible. WHAT WE DO FOR THE COMMUNITY UNIQUE PROGRAMMING We screen movies that are not shown elsewhere in Chicago, host speakers and live events attracting patrons from a wide geographic area. A BOOST TO THE LOCAL ECONOMY Over 32,000 patrons in 2016 from all over the Chicago area. We don’t receive any government funding but pay about $40,000 per year in property and sales taxes. COMMUNITY SUPPORT We provide a venue for events for many nonprofits, independent film makers and community organizations. We donate hundreds of movie ticket packages to other nonprofit organizations. LIFE CHANGING EDUCATION Actors Training Center is the premiere school for young actors in the Chicago area.

Lumberyard, one of the nation's leading contemporary performing arts institutions, serves the performing arts community and its audiences by providing multi-faceted opportunities for artists to develop new work. Unwavering in its commitment to assisting artists throughout the creative process, Lumberyard operates with a collaborative and generous spirit, one driven by this support for artists and appreciation for the audiences who value their work. Lumberyard's history goes back to 1999 when, thanks to founder and benefactor Solange MacArthur, it began as American Dance Institute (ADI), a dance school based in Rockville, Maryland. In 2010, after looking closely at the challenges facing the American contemporary dance field, ADI changed course to focus on artist-centered programs that include residency and performance opportunities. This new direction resulted in what is now Lumberyard's stellar reputation for providing this much needed support, with the Incubator residency program, introduced in 2011, especially praised. Lumberyard also serves emerging artists through its Solange MacArthur Award and Future Artists Initiative. In summer 2016, Lumberyard responded to artists' requests for residencies to culminate with a New York City performance season by launching Lumberyard/NYC, an initiative undertaken in collaboration with New York City theater spaces, which, to this day, not only supports artists but also serves audiences who, at affordable ticket prices, have the chance to see a wide range of contemporary dance. Lumberyard will experience more exciting change in 2018 when it opens new facilities in a former lumberyard in Catskill New York, a town approximately two hours from New York City, positioned beautifully between the Hudson River and the Catskill Creek that was once the home of painter Thomas Cole, founder of the renowned Hudson River School. The renovation of the lumberyard, a four-building complex, will produce fabulous studios and housing, allowing Lumberyard to expand its mission of supporting artists throughout the creative process by being able to increase the number of residencies and performance opportunities available to them. The site will also include a state-of-the art performing arts space, certain to become a cultural destination for Catskill residents and for those traveling to the region. By taking ownership of this property, Lumberyard will connect audiences to some of the best and most provocative performances being created today, and the excitement of seeing works in preview before they premier in less intimate venues will extend beyond the stage to include receptions and talk backs with artists. Catskill residents will also benefit by access to a delightful courtyard that will host a farmers' market and other community events.

The mission of Jazz at Lincoln Center is to entertain, enrich and expand a global community for Jazz through performance, education and advocacy. We believe Jazz is a metaphor for Democracy. Because jazz is improvisational, it celebrates personal freedom and encourages individual expression. Because jazz is swinging, it dedicates that freedom to finding and maintaining common ground with others. Because jazz is rooted in the blues, it inspires us to face adversity with persistent optimism.From our first downbeat as a summer concert series at Lincoln Center in 1987, to the fully orchestrated achievement of opening the world's first venue designed specifically for jazz in 2004, we have celebrated this music and these landmarks with an ever-growing audience of jazz fans from around the world.Representing the totality of jazz music, Jazz at Lincoln Center's mission is carried out through four elements—educational, curatorial, archival, and ceremonial—capturing, in unparalleled scope, the full spectrum of the jazz experience.In the mid-1980s, Lincoln Center, Inc. was looking to expand its programming efforts to attract new and younger audiences, and to fill its halls during the summer months when resident companies were performing elsewhere. Long-time jazz enthusiasts on the Lincoln Center campus and on the Lincoln Center Board recognized the need for America's music to be represented, and lobbied to include jazz in the organization's offerings. After four summers of successful Classical Jazz concerts, Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) became an official department of Lincoln Center in 1991. During its first year, JALC produced concerts throughout New York City, including Brooklyn and Harlem. By the second year, JALC had its own radio series on National Public Radio, and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra (now known as the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra) began touring, and recording and selling CDs. By its fourth year, the program reached international audiences with performances in Hong Kong and, the following year, in France, Austria, Italy, Turkey, Norway, Spain, England, Germany and Finland. In July 1996, JALC was inducted as the first new constituent of Lincoln Center since The School of American Ballet joined in 1987, laying the groundwork for the building of a performance facility designed specifically for the sound, function and feeling of jazz.“The whole space is dedicated to the feeling of swing, which is a feeling of extreme coordination," explained Jazz at Lincoln Center's Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis of his vision for the new home of jazz, or the “House of Swing." “Everything is integrated: the relationship between one space and another, the relationship between the audience and the musicians, is one fluid motion, because that's how our music is." Under Marsalis's direction, JALC sought out world-renowned architect Rafael Viñoly and a team of acoustic engineers to create Frederick P. Rose Hall, the world's first performance, education and broadcast facility devoted to jazz, in New York City. As the centerpiece of a $131 million capital campaign drive, the 100,000-square-foot facility opened in fall 2004 and features three concert and performance spaces (Rose Theater, The Appel Room and Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola) engineered for the warmth and clarity of the sound of jazz.

La MaMa is dedicated to the artist and all aspects of the theatre. It has a worldwide reputation for producing daring work in theatre, dance, performance art, and music that defies form and transcends boundaries of language, race, and culture. Founded in 1961 by theatre pioneer and legend Ellen Stewart, La MaMa is a vital part of the fabric of cultural life in NYC and the anchor of FAB (Fourth Arts Block). In the 1960's, Ms. Stewart, one of the first black fashion designers in New York, worked as the executive designer for Saks Fifth Avenue and was undoubtedly a trendsetter. She began La MaMa with the belief that art, in order to flourish, needs: fiscal support, the company of colleagues, the spirit of collaboration and a public forum in which to be evaluated. The original house of La MaMa sat 30 people, and the stage was the size of a bed. Today, La MaMa is a four-building campus with three theaters, an art gallery, an art and technology studio, rehearsal studios, a dormitory, offices, and an extensive archive documenting the history of Off-Off-Broadway. La MaMa produces approximately 70 productions annually, most of which are world premieres. To date, more than 3,500 productions have been presented at La MaMa with 150,000 artists from more than 70 nations. La MaMa's programming is culturally diverse, cross-disciplinary and draws audiences from all walks of life. In addition to affordable ticket prices, La MaMa distributes up to 8,000 free tickets annually to social service and education organizations. Annual visitors exceed 32,000 people from New York and beyond. Each year, La MaMa provides employment opportunities for more than 260 artists and administrators including performers, writers, composers, directors, choreographers, musicians, designers and educators. La MaMa is a think tank and an experimental forum where artists at various stages of their career and creative development come to take risks. Much of the work done here allows the artistic experimenter to take the lessons learned and capitalize on them elsewhere, thus influencing much of what is eventually seen in commercial theater and the entertainment industry at large. In addition, La MaMa provides people of all ages and backgrounds with an opportunity to explore the arts in various capacities - as a member of the audience, the creative team, production crew or cast. "A home to, and champion of, brash and venturesome artists!" - New York Times Countless American artists have worked at La MaMa during the early stages of their careers, including: Blue Man Group, Steve Buscemi, Robert DeNiro, Andre DeShields, Danny DeVito, Olympia Dukakis, Harvey Fierstein, Philip Glass, Bill Irwin, Diane Lane, Bette Midler, Meredith Monk, Estelle Parsons, Sam Shepard, Patti Smith, Elizabeth Swados, Julie Taymor, Andy Warhol, Lanford Wilson, Robert Wilson, Scott Wittman and Joel Zwick. New Eastern European Theatre was introduced to America in 1967 when La MaMa brought Ryszard Cieslak, Ludwig Flaszen, and Jerry Grotowski to New York. Other international artists whose work premiered at La MaMa include Ivica Buljan, Peter Brooke, Tadeusz Kantor, Kazuo Ohno, Andrei Serban, Shuji Teriyama, and Ahmed Yacoubi. La MaMa has received more than 30 Obie Awards, dozens of Drama Desk and Bessie Awards. Recent significant premieres include: The Foundry Theatre's GOOD PERSON OF SZECHWAN; Belarus Free Theatre's BEING HAROLD PINTER (Obie Award); Lee Breuer's LA DIVINA CARICATURA; and SOULOGRAPHIE: OUR GENOCIDES by Eric Ehn.

Our organization supports, educates, and performs classical chamber music in places across the globe that need hope the most, including nursing homes, hospitals, shelters, and schools.

Fresh Ground Pepper incubates and celebrates new works of art by adventurous artists of all mediums. We believe that the creative spirit is nurtured by delighted exploration and collaborative communities. FGP strives to find new voices and push them each toward surprising frontiers.

The Music Company Orchestra, incorporated in 1974, is a 60-piece volunteer community orchestra. Its members come from all walks of life and many different backgrounds. Conducted by Dr. Gerald Lanoue, the orchestra plays a wide range of classical and pops repertoire. The MCO is dedicated to bringing the excitement of live orchestral music to audiences of all ages and economic backgrounds, and enthusiastically plays venues throughout the greater Capital Region, ranging from traditional concert halls to public parks, community events, schools, retirement centers, and churches. The MCO performs most concerts free to the public, and also offers scholarships to musically-inclined students at three regional high schools. The MCO is a not-for-profit organization.

Windy City Performing Arts sings to inspire change, celebrate diversity, and honor the dignity of the LGBTQ+ community.