Illinois Wesleyan University Camerata and Chamber Music Students and Alumni

Students Manage Nearby Vacation Rental Through Internship with Talluto '94 A team of Illinois Wesleyan University students had the chance to renovate, list and manage a home near campus as an Airbnb and VRBO rental property last summer through an internship led by Marc Talluto '94.

Dr Adriana Ponce recently had a book published over the summer of 2024, "Music and Identity in Venezuela"

Venezuelan music has remained largely unnoticed in the academic English literature. Boasting a tremendous wealth of traditions, it displays influences from the Spanish, indigenous, and enslaved African communities that populated the territory from the “conquest” on and offers a tremendous diversity of genres and styles that vary by region, occasion, time, and sometimes ethnic influences. This book presents critical discussions of some of these traditions in connection with the issue of identity. The discussion capture country and city life; illustrate foundational myths; bring secular traditions closer to Christianity; explore surviving cultural strategies, et cetera. They also analyze the interface between Venezuelan identity and European classical music. The book displays a diversity of perspectives in terms of a) subject matter, as it includes traditional and concert musics; b) disciplines on which the inquiries are grounded, as it includes essays by scholars and artists from musicology, performance, composition, history, cultural history, and education; and c) epistemological approaches, as it includes critical, historical, archival, and ethnographic research.

Way to go, Sharon!

Joining us at as our keynote speaker of the Opening General Session will be Rep. Sharon Chung of the Illinois General Assembly (91st District)!

State Representative Sharon Chung became the first Korean American ever to serve in the Illinois Legislature when she began her freshman term in January of 2023. No stranger to making history, Sharon became the first Asain American to serve on the McLean County Board when she represented the members of district 7 from 2018-2022. Breaking even more norms for an elected official, Representative Chung's background is as a violinist and violist. Sharon has played on stages throughout Central Illinois including for the Peoria Symphony Orchestra. During the pandemic, Sharon began performing socially-distanced concerts in public spaces in Bloomington-Normal in an effort to bring people together over a collective love of music. Sharon also assists the next generation of musicians by teaching private lessons. A member of American Federation of Musicians Local 301, Representative Chung earned a B.M. from Illinois Wesleyan University and a M.M., Northwestern University.

Join us at 10:15am in the 400-Ballroom of the Peoria Civic Center to hear Rep. Chung, celebrate our 2024 Award Winners and for the official kick-off to !

🎶 Music is in the air at Illinois Wesleyan! 🎵
Don’t miss out on the wonderful performances Illinois Wesleyan School of Music is putting on this semester! 💚
These events are free & open to the public.

FALL in love with our campus 💚

Happy First Day of Fall! 🍁🍂