Speaker Announcement: Fifth House Ensemble

The Chicago-based Fifth House Ensemble is a versatile and dynamic group praised by the New York Times for its “conviction, authority, and finesse.” Fifth House’s innovative programs engage audiences through their connective programming and unexpected performance venues.

5HE is defined by its limitless imagination and energy, and an insatiable desire to bring chamber music to audiences of all types. 5HE harnesses the collaborative spirit of chamber music to create transformative cross-media performance experiences that bring together elements as diverse as storytelling, physical theatre, graphic novels, and fashion design. With humor and joy, 5HE breathes life into repertoire both established and emerging, equally at home on the most prestigious stages and unexpected venues including aquariums, train stations, and bars.

Bringing its signature connective programming from the stage to the classroom, 5HE develops young audiences through curriculum-integrated interactive concerts and residencies for students grades K-12. A member of the Illinois Arts Council’s Arts-in-Education Roster, 5HE presents performances and residencies at Chicago public schools and the Chicago Cultural Center in partnership with the International Music Foundation, the Chicago Teachers’ Center, and Ravinia’s Reach*Teach*Play program. Programs are customized to the curriculum of each school, with the goals of promoting active listening skills and connecting music to a wide variety of subjects. This season’s residency sites include Chicago’s Mather High School, Bridge Elementary School and Suder Montessori School, and will explore subjects including social justice, poetry, and body systems.

Currently Ensemble in Residence at Carthage College and the Metropolis School for the Performing Arts, Fifth House also frequently performs for college audiences, including workshops, residencies, and performances at Yale College, Northwestern University, DePaul University, University of Illinois-Chicago and the Colburn School.

Members of Fifth House Ensemble are also active as orchestral musicians, having performed with ensembles including the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Also active as educators, members of Fifth House serve on the faculties of Carthage College, the Merit School of Music, Trinity University, and DePaul University.

Speaking on behalf of Fifth House Ensemble will be ensemble members Crystal Hall, Adam Marks, and Melissa Snoza.

Speaker Announcement: Gwydion Suilebhan

Gwydion Suilebhan is a DC-based playwright, theater blogger, and digital communications strategist. He is the author of REALS, THE CONSTELLATION, ABSTRACT NUDE, LET X, THE FAITHKILLER, CRACKED, THE GREAT DISMAL, and BUGGY & TYLER. His plays have been commissioned, produced, workshopped, and read by theaters in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, DC, St. Louis, and Boston, including (among others) the Ensemble Studio Theatre, Theater J, Active Cultures, Source Theater Festival, HotCity Theatre, Midtown International Theatre Festival, Capital Fringe Festival, Maieutic Theatre Works, Towne Street Theatre, Point of Contention Theatre, Intentional Theatre Group, and Theater of the First Amendment. He has received two Individual Artist Fellowships from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and in 2009 he was a finalist for Outstanding Emerging Artist at the DC Mayor’s Arts Awards. He is currently serving as resident playwright for the Taffety Punk Theatre Company.

Gwydion lectures on theater and the arts around the country, most recently at the Center for Inquiry and the Ethical Society of St. Louis. His writing about theater appears on HowlRound, the journal of the New Play Institute at Arena Stage; 2am Theatre; TheatreFace.com; and www.suilebhan.com. By day he consults part-time for Threespot, a digital engagement agency crafting interactive experiences that connect large arts and culture organizations, major national and international non-profits, and federal government agencies with their audiences. His clients have included, among many others, the Peace Corps, the Department of State, XM Radio, and the National Academy of Sciences.

Speaker Announcement: Lisa Canning

Lisa Canning is a professional clarinetist, a serial arts entrepreneur and the founder of Entrepreneur The Arts and The Institute for Arts Entrepreneurship (IAE). The IAE is a 2-year graduate level program designed to teach artists how to build hybrid and entrepreneurial careers in the arts. Opening in Chicago in Sept 2011, The IAE was selected by The Aspen Institute and The State Department to participate in an International Entrepreneurship Program through President Clinton and Madam Albright’s initiative: Partners for a New Beginning.. The IAE's curriculum is being developed collaboratively with educators from The University of Illinois, School of Art + Design and The Beckman Research Institute. The IAE will open its virtual classroom in 2012 in Morocco via through teleconferencing as well as online through short courses, webinars, and educational video in English, French and Arabic. Applications are still being accepts for enrollment in Chicago for the fall 2011.

As a graduate of Northwestern University and Interlochen Arts Academy, Lisa built her first business from her dorm room at the age of 17 and has been building arts-based businesses ever since. In 2005 Lisa sold 4 retail stores, a distribution business and related real estate in order to focus on building her school. Currently, Lisa runs a 1 million dollar part-time professional clarinet shop that requires 15 hours a week to earn a six-figure income. In 2002 she was the recipient of the National Association of Women Business Owner’s Business Owner of the Year Award. In 2004, Lisa was honored by President George W. Bush as a recognized business leader for the State of Illinois. On April 13th, 2011 she was one of four entrepreneurs selected to speak at Judson College's World Leadership Forum following President George W. Bush.

As a clarinetist, Ms. Canning has performed with members of Chicago, Milwaukee, Florida and National Symphony Orchestras, as well as The Lyric Opera. “The clarinet- my art- has shaped me into who I am, and holds all of the creativity I need to become all that I can be.”

Speaker Announcement: David Dombrosky

David Dombrosky is the Executive Director of the Center for Arts Management and Technology (CAMT), an applied research center at Carnegie Mellon University investigating ways in which technology can improve and enhance the practice of arts management and, when appropriate, developing technology solutions to meet critical needs in the field. Additionally, he teaches courses on leadership challenges in arts management as well as U.S. cultural policy and advocacy for Carnegie Mellon’s Master of Arts Management program.

As part of his role at CAMT, David oversees Technology in the Arts, a collection of services focusing on exploring the intersection of arts management and technology through research, articles, podcasts, and professional development offerings. David has also presented technology workshops and webinars for a number of arts service organizations and convenings – most recently for Americans for the Arts, Chorus America, National Arts Marketing Project Conference, Performing Arts Exchange, and The Association of American Cultures.

Prior to joining the CAMT team, David spent eight years at the Southern Arts Federation, where he designed and managed both regional and national programs in the visual, performing, media and literary arts. In 2007, David received the Emerging Leader Award from Americans for the Arts.

David currently serves as the board president for the National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture. He holds a M.A. in Communication Studies and B.A. degrees in Psychology and Speech Communications from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

TEDing the Arts

TED and its many TEDx conferences around the world have been inspiring people for decades, and with the advent of web broadcast technology, it's only gotten bigger and better. But while there have been people from all over the arts involved and occasionally some talk about the arts industry, this is our chance to spread ideas to take the arts industry and kick it up a notch.

We'll be invading Symphony Center in Chicago on May 7th for an intense all-day event TEDx. We hope to gather speakers not just from the arts, but from those that see the arts as an essential part of life and business and have a stake in our success. We'll come together to answer the essential question: How do you transform one of the oldest industries in the world into the central vehicle of culture that it is meant to be?

Stay tuned in the next day or two for a call for speaker proposals.