One Composer, One Community
One Composer, One Community, first launched at the Music Institute of Chicago in 2021, focuses on the life and work of a single underrepresented composer over the course of an academic year.
During the 2025-2026 school year MIC will celebrate and explore the music of Manuel María Ponce (1882-1948), one of Mexico’s foremost composers, widely acknowledged as a pioneer of musical nationalism and recognized for bridging the gaps between categories like popular, classical, folk and orchestral. His prolific catalogue contains more than 300 compositions. He was called the “creator of the modern Mexican song.”
Especially recognized for his contributions to the guitar repertoire, he also wrote a substantial number of composition for the piano as well as chamber music and orchestral works.
This program is entirely funded by people like you!
Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous trustee,
your gift to One Composer, One Community will be matched, doubling your impact!
Make One Composer, One Community Possible
Your gift brings the unique contributions of gifted composers from every corner of the world to thousands of students each year. Thank you!
One Composer, One Community Celebration Concert
Featuring the music of Manuel María Ponce
Friday, March 6 at 7:30 PM
Nichols Concert Hall
1490 Chicago Avenue, Evanston
Over the course of the academic year, students and teachers from across the Music Institute of Chicago will study and perform works by Ponce, culminating with a free, public concert.
This year's concert features a selection of Ponce's groundbreaking work performed by Music Institute faculty, including Guitar Department Chair Brad Conroy and piano faculty Dr. Marie Alatalo; a string quintet from the Academy, the Music Institute's pre-college conservatory, performing Ponce's “Estrellita”; and students of all ages on piano, guitar, vocals, and more.
Images from One Composer, One Community 2025 concert featuring MIC students, faculty, and special guests.
In addition to student and faculty performances, guest company Mexican Folkloric Dance Company of Chicago performs to Ponce's work—noteworthy for synthesizing concert music and Mexican popular song and folklore—and to music in the Mexican folkloric tradition. Founded to preserve and celebrate Mexican cultural heritage through the artistry of traditional dance, the company has been captivating audiences for more than four decades. MFDC has become a vital cultural bridge connecting Mexican Americans across generations, educating broader audiences about the richness of Mexican traditions and maintaining the integrity of folkloric dance through rigorous training and passionate performances.
Keynote speaker is Jeordano Martínez, music director of the Naperville Chorus and professor emeritus at North Central College, where he served as director of choral activity from 1987 until retiring in 2013. He introduced instrumental music and music education at the College, enabling the department’s explosive growth. Under his direction, the Naperville Chorus has grown to 120 singers and performed with the DuPage Symphony Orchestra, The Chicago Bar Association Orchestra and Chorus, the Elgin Symphony, The Young Naperville Singers, and the Pete Ellman Band and toured to Spain, Ireland, Portugal, Poland, Austria, Italy, and the Czech Republic.
Professional Development
Each year the One Composer, One Community initiative includes professional development opportunities for faculty and colleague arts organizations. This year includes a lively online panel discussion about the work and legacy of Manuel María Ponce featuring special guests Jorge Federico Osorio and Elbio Rodriguez Barilari.
About The 2026 Panelists
JORGE FEDERICO OSORIO
Recipient of the prestigious Medalla Bellas Artes, the highest honor granted by Mexico’s National Institute of Fine Arts, pianist Jorge Federico Osorio has been lauded throughout the world for his superb musicianship, powerful technique, vibrant imagination, and deep passion.
He has performed with many of the world’s leading ensembles, including the National Symphony and symphony orchestras of Atlanta, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Detroit, Fort Worth, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Seattle, and the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico; the Israel, Warsaw, and Royal Philharmonics; RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra (Dublin), Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai (Torino), São Paulo Symphony Orchestra (OSESP), Moscow State Orchestra, Orchestre Nationale de France, Philharmonia Orchestra, and the Concertgebouw Orchestra.
He has collaborated with such distinguished conductors as Marin Alsop, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, James Conlon, Bernard Haitink, Manfred Honeck, Mariss Jansons, Lorin Maazel, Ken-David Masur, Juanjo Mena, Jorge Mester, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Robert Spano, Klaus Tennstedt, and Jaap van Zweden, among many others.
ELBIO RODRÍGUEZ BARILARI
Composer, musician, and professor, Elbio Rodríguez Barilari was born in 1953 in Montevideo, Uruguay, where he studied at the Conservatório Universitario before continuing his education in Brazil at the Cursos Latinoamericanos de Música Contemporáne.
His concert tours have taken him to Asia, North, Central and South America, and Europe, where he has performed to critical acclaim. In addition, since settling in the United States in 1998, Barilari has lectured at the University of Chicago and the Instituto Cervantes. He is currently on the faculty of the University of Illinois at Chicago. As a composer, Barilari has received commissions from the Grant Park Music Festival, Concertante di Chicago, Chicago Park District, and Orquesta Filarmonica de Montevideo.
In addition to works for orchestra, chamber ensembles and solo instruments, he has provided scores for more than forty plays in the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Barilari is the radio host of WFMT's (98.7 FM) Fiesta program .
The History of One Composer, One Community
The Music Institute of Chicago uses the power of music to educate, inspire, and bring comfort to the communities we serve.
Through our One Composer, One Community initiative, MIC partners with a composer and connects MIC student musicians of all ages and levels with their music.
In May 2020, nearly a hundred faculty and staff members gathered to reflect on how MIC could improve diversity and inclusion within our environment. A Diversity and Inclusion Working Group, facilitated by Trustees Carlos Cardenas and Barbara Sereda and comprised of a diverse representation of faculty, staff, students, alumni, and current families, formed.
As part of this process, MIC developed the "One Composer, One Community" program, a curriculum and related performances relevant to and celebrating communities.
Each year, MIC focuses on the music of an under-represented composer that will be highlighted in MIC teaching studios and on stage at Nichols Concert Hall.
Featured Composers
William Grant Still: 2021-2022
Heitor Villa Lobos: 2022-2023
Reena Esmail: 2023-2024
Florence Price: 2024-2025
Partnerships
For more information contact:
- Matt Boresi, Director of Special Initiatives