How Music Institute of Chicago Academy Students Serve Their Community

Community outreachis an important part of the Academy experience. Each year, Academy students share their music far beyond the concert stage, bringing performances to senior living communities, libraries, churches, schools, benefit concerts, and other community organizations. We are proud to celebrate another remarkable year of community outreach by our students!

June 2026

• Academy students Ingrid Updegraff, violinist, and Edie Park, pianist, and other musician friends performed on the Tune the Future fundraising concert to support MIC’s Third Coast Suzuki Strings and Bach to School (WFMT). The concert was hosted by Musicians for Hope in Nichols Concert Hall.
• Cellist Lavie Huang and violinist Eliana Song performed on the Morning Music Concert Series at the Chicago Botanic Garden. They shared the program with cello faculty member Yuyoung Chung and cello students Henry and Ryan Lim. Over one hundred audience members enjoyed the music on a beautiful day,

May 2026

• Pianist Simon Cegys, cellist Katarina Kenney, and the Tikaani Quartet, (Romeo Vashishth, Sebastian Manning, Neena Agrawal, and Katarina Kenney), performed at the Merion Senior Living Residence in Evanston, Illinois. 
• Sebastian Manning, Romeo Vashishth, and Neena Agrawal performed a concert of violin and viola duos and trios hosted by the Quincy Civic Music Association in Quincy, Illinois. 
• Academy alumnus Matthew Lipman, violist, and Paloma Furst Chavira, violinist, performed on An Evening with Matthew Lipman, a benefit concert for the Suburban Youth Symphony Orchestra at First Presbyterian Church, Chicago Heights. Matt Lipman, Paloma, and others performed and helped to raise funds for the Robin Lipman Memorial Scholarship Fund (Matt’s mother), with an incredibly devoted audience. Proceeds exceeded $6,000 in her memory.

• The Lumina String Quartet (Ingrid Updegraff, Sylvia Pine, Paloma Furst Chavira, and Lavie Huang) and the Vallora String Quartet (Matthew Kim, Annalise Song, Brayden Wu, and Ella Wimbicus) performed on the Orion Ensemble Concert, in Nichols Concert Hall.
• Violinist Sylvia Pine performed a recital at The Checkout as a fundraiser for Great Lakes Pigeon Rescue. The concert raised more than $10,000!
   

April 2026

• Violinist Alexandra Dreesen and pianist Edie Park performed a full program on the Steinway Young Artist Concert Series at the Skokie Public Library. The free concerts draw classical music audience members from the north shore suburbs.
• Pianist Noah Kim and the Avelira Piano Quartet (Roy Wu, Alexandra Dreesen, Olivia Zheng, and Elliot Jung), performed on a fundraising concert to support CASA Lake County, a nonprofit that advocates for children who have experienced abuse or neglect. The event was held during Child Abuse Prevention Month at the North Suburban Church in Deerfield. Noah’s parents were instrumental in curating the program.
• The Tikaani Quartet (Romeo Vashishth, Sebastian Manning, Neena Agrawal, and Katarina Kenney) performed Brahms, Bartok, and Haydn at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Oak Park, Illinois. 
• Violist Neena Agrawal, cellists Lavie Huang and Roy Wu, and violinist Paloma Furst Chavira, participated in the Chicago Youth in Music Festival master classes, at venues across Chicago. CSO artists provided the concerts.
• Violinist Paloma Furst Chavira was selected for the Equity Arc Pathways Festival Orchestra. The Equity Arc Pathways Orchestra is tuition-free, and Equity Arc covers travel and hotel expenses for accepted musicians. The Equity Arc Pathways Orchestra is an ensemble composed of young artists who study at Pathways programs across the country.

March 2026

• Violist Neena Agrawal and cellist Katarina Kenney performed selections of Bach at The Merion Senior Living Residence. Katarina closed the concert with Dvořák, with collaborative pianist Sung Hoon Mo. 
• Academy students Matthew Kim, Eliana Song, Alexandra Dreesen, Roy Wu, and Luke Montzka performed Manuel Ponce's “Estrellita” on the annual One Composer, One Community Celebration Concert in Nichols Concert Hall. 
• The Stars of Tomorrow Concert on the Pilgrim Chamber Players program in Highland Park welcomed Academy students this year. Duo Aureo (Eliana Song and Simon Cegys) performed Brahms and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Violinist Neal Kotamarty Eisfeldt performed the first movement of Beethoven’s beloved “Ghost” Trio with Pilgrim’s own Steven Honigberg and guest pianist Sung Hoon Mo, and pianist Edie Park and violinist Ingrid Updegraff performed the first movement of Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in C Minor with Steven Honigberg. 
• Violinist Ingrid Updegraff performed on the Steinway Young Artist Series at the Skokie Public Library. 
• Avelira Piano Quartet (Olivia Zheng, Alexandra Dreesen, Roy Wu, and Elliot Jung) performed on the Orion Ensemble’s farewell Concert in Nichols Concert Hall.

February 2026

• Soloist artists Roy Wu, cello, Simon Cegys, piano, and cellists Ella Wimbiscus and Lavie Huang performed a full hour of classical music at a private house concert in Winnetka, IL. Guests enjoyed Bruch, Beethoven, Chopin, and Dvořák, as well as other classical favorites. 
• Violist Neena Agrawal performed at the Lutheran Church of the Ascension in Northfield.
• Violinists Annalise and Eliana Song performed at the Skokie Public Library Young Steinway Concert Series. The free concerts draw classical music audience members from the north shore suburbs.

January 2026

• Violinist Matthew Kim performed a solo recital at the Merion Senior Living Residence. The program included Tchaikovsky, Bach, Paganini, and Mozart. Matthew also played at the 10 o’clock service at the Lutheran Church of Ascension in Northfield.
• Violinist Sylvia Pine led a period instrument baroque orchestra for a performance by Seattle Historical Arts, including being leader/soloist for Vivaldi's "L'estro armonico" Concerto No. 11 in D Minor. 
• Violinist Alexandra Dreesen, cellist Felix Pipal, pianist Elliot Jung, violinist Salvador Stein, and pianist Simon Cegys performed in the Crystal Ballroom at the Merion Senior Living Residence in Evanston, IL.

December 2025

• Violinists Matthew Kim and Sylvia Pine performed holiday favorites at the Driehaus Museum’s annual member concert, as well as the fan favorite Somewhere Over the Rainbow from the Wizard of Oz.
• Violinist Paloma Furst Chavira performed at the Sunrise of Flossmoor where seniors enjoyed her spending time with the audience after the event. Paloma covered Beatles, Bach, and Bruch, on a varied program that pleased everyone.
• Violist Neena Agrawal performed at The Carrington in Lincolnwood with musician friends from school. The harpist played solo works for the residents, and then other school friends joined them for holiday music.

November 2025

• Pianist Edie Park and violinist Sebastian Manning performed at MIC’s Fall Fundraiser in Nichols Concert Hall., raising funds for MIC scholarships. 
• Cellist Lavie Huang performed Eugene Friesen's Shadowplay (2006) at BLU Church in Park Ridge, Il.

• Cellist Katarina Kenney, 2025 Stars of Tomorrow Competition winner, was invited to perform on the Milwaukee Symphony Youth Concert Series - Journey of Imagination, at the beautiful Bradley Symphony Center. She performed Tchaikovsky Pezzo Capriccioso, Opus 62 on six performances, reaching a total of 9,000 students. Now that is community service! 
• Violist Brayden Wu performed at the Lutheran Church of the Ascension in Northfield during its Sunday morning service, playing a Bach suite movement.
• Violinist Lauren Kim performed on the Young Steinway Concert Series in Petty Auditorium at the Skokie Library.  The Young Steinway concerts showcase young people with extraordinary talent, giving local audiences the chance to enjoy first-class music, for free, close to home. 
• Violinist Sylvia Pine performed at The Mather in Evanston with pianist Jeffrey Panko. Sylvia performed Beethoven Sonata No. 7 in C Minor and the first movement of the Saint-Saens Violin Concerto No. 3 in B Minor.
• Violinist Neal Eisfeldt did an encore performance at Covenant Living in Windsor Park with Brahms, Waxman, Jessie Montgomery, and more. Neal has performed there several times to great fanfare from the audience.

October 2025

• The Meraviglia Quartet (Elle Cho, Lauren Kim, Emily Chen, and Lucy Wu) performed at the Art of Masquerade Gala celebrating 70 years of the Deer Path Art League, at the David Adler Estate in Lake Forest. Guests wore dazzling and colorful masks throughout the night. 
• Violist Neena Agrawal performed solo Bach at the Lutheran Church of the Ascension in Northfield, IL. She also performed on a master class given by Antoine Tamestit for the second year in a row during his Chicago Symphony Orchestra residency. She played the first movement of the Walton Concerto. 
• Musicians for Hope partnered with WFMT’s Bach to School Program to sponsor a dollar-to-dollar matching challenge. This challenge supported underfunded music programs in the Chicagoland area. Musicians for Hope was founded by Academy graduates Matthew Hahn, Jan Vargas Nedvetsky, Simon Updegraff, and current student, pianist Edie Park. For the 2025-2026 school year, Edie will take over as Executive Director and violinist Ingrid Updegraff is the Director of the Community Outreach. 
• Cellist Katarina Kenney performed at the Charter Senior Living of Madison, WI, where she regularly volunteers with school peers through a community volunteer club. She typically spends time doing craft activities with the residents, so arranging for a musical interlude with the residents was a special treat. 

• Pianist Edie Park performed Beethoven’s Fantasia for Piano, Chorus & Orchestra, Op.80 with the Fox Valley Orchestra at Crimi Auditorium at Aurora University, IL.
• The Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Negaunee Music Institute and mentor Jessie Montgomery took six young composers and guided them through workshops of new pieces throughout the year. The Young Composers Initiative culminated in a concert featuring fellows of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago as performers. The play list includes composer Sylvia Pine’s War for wind quintet. 

September 2025

• Pianist Edie Park and violinist Sebastian Manning performed a full recital at the Merion Senior Living Residence in Evanston, kicking off a year of Academy community service. 
• Violinists Annalise Song and Eliana Song performed violin solos/duets at the Evanston Chamber of Commerce Awards Ceremony in the Nichols Concert Hall lobby for chamber guests. 
• Violinist Elle Cho performed live on WFMT’s Introductions, a classical music program showcasing talented high school musicians in the Chicago area. 

What a fantastic year for these dedicated musicians. Through the demands of rehearsals, competitions, master classes, music theory, and schoolwork, they continue to find meaningful ways to share their passion for music beyond the concert hall.

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