From Blockbuster Movies to Lollapalooza: How Chicago Philharmonic Is Breaking Genre Barriers and Changing the Game for Orchestras

The Chicago Philharmonic, now celebrating its 35th season, is asking a very important question: How do we make orchestra concerts for everyone? The orchestra, founded in 1989 by principal musicians of the Lyric Opera Orchestra, has long occupied a unique space within the city’s performing arts ecosystem.  The organization eschews the traditional audition/tenure system for […]

by The Chicago Philharmonic Society

How Volunteering Can Benefit Your Body, Mind and Community

Research has shown that social connectedness can improve physical health and emotional well-being, and even increased life span. The Volunteer Center provides a path to making such connections and fostering positive emotion through volunteering. Here’s how. Volunteering enhances well being It is a scientifically accepted premise that contributing time and effort to a cause greater than oneself […]

by Bridget Lewis

GO Campaign Started with a Goal to Help 20 Kids. 2 Decades Later, They've Helped 200,000 — How to Support Their Exponential Growth

In 2006, former attorney, U.S. Senate Aide and Hollywood screenwriter Scott Fifer started what would become GO Campaign — a small nonprofit — to help 20 street kids he met in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Driven by the singular goal of assisting those 20 kids, most of them orphans, Fifer dedicated himself to supporting the dreams and […]

by Rami Ghandour

You Said It: Japan’s 3.11 and the Road to Recovery  

Japan holds a very special place in my personal and professional life. I have walked the Nakasendo, hiked the Michinoku Coastal Trail; paddled the mangroves of Amami and Iriomotejima; climbed Mt. Fuji; bathed in countless onsen and sento for my book, “The Way of the Japanese Bath”; documented the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics in the […]

by Mark Edward Harris

You Said It: Failing Court Systems and the 'Invisible' Scars of Coercive Control — The Dirty Little Secret of (Non-Physical) Domestic Abuse

As part of our “You Said It” Op-Ed series, we invite contributors to submit their opinion pieces, like the one that follows. Have a story? Here’s how to submit it. Survivors of abusive relationships know that you can be hurt without ever having been hit. You can be a survivor of domestic abuse without any physical […]

by Dr. Robin Stern & Lynne Singer Redleaf