7200 North Rogers Ave
Chicago IL 60645
About Fifth House
The Chicago-based Fifth House Ensemble is a versatile and dynamic group praised by the New York Times
for its “conviction, authority, and finesse.” Having pioneered the art of narrative chamber music with its
signature series Black Violet, The Weaver’s Tales, and In Transit, 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.
As part of its 2014-2015 season, Fifth House Ensemble (5HE) presents four landmark events: following 20132014's footsteps, the long-awaited return of Black Violet: The Great Exodus of the Tamed, written and
illustrated by Ezra Claytan Daniels; Broken Text, a collaboration with Raven Theatre and DJ Ryan Searchl1te
that tells the stories of young people at the Cook County Temporary Juvenile Detention Center; Verklärte
Nacht, a program including the title piece with corresponding video art; and Nedudim, a musical journey in
collaboration with the Israeli-Spanish music group Baladino.
On tour, 5HE presents performances of Black Violet: The Great Exodus of the Tamed at the Detroit
Symphony Orchestra, the University of Northern Iowa, and the Civic Music Association.
Other
performances include the Manchester Symphony Society, Concordia University of Ann Arbor, Carthage
College, and three world premieres at Illinois Wesleyan University as part of their Sesquicentennial
celebration's Symposium of Contemporary Music. 5HE also returns to DePauw University in Greencastle,
Indiana for their second year as Ensemble in Residence.
Having established itself as a regular on the Chicago chamber music scene, Fifth House has performed on
some of the city’s most well-regarded series and venues including Ravinia, the Dame Myra Hess Memorial
Concerts, Mostly Music Series, Waukegan Chamber Music Society, Pritzker Pavilion, Byron Colby Barn,
PianoForte Chicago, Live from the Morse/WFMT, WFMT Impromptu, Sunday Salon Series at the Chicago
Cultural Center and Rush Hour Concerts at St. James. In addition to public performances, Fifth House
Ensemble reaches out to those unable to make it to the concert stage through its MusiCare series,
presenting concerts at the Self Help Center and Children’s Memorial Hospital.
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 has presented performances and
residencies at Chicago public schools and the Chicago Cultural Center in partnership with the
International Music Foundation, the Chicago Teachers’ Center, Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education,
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 Lowell and Stowe Elementary schools, among others, and
explore music and storytelling.
Currently Ensemble in Residence at Carthage College, Fifth House also frequently performs for college
audiences, including workshops, residencies, and performances at Yale College, Eastman School of Music,
New England Conservatory, Northwestern University, the Miller Theater at Columbia University, DePaul
University, and the Colburn School. In 2012, 5HE launched fresh inc, a one of a kind chamber music festival
that brings together composers and instrumentalists for side-by-side performances, receiving creative
presentation and entrepreneurship training.
Members of Fifth House Ensemble are also active as orchestral musicians, having performed with
ensembles including the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Peninsula Music Festival, 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.
phone: 224.715.6455
email: info@fifth-house.com
website: www.fifth-house.com
7200 North Rogers Ave
Chicago IL 60645
Mission
Fifth House Ensemble taps the collaborative spirit of chamber music to create engaging performances and
interactive educational programs, forging meaningful partnerships with unexpected venues, artists of other
disciplines, educational institutions, and audiences of every type.
Fifth House Ensemble accomplishes its mission and nurtures new and established audiences through a
commitment to the following core values:
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Performing at the highest artistic level through connective programming, dramatic interpretation
and creative energy.
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Innovating through collaboration, using cultural partnerships to develop artistic experiences
greater than the sum of their parts.
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Interacting with our audience, allowing each performance to connect in unexpected, thoughtprovoking and deeply personal ways.
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Upholding and revitalizing the chamber music repertoire through the performance of honored
classics, undiscovered works and new music from both renowned and emerging living composers.
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Fostering diversity in learning through customized arts integrated educational programs that
support curricular goals and individual development.
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Promoting musical invention and entrepreneurship through higher-education training programs for
the next generation of performers.
Fifth House Ensemble is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit public charity.
Why Chamber Music?
Portable:
Due their compact size, chamber music ensembles are able to perform in a wider variety of venues than
the traditional symphony orchestra. This enables musicians to meet audiences where they are; in parks,
theaters, wineries, corporate atria and even in the home.
Interactive:
Experiencing music in these types of locations creates a more casual and interactive environment, in which
audiences can truly feel a part of the music making process. Smaller audiences create a forum for
discussion and interplay between artist and listener. Also, the chamber music medium enables audiences
to experience the captivating interaction between the musicians themselves, as close communication is
vital without the aid of a conductor.
Adventurous:
In addition to being able to perform in venues not normally associated with chamber music, Fifth House is
able to create connections between its music and other art forms, highlighting the various ways that both
can be enhanced by these relationships. Fifth House’s unique instrumentation also offers a multitude of
possibilities for varying combinations of sound on the same program. Unlike members of the traditional
string quartet and wind quintet, Fifth House musicians can perform in any combination of musicians from 2
to 9, allowing the group to accommodate an enormous variety of performance possibilities. Audiences
experience how different combinations of instruments create unique moods and colors on the concert
stage.
phone: 224.715.6455
email: info@fifth-house.com
website: www.fifth-house.com
7200 North Rogers Ave
Chicago IL 60645
Artist Roster
Clark Carruth, viola
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BM University of Georgia, MM Northwestern University
Former member, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, South Bend Symphony Orchestra
Section Viola, Northwest Indiana Symphony
Faculty, Carthage College
Herine Coetzee Koschak, cello
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BM, MM Indiana University
Soloist, Indiana University, Nittany Valley Symphony, National Repertory Orchestra
Former member, Civic Orchestra of Chicago
Faculty, Carthage College
Former Faculty, Merit School of Music
Eric Heidbreder, bassoon
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BM Ball State University, MM DePaul University
Former member, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Muncie Symphony Orchestra, Laporte County
Symphony Orchestra
Performances, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, MusicNOW, Aspen Music Festival, Pacific Music
Festival
Charlene Kluegel
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BA Cornell University; MM, PD Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University; DMA in progress
Indiana University
Performances, Banff Centre, Kennedy Center, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, Carmel
Symphony Orchestra, Terre Haute Symphony, Evansville Philharmonic
Faculty, Indiana University String Academy, Fairview Project; Coda Academy
Pablo Moreno, oboe
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BM Javeriana University, Bogotá, Colombia; Artist Diploma Modern and Baroque Oboe Oberlin
Conservatory of Music; MM in progress DePaul University
2014 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition semi-finalist
Performances, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Boston Early Music Festival, Youth Orchestra of
the Americas, International Cartagena Music Festival, Ensemble Sinsonte, Alas de Prueba
Jani Parsons, piano
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BM Vancouver Academy of Music, MM University of Michigan, DMA University of Michigan
Performer's certificate, Royal Conservatory of Music
Semi-finalist, Eckhardt-Grammatté Contemporary Music Competition
Performances, Chan Centre for the Arts, Banff Centre for the Arts, Ravinia Festival
Faculty, University of Michigan, Interlochen Summer Arts Camp
Music Director, Advent Episcopal Church
phone: 224.715.6455
email: info@fifth-house.com
website: www.fifth-house.com
7200 North Rogers Ave
Chicago IL 60645
Eric Snoza, double bass
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BM, MM Eastman School of Music
Performances, OSSIA, Musica Nova, Ensemble X
Faculty, Merit School of Music, Carthage College, Music Institute of Chicago
Melissa Ngan Snoza, flute
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BM Eastman School of Music, MM Northwestern University
Prizewinner, NU Concerto Competition, NFA Orchestral Audition Competition
Flute/piccolo, Peninsula Music Festival
Former member, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Civic Orchestra of Chicago
Faculty, DePaul University
Former faculty, Carthage College
Valerie Whitney, french horn
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BM Wheaton College, MM Northwestern University, DMA candidate Northwestern University
Semi-finalist, International Horn Competition of America
John P. Paynter Endowed Fellowship, Northwestern University
Performances, Florida Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony
Faculty, Lake Forest College, John Hersey High School, Lincoln Park High School
Jennifer Woodrum, clarinet
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BM, MM Northwestern University
Prizewinner, Evanston Music Club, Chicago Musicians Club of Women, Union League Civic and
Arts Foundation, American Opera Society Competitions
Former member, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Rockford Symphony
Performances, South Bend Symphony, Grant Park Symphony, Elgin Symphony
Faculty, Carthage College, Trinity College
Dan Visconti, Composer
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BM, MM, additional studies at Cleveland Institute of Music and Yale School of Music
Recipient, Rome Prize, Berlin Prize, Naumburg Award, citations from the American Academy of Arts
and Letters
Commissions/Premieres, Kronos Quartet, Minnesota Orchestra, eighth blackbird, Scharoun
Ensemble of the Berlin Philharmonic
Performances, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Barbican Theatre (London), Sydney Opera House
2014 TED Fellow
phone: 224.715.6455
email: info@fifth-house.com
website: www.fifth-house.com
7200 North Rogers Ave
Chicago IL 60645
2013-2014 Season
PUBLIC PERFORMANCES
Perpetual Spark
Loops and Variations, Preston Bradley Hall, Chicago IL
78 E. Washington Street
Sunday 10/6/13, 3pm
Exotic Americas and Beyond
Park Ridge Public Library, Park Ridge IL
20 S. Prospect Street
Thursday 10/10/13, 7pm
Music on Madison, The Musical Offerings, Evanston IL
743 Custer Avenue
Friday 10/18/13, 7:30pm
DePauw University, Greencastle IN
Tuesday 11/5/13-Wednesday 11/6/13
Waukegan Chamber Music Society
The Family Piano Co., Waukegan IL
114 S. Genesee Street
Sunday 3/9/14, 7:30pm
Exotic Americas and Beyond
Piedmont College, Demorest GA
Friday 3/14/14
Oklahoma State University
Monday 4/21/14-Tuesday 4/22/14
SE Oklahoma State University
Wednesday 4/23/14-Friday 4/25/14
DePauw University, Greencastle IN
Friday 5/9/14-Sunday 5/11/14
Art + Science Fundraiser
Park West, Chicago IL
322 W. Armitage Avenue
Friday 11/8/13, 8pm
Black Violet Act I: The Leagues of Despair
Humboldt Park, Chicago IL
Friday 11/15/13, 6:30pm
Constellation Chicago, Chicago IL
3111 N. Western Avenue
Sunday 11/17/13, 8:30pm
Shaken and Stirred: Celebrate the Holidays with 5HE
Constellation Chicago, Chicago IL
3111 N. Western Avenue
Sunday 12/15/13, 8:30pm
Indiana University, Bloomington IN
Project Jumpstart Residency
Black Violet Act I: The Leagues of Despair
Saturday 1/25/14
Morton Arboretum
Arbor Room, Thornhill Education Center, Lisle IL
4100 Illinois Route 53
Sunday 2/2/14, 2:15pm
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL
Entrepreneurship Residency
Monday 2/3/14-Tuesday 2/4/14
Invoking the Muse
University of Illinois-Springfield, Springfield IL
Friday 2/14/14-Sunday 2/16/14
Siebert Chapel, Carthage College, Kenosha WI
2001 Alford Park Drive
Friday 2/21/14, 7:30pm
Grace United Methodist Church, Naperville IL
300 E. Gartner Road
Saturday 2/22/14, 7pm
Preston Bradley Hall, Chicago IL
78 E. Washington Street
Sunday 2/23/14, 3pm
Constellation Chicago, Chicago IL
3111 N. Western Avenue
Sunday 3/2/14, 8:30pm
phone: 224.715.6455
DePauw University, Greencastle IN
Tuesday 3/4/14-Wednesday 3/5/13
Luna de Cuernos
Grace United Methodist Church, Naperville IL
300 E. Gartner Road
Saturday 5/17/14, 7pm
Constellation Chicago, Chicago IL
3111 N. Western Avenue
Sunday 5/18/14, 8:30pm
Stowe Elementary School, Chicago IL
3444 W. Wabansia Avenue
Friday 5/23/14 6:30pm
Sounds of the South Loop
Second Presbyterian Church, Chicago IL
1936 S. Michigan Avenue
Wednesday 5/28/14, 6pm
Art Institute of Chicago
111 S. Michigan Avenue
Saturday 6/7/14, 11:30am & 1pm
fresh inc festival, Kenosha WI
June 9-22, 2014
EDUCATIONAL PERFORMANCES
Arts-Integrated Residencies
Lowell Elementary School, Chicago IL
2 performances, 10 classroom visits
DePreist Elementary School, Chicago IL
1 performance, 4 classroom visits
New Field Elementary School, Chicago IL
In collaboration with Ravinia’s Reach*Teach*Play
3 performances, 5 classroom visits
Arts-Integrated One-Shot! Performances
Young Composers Workshop, The Big Draw Chicago
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago IL
Saturday 10/12/13, 1pm
Music Can Tell A Story
Hauser Junior High School, Riverside IL
Thursday 1/30/14
International Music Foundation Live Music Now!
Preston Bradley Hall, Chicago IL
Thursday 3/20/14, 10:30am & 12pm
email: info@fifth-house.com
website: www.fifth-house.com
7200 North Rogers Ave
Chicago IL 60645
2014-2015 Season
PUBLIC PERFORMANCES
My PI Premiere
In colalboration with Kenosha Community Foundation
Harbor Park, Kenosha WI
Saturday 9/13/14, 11am
Black Violet Act II: The Great Exodus of the Tamed
Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Detroit MI
3711 Woodward Avenue
Saturday 9/27/14, 9pm
Constellation, Chicago IL
3111 N. Western Avenue
Sunday 10/5/2014, 8:30pm
Mayne Stage, Chicago IL
1328 W. Morse Avenue
Tuesday 10/7/2014, 7pm
University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls IA
1227 W. 27th Street
Friday 10/17/14, 8pm
Civic Music Association, Des Moines IA
1620 Pleasant Street
Saturday 10/18/14, 8pm
Luna de Cuernos
Carthage College, Kenosha WI
2001 Alford Park Drive
Wednesday 11/19/14, 7:30pm
One-Shot! Outreach Concerts
Manchester Symphony Society, North Manchester IN
109 N. Market Street
Friday 11/21/14
Broken Text
Dixon Stein Strings, Chicago IL
401 S. Michigan Avenue #801
Sunday 12/14/14, 3pm
Raven Theatre, Chicago IL
6157 N. Clark Street
Tuesday 5/19/15, 6:30pm
Raven Theatre, Chicago IL
6157 N. Clark Street
Wednesday, 5/20/15, 6:30pm
Salon Concert
Side Street Studio Arts, Elgin IL
15 Ziegler Court
Sunday, 1/18/15, 3pm
phone: 224.715.6455
Verklärte Nacht
Mayne Stage, Chicago IL
1328 W. Morse Avenue
Tuesday 2/17/15, 7pm
MCA Gallery
220 E Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL 60611
Tuesday, 2/24/15, 6pm
Sounds of the South Loop
Second Presbyterian Church, Chicago IL
1936 S. Michigan Avenue
Sunday, 3/8/15, 6pm
Adler After Dark
Adler Planetarium, Chicago, IL
1300 S. Lake Shore Drive
Thursday 11/20/14, 7pm
Our Favorite Things: A Holiday Party with 5HE
Constellation Chicago, Chicago IL
3111 N. Western Avenue
Saturday 12/6/14, 7pm
Dances Through Time
PianoForte Salon Series
PianoForte, Chicago IL
1335 S. Michigan Avenue
Sunday 1/25/15, 3pm
Tuesday’s @ 1
University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
1040 W. Harrison Street.
Tuesday, 3/10/15, 1pm
Lake Forest Lyrica
Lake Forest College, Lake Forest IL
555 N. Sheridan Road
Sunday 3/29/15, 3pm
Nineteenth Century Club
Oak Park, IL
178 Forest Avenue
Monday 4/13/15, 1:15pm
Sesquicentennial Celebration
Symposium of Contemporary Music
Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington IL
1312 Park Street
Friday 3/20/15, 7:30pm
Nedudim
Instituto Cervantes, Chicago IL
31 W. Ohio Street
Friday 4/17/15, 7pm
Mayne Stage, Chicago IL
1328 W. Morse Avenue
Tuesday 4/21/15, 7pm
DePauw University, Greencastle, IN
605 S. College Avenue
Saturday 4/25/15, 7pm
Concordia University, Ann Arbor, MI
4090 Gesses Road
Sunday 4/26/15, 7pm
Uncorked Spring Fundraiser
Mars Gallery, Chicago IL
1139 W Fulton Market
Friday, 5/15/15, 6pm
fresh inc festival, Kenosha WI
June 2015
email: info@fifth-house.com
website: www.fifth-house.com
7200 North Rogers Ave
Chicago IL 60645
EDUCATIONAL PERFORMANCES
Arts-Integrated Residencies
Orr Academy High School, Chicago IL
In collaboration with Raven Theatre
2 performances, 10 classroom visits
Cook County Temporary Juvenille Detention Center, Chicago IL
In collaboration with Raven Theatre & Freewrite Jail Arts
2 performances, 10 classroom visits
Senn & Sullivan High Schools, Chicago IL
In collaboration with Raven Theatre
2 performances, 8 classroom visits
Lowell Elementary School, Chicago IL
2 performances, 10 classroom visits
Stowe Elementary School, Chicago IL
2 performances, 10 classroom visits
Composition Residencies
Lowell Elementary School, Chicago IL
1 performance, 4 classroom visits
Stowe Elementary School, Chicago IL
1 performance, 4 classroom visits
Arts-Integrated One-Shot! Performances
Musical Opposites, Chicago Cultural Center,
Chicago, IL
78 E. Washington Street
Friday 12/19/14
Musical Opposites, Garfield Park Conservatory,
Chicago, IL
100 N. Central Park Avenue
Saturday 12/20/14
Walnut Hill School of the Arts
12 Highland Street, Natick, MA 01760
Monnday 5/18/15-Tuesday 5/19/15
phone: 224.715.6455
email: info@fifth-house.com
website: www.fifth-house.com
7200 North Rogers Ave
Chicago IL 60645
Curriculum-Integrated Residencies
Musical Ocean Ecosystems at Burley Elementary
In small groups, students researched one of four water ecosystems: the Florida Keys, Louisiana
(swamps/levees), Alaska’s coastline, and the Great Barrier Reef. They were responsible for presenting two
topics on their ecosystem, selected from the following: an overview of the ecosystem (including plant and
animal life, location, unique attributes of that ecosystem), background on a problem facing that
ecosystem (what is the problem, how is it measured, and what are related problems), possible reasons for
the problem (factors and supporting data), or previous efforts to lessen the problem and those outcomes
(newest research, suggestions for improving the problem). Simultaneously, students worked with Fifth House,
learning about the components of chamber music, musical vocabulary, and different periods of classical
music (and how to identify those periods). Using this new musical knowledge, students selected pieces of
chamber music (from recordings provided by FH) that represented their assigned ecosystem. They chose
several pieces to represent the ecosystem, the conflict/problems it faces, how the ecosystem functions
(how the parts interact), and how the problem is being resolved. Students were responsible for presenting
(through a “pre-concert talk,” a slide presentation, a narrative skit, or a podcast) their rationale for
choosing various pieces, and how the pieces related to their ecosystem.
The final performance consisted of members of Fifth House ensemble playing the students’ chosen
compositions with the students’ presentations. The performance was be open to the entire school
community, including students, teachers, administrators, and families.
Music and Poetry at Perez Elementary
Over the course of six weeks, students worked with members of Fifth House Ensemble to explore the links
between poetry and chamber music. Students participated in active, guided listening and in writing
activities that supported their listening. Students learned music vocabulary to better describe what in the
music led them to draw their conclusions when listening to each example. In small groups of 2-3, students
wrote a poem on a subject of their choice in a style/form of their choosing (based on the types of poetry
they had been studying over the course of the poetry unit). Students had several musical examples to
choose from, and either paired their poem with a piece of music that they felt represented it well, or used
a selected piece of chamber music as inspiration to write their poem.
For the final performance, students set their poem to their chosen musical composition by creatively
breaking up the poem and the music. Students then presented their poem (with musical accompaniment)
in an all-school performance in a Poetry Slam. As a preface to the poetry readings, students also
presented a short oral report/rationale on the process of choosing the music and writing the poems, and
how they put the two art forms together.
Multicultural Influences in Western Music at Mather High School
Fifth House Ensemble partnered with the advanced band and orchestra classes and music directors at
Mather High School for a six-week, ten-visit residency that centered around world music. In groups of 3-6,
students selected a country whose music they wanted to research. They then dissected parts of the music
(including form, scale and melodic content, and instruments unique to that music) in order to compose
their own piece of music for their instruments. In classroom visits, members of Fifth House reviewed parts of
a composition though several daily lessons and exercises. Students had specific assignments to acquaint
them with each part of the music to provide a starting point for their compositional process. After the
group lessons, students divided into their groups and began by researching their chosen music. After
deciding on one or two examples to use as models, students began taking apart the music and isolating its
building blocks (ostinato rhythms, whether the music was in a specific form, if it used different types of
scales or tonality, and if there were ethnic instrumental sounds that they could re-create on their own
instruments). Then, students composed simple melodies, rhythms, and accompaniments, and rehearsed
their compositions with members of Fifth House and their teachers.
The residency culminated in a final all-school performance in the auditorium where students both
performed their original compositions and spoke about the culture they chose to represent, the music of
the culture, and their compositional process.
phone: 224.715.6455
email: info@fifth-house.com
website: www.fifth-house.com
7200 North Rogers Ave
Chicago IL 60645
Educational Performances (K-12)
The Heartbeat of Music
Fifth House Ensemble uses a variety of instruments and musical styles to introduce active listening and
interdisciplinary connections. In this interactive performance, Fifth House explores how music has a pulse,
or “heartbeat,” and how that heartbeat pumps life into each piece of music. Students learn to relate
elements of music to parts of the circulatory system and see how a chamber music group works together
to perform, just as their hearts and lungs works to keep their bodies moving.
Terms to include:
Pulse, tempo, accelerando/ritardando, ostinato, rhythm, musical instruments (including flute, oboe,
clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, viola, cello, piano), melody, accompaniment, heart, pulse,
breathing/respiration, blood cell, oxygen.
Music Can Tell a Story
Fifth House demonstrates the ways in which music can tell a story through sound, and how composers use
a variety of instruments, tempo markings, and other techniques to create character, setting, and plot. The
ensemble pairs chamber music and text, and leads students through a series of small and large group
activities. The audience participates in a “choose your own adventure” project at the end of the
performance, culminating in a presentation of their original storyline inspired by music.
Terms to include:
Pulse, tempo, accelerando/ritardando, ostinato, rhythm, musical instruments (including flute, oboe,
clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, viola, cello, piano), melody, accompaniment, character, plot, setting,
dialogue.
Music in Motion: The Physics of Music
This program features a combination of musicians from Fifth House ensemble (winds, strings, piano, and
horn) playing a variety of chamber music styles and periods to demonstrate links between universal physics
and math concepts and instrumental music. Students learn how to graph speed and acceleration as they
hear it in music, explore whether music has it’s own momentum, and attempt to defy music’s natural
“gravity.”
Terms to include:
Pulse, tempo, accelerando/ritardando, ostinato, rhythm, musical instruments (including flute, oboe,
clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, viola, cello, piano), melody, accompaniment, momentum, laws of motion,
acceleration, gravity.
A Well-Balanced Musical Diet
Come one, come all, to the most nutritious show in Chicago! Laugh and sing, dance to the beat, learn to
tell healthy food from a treat. This 45-minute interactive performance will have students clamoring to eat
well as they walk away with nutrition on their mind. In addition to exploring a wide spectrum of chamber
music, this program will cover food diversity, healthy choices within food groups and equating an active
body with a healthy body. Let Fifth House lead the way in this nutritious musical adventure!
Terms to include:
Pulse, tempo, accelerando/ritardando, ostinato, rhythm, musical instruments (including flute, oboe,
clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, viola, cello, piano), melody, accompaniment, calories, health, balanced
diet, immune system, cardiovascular, ostinato, chamber music, cause/effect, scale.
phone: 224.715.6455
email: info@fifth-house.com
website: www.fifth-house.com
7200 North Rogers Ave
Chicago IL 60645
Selected Performance History: K-8 Educational Programming
Grades 4-8 – Music and Animation Residency
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12-week residency, class of 33 8th graders
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2 performances, 600 students each
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Walt Disney Magnet School, Chicago IL
Grade 4-8 – Poetry and Music
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6-week residency, two classes of 28 8th graders
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10 classroom visits, plus opening and closing performances, 200 students each
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Perez School, Chicago, IL
Grades K-3 – Music and Body Systems
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6-week residency, class of 25 3rd graders (including hearing-impaired special ed class)
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10 classroom visits, plus opening and closing performances, 300 students each
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Carpenter School, Chicago, IL
Grades K-8 – Music Can Tell a Story
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8 performances, 3000 students grades K-8
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Bridge, Waters and Hibbard Schools, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago IL
Project Educational Consultants
Literacy Specialist, Dominican University: Dr. Penny Silvers
Literacy Specialist, Author: Dr. Donna E. Norton
Professor, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Music: Caen Thomason - Redus
Educational Outreach, Eastman School of Music Arts Leadership Program: Dave Mancini
Organizational Partnerships
The International Music Foundation – educational programming, curriculum design and mentoring
Metropolis Performing Arts Center – chamber music institute, master classes, ensemble-in-residence
Ravinia Reach*Teach*Play Program – 5HE serves as the only chamber ensemble on Ravinia’s teaching artist
roster, curriculum design and classroom visits
Chicago Teachers’ Center – curriculum design and classroom visits
UW-Milwaukee – educational outreach training for music students
Endorsements
“This residency was just the twist that my poetry unit needed. Students engaged in creative, integrated
lessons that had clear purpose, and steadily built students’ knowledge and confidence to the the point
that they were ready to read, recite, and explain the choices they made when writing and what inspired
that writing. It was amazing!”
Dan Reinholdt, 8th grade teacher, Perez School
“I was really proud of what I did with my group for this animation I really understand what people have to
go through when they make a cartoon and have put the music or words [to] it. I am glad that I had a
chance to do this project because I got to listen to music that I really don’t listen to in my everyday life.”
8th-Grade Student, Walt Disney Magnet School
phone: 224.715.6455
email: info@fifth-house.com
website: www.fifth-house.com
7200 North Rogers Ave
Chicago IL 60645
Higher Education Residencies/Workshops
As part of its mission, Fifth House Ensemble offers higher-education residencies to colleges and universities
with the following goals:
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Promoting the performance of classical chamber music at the highest possible artistic level
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Training students in chamber music rehearsal techniques, score reading and dramatic analysis
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Providing tools for students to transition from student to professional life
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Encouraging musical innovation and entrepreneurship
We encourage schools to partner with us in creating a residency that serves its students and community at
large. In addition to concert performances, the following are examples of events that can be part of a Fifth
House residency. We are also happy to create new programs to suit the needs of your institution.
In addition to on-campus events, many Fifth House residencies include community programs at area
schools and non-traditional venues, allowing the residency to have community-wide impact and allowing
students to see every aspect of our process in action.
Masterclasses: Ensemble musicians are available to teach individual applied instrument and chamber
ensemble masterclasses. We will focus on interpretation, forming a unified sound, rehearsal and practice
techniques.
Open Rehearsal: This lecture/demonstration provides students with an inside look into the rehearsal process.
Watch the ensemble work together to interpret the score, troubleshoot technical issues and refine
interpretation as a group.
Roundtable Discussion: Transitioning from College to Career: In this roundtable discussion, ensemble
members share their experiences making the transition from students to professionals in the music field.
Topics include finding freelance and teaching opportunities, building a full career from multiple income
streams, the orchestral audition process, networking and self-promotion.
Arts Start-Up: For those students who are interested in starting their own ventures, this discussion provides
tools and ideas for getting started. We discuss the steps we took in forming Fifth House Ensemble, a not-forprofit charitable organization, and our sister company, Amarante Ensembles, LLC, a for-profit entertainment
business. After an interactive exercise designed to help participants find their artistic voice, we share our
philosophy of arts as service, and ways to create business and funding structures that support your artistic
vision. Topics include selecting a business structure, networking, marketing via the web and other sources,
the art/business work balance and resources for continued learning.
Putting Your Audience Center Stage: As classical musicians, much of what we focus on has to do with
crafting programs. Mostly Mozart? Basically Beethoven? Russian Night? Symphony…Fantastic! We know
how to create thematic connections between musical works, but is that what it takes to engage new
audiences in our art? This workshop teaches the basics of psychographic audience analysis through handson, interactive activities and case studies. Understanding audiences allows artists put the public at the
center of not only their marketing efforts, but their program design itself.
Curriculum-Integration on Stage and in the Classroom: 5HE demonstrates live examples of the ensemble’s
curriculum-integrated programming. Feel like a kid again as you participate in small and large-group
activities, presented in the same way as they have been in classrooms and assemblies throughout the
Chicago area and nationwide. We share our philosophy as teaching artists, techniques for engaging
students with limited musical backgrounds in composition activities, and practical examples of how to
design lessons that create connections between musical concepts and core curricular subjects.
phone: 224.715.6455
email: info@fifth-house.com
website: www.fifth-house.com
7200 North Rogers Ave
Chicago IL 60645
What Others are Saying about Fifth House Ensemble
“…conviction, authority, and finesse…” - New York Times
"You have to admire the sheer imaginative chutzpah these young performers bring to their envelopepushing enterprise." - John Von Rhein, Chicago Tribune
"Young chamber groups devoted to shaking up the traditional concert experience are blossoming in
Chicago, and one of the best is the Fifth House Ensemble... They are a talented crew, and they brought
spontaneity and hair-trigger responsiveness to the music of Black Violet." - Wynne Delacoma, Musical
America
"In Fifth House, students had a prime example of young musicians teaming to create careers for
themselves; they had relevant personal stories to share as well as talent to exhibit, a potent package. The
musicians (five string players, five winds, and a pianist) performed like the talented young pros they are,
with enthusiasm and high quality cohesion. I must admit that when the story came to a halt, I yearned for
more. I wanted to find out what happens to Violet. "
- Peter Jacobi, Bloomington Herald-Times
"5HE’s performance of Luna this past Sunday at Constellation demonstrated the possibilities – and success –
of combining music and visual elements into a singular performance. As a quintet, 5HE performed flawlessly
and with palpable energy in (Mario) Lavista’s Cinco Danzas Brevas. Blending interdisciplinary art forms can
be a treacherous undertaking, but Chicago’s Fifth House Ensemble seems to have a knack for combining
music with visual narrative. Becan and 5HE succeeded in creating a cohesive artistic product and
transformative concert experience." - Elliot Mandel, ChicagoMusic.org
"Whether it's screening cartoons of a rat braving the plague-ravaged streets of London or performing
Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time against astral projections in Adler Planetarium, 5HE goes all in with
kooky, multisensory programs. Now the local chamber troupe turns to a more zeitgeisty add-on: social
media." - Mia Clarke, Time Out Chicago
"the superb local classical music group Fifth House Ensemble launches another of its beguilling conceptual,
multi-media excursions, which function as subversive means to get people to hear classical music too often
ignored outside of high ticket venues." - Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader
“Tone production was generally beguiling, and the single movement played in unison had precision with
the right amount of edge.” - Chicago Tribune
“Fifth House Ensemble’s gorgeously controlled account of Brahms’s Clarinet Trio imbued the late work with
the quietly compelling voices and guarded pathos of which performances so often deprive it.” – TimeOut
Chicago
“The quartet played an excellent and difficult piece quite wonderfully--with a fine sense of ensemble and a
unity of expression that I found quite compelling. Beyond that, I thought the group played with a lovely
resonance built both upon healthy individual techniques but also upon a very welcome sensitivity to very
highly-developed sensitivity to pitch across the octaves.” - Donald Casey, Dean, DePaul University School
of Music
“In an era where we risk accountability driving out creativity, it is wonderful to have a program that allows
students to learn content at high levels within a fine arts framework. 5HE has demonstrated excellence in
using music to do what music does best - reaching minds and hearts.” - Barbara Kent, Principal, Burley
School
"…constantly moving in unexpected and fantastic directions..." - Elliot Mandel, Gapers Block
phone: 224.715.6455
email: info@fifth-house.com
website: www.fifth-house.com