By CARYN ROUSSEAU Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO November 9, 2009 (AP)

From Greektown to Chinatown, from the Polish Triangle to Pakistani restaurants on Devon Avenue, Chicago has a wealth of diverse ethnic neighborhoods to explore.

Chicago is known as a city of neighborhoods and Patricia Sullivan, manager of the city’s Chicago Neighborhood Tours program, said visitors need to leave the tourist-heavy Loop and Michigan Avenue areas to really see the different ethnic and cultural corners of the city.

“They’re distinct and they’re beautiful,” Sullivan said. “The architecture is different, as are the restaurants and the stores. It’s really a melting pot.”

By no means an exhaustive list, here are highlights of some of Chicago’s ethnic neighborhoods:

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Chicago is not just known for the Cubs and its phenomenal food, but also an amazing cultural mixture, superb sightseeing, and top-notch musical opportunities. The educational and musical experiences in which any group can partake are second to none.

An ensemble may experience Chicago’s famed Orchestra Hall by participating in the Percy Grainger Wind Band Festival or in the Windy City Youth Choral Festival. Other exciting options are to participate in a clinic with a renowned director from Northwestern University or the University of Chicago, march through the downtown area for the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, or attend a free concert at the Grant Park Music Festival in Millennium Park.

Music Celebrations prides itself on emphasizing the musical and educational aspects that musically stimulate. Along with having the best tour guides available, our groups also have access to perform in renowned venues that are the pinnacle of any musical experience.

Ensembles traveling to Chicago will see the very best sights and sounds that the Windy City has to offer. Ranging widely from ‘hanging’ from the edge of the Willis (Sears) Tower in its brand new Skydeck to partaking in the musical masterpieces that are provided by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. School groups enjoy spending a day at leisure at Six Flags Great America Amusement Park, viewing the exotic animals at the ever popular Brookfield Zoo, seeing the artifacts at the Field Museum or Museum of Science and Industry, or going to see an evening Show.

Our elite access to the very best Chicago has to offer can all but guarantee this tour will be one of the best tours your group has ever experienced. We are anxious to get some of our no obligation (and free!) materials sent to you, so please contact us for more information.

We’re pleased to announce the appointment of Colonel Dennis Layendecker, commander and music director of The United States Air Force Band, Washington, D.C., “America’s International Musical Ambassadors,” as clinician for Chicago’s first-annual Percy Grainger Wind Band Festival.

During his 24-year Air Force career, Colonel Layendecker has performed throughout America, the United Kingdom and Europe–from Los Angeles to New York, Vienna to London and Oslo to Bucharest.

Colonel Layendecker is a graduate of the Air War College, a distinguished graduate of the Air Command and Staff College, and a graduate of the Air Force Academic Instructor’s School and Squadron Officer School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. His military decorations include the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, Air Force Achievement Medal with oak leaf cluster, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with oak leaf cluster, Air Force Organizational Excellence Award with oak leaf cluster, National Defense Service Medal with bronze star, and the Global War on Terrorism Medal.

By Elizabeth Landau
CNN

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) — Whether entrenched in business meetings or stuck on a layover, you may find yourself in Chicago with limited time to spare. But this vibrant city has so much to offer that it’s worth using every free moment to see something new. Here are some of the things I managed slip in on a recent business trip to Chicago.

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Music Celebrations is a Master at creating youth choral festivals. Our kids loved their time (in the Windy City); they worked hard; they performed beautifully! It was a peak experience for all of us. Thank you for what you do for our youth!

I think I speak for all of us when I say we wouldn’t hesitate to participate with MCI in another youth choral festival in the future. Thank you and your team for a very memorable experience.

Marg Kruse
Tour Coordinator

The Festival performance was simply spectacular. I have no doubt my singers will remember that experience for the rest of their lives. Receiving an encore in Orchestra Hall, and performing with that many other singers from all over the country will catapult our young organization into something really special. I could already sense we had a different choir returning on the bus home! Thank you for this opportunity!

Andrea Ramsey
Artistic Director

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association named maestro Riccardo Muti on Monday as the next music director of the CSO, the 10th conductor to hold the prestigious post.

CSO Association President Deborah Card announced that Muti, 66, had signed a five-year contract to serve as music director beginning in September of the 2010-2011 season. The post has been vacant since Daniel Barenboim retired in 2006.

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Say you’re in the mood to indulge in a shoe-shopping spree — does a certain city pop to mind? How about an urban destination for a romantic weekend? Where in the U.S. can you find the most compelling museums or thrilling club scene? Is the city with the most attractive citizens also the one with the best opportunities for people-watching?

Headline News, Travel + Leisure and CNN.com spent three months collecting 60,000 votes, from local residents and visitors, on what they like (and don’t like) about 25 urban destinations across the country. Voters were asked for their opinions on culture, shopping, people, food and city characteristics — and they gave us more surprises than we anticipated.

Well, America has an opinion — and America has spoken.

Click here for the full report

Seeing Mickey & Co. gets more expensive for third time in past two years

Another reason why touring groups should avoid Orlando and perform in MCI’s National Festival of the States concert series instead!

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - Walt Disney World is raising ticket prices for the third time in two years, company officials announced.

An adult one-day, one-park pass will increase 6 percent, $67 to $71 beginning Sunday. Discount packages also will be affected, but the per-day cost could be less than $23 for adults who buy as large as a 10-day package.

The change is due to an annual planning cycle of travel wholesalers, tour organizers and commercial publications, Disney officials told the Orlando Sentinel.

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I just wanted to take a moment to thank you and your staff for building a trip for Blue Valley High School that resulted in such a fantastic experience for my students. Working under time and financial constraints, your staff set up a great trip, and our local guide filled in the missing pieces to create a series of experiences that were culturally relevant and interesting to high school students. The exchange concert and the Chinese New Year parade were highlights of the trip, but every event and experience was memorable! Thank you for a great experience!

Amy Fear-Bishop
Blue Valley High School Orchestra

Music Celebrations is pleased to announce the Windy City Youth Choral Festival, June 26 – 29, 2008. Youth choirs (both treble and mixed youth voices) will be invited and selected based upon recommendation and/or audition tape.

Rollo Dilworth

Nationally recognized artists and choral conductors Rollo Dilworth and Emily Ellsworth, both leaders in the field of youth choral music, will co-direct the event. Each will bring a dynamic directing style that will undoubtedly benefit the visiting choirs and their directors.

Emily Ellsworth

The Festival performance will take place on Saturday, June 28th in Chicago’s renowned Orchestra Hall, home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and will feature the talented young singers of the Glen Ellyn Children’s Chorus.

Orchestra Hall

Chicago proudly offers some of the world’s best museums, the highest buildings, the most renowned orchestras and choirs, the world-class Brookfield Zoo, a beautiful lakefront skyline, and of course, Chicago dogs and pizza! With its wonderful musical heritage, the Windy City will serve as the ideal host to choirs around the country for this magnificent festival experience.

Once again, Music Celebrations International has given us a tour to remember! They organized the trip to Chicago that our concert choir took last summer and it was awesome. From the beginning planning stages over a year ago to the follow up conversations after we returned home, they were always there to see to it that the tour was designed to our desires. Our stay in Chicago was the best and every meal and venue was fabulous!!! Thanks again for an experience that our choir will remember forever!!

-Kathy Enervold, Beulah High School Choir Director, North Dakota

There aren’t many man-made, breakable items in North America these days that are older than Richard Young’s viola.

His instrument was made in the mid-1500s back in the days, Young points out, when many in Europe thought the Earth revolved around the sun.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” he said recently by phone from the Chicago area. “This is one of the very first violas ever made.”

Richard is part of the world-class Vermeer Quartet whose players are resident faculty members at Northern Illinois University in Dekalb. The Quartet regularly performs in the Chicago area and viewing a performance of theirs would be an interesting complement to the National Festival of the States in Chicago.

Click here for the full article in the Syracuse Post-Standard about Richard’s viola and the Vermeer Quartet.