In Regenstein Recital Hall this weekend, the party won’t stop.
The second annual Music Marathon will be presented by the Student Advisory Board of Northwestern’s Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music. The event will begin at 8 p.m. on April 30 and continue through 10 p.m. May 1, lasting a total of 26 hours.
Students, faculty, alumni and special guests will perform 15-minute sets. The performances will stream online on the Pick-Staiger Concert Hall and Music Marathon websites. Participants had to fundraise at least $100 to perform and donations will be accepted from Regenstein visitors and via Paypal during the 26 hours.
The money raised will benefit The People’s Music School in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. The school is the only tuition-free community music school of its kind in the United States and offers instruction to more than 250 students each year. Last year, the inaugural event raised $17,000 for the school, which allowed it to offer places to 10 new students.
The board chose The People’s Music School as a beneficiary because a number of alumni and current students teach there and the money raised directly affects how many students can be educated, said Music Marathon co-founder and producer Billy Robin.
“The opportunity to have music students help other music students was great, so we’re setting up this collaboration to do some good and showcase our own talents,” the Bienen senior said.
Bienen students are not the only ones who can perform during Music Marathon, though. This year’s event includes several a cappella groups, singer-songwriters and even “student garage rock bands,” said Rachel Maine, an adviser on the board.
“We want to make it abundantly clear that it doesn’t matter what students do to make music,” she said. “We wanted all types of performers because this is about the arts in general, not just classical music.”
A nonprofit beneficiary that promotes arts education was important, said the third-year Bienen graduate student. While NU has other fundraisers for “immediate needs,” Music Marathon addresses the cultural needs integral to the American experience, she said.
“It’s important for us to realize unless we continue to encourage cultural needs, we aren’t necessarily giving the complete education we should to children and adults,” she said. “If we want a dynamic American culture, then arts education is absolutely essential.”
One of the best parts of the event is it exposes people to music they might not otherwise listen to, Robin said.
“The idea is to get the entire Northwestern community involved,” he said. “We want an audience who would normally go see Thunk to stay and see a string quartet or an audience who would go to see that string quartet stay and see a rock band.”
Percussionist Becca Laurito participated in Music Marathon last year in five different slots. This year she will be playing in three slots. Despite the sleep deprivation, the Bienen senior said she enjoys the event because it’s a chance to play with no pressure.
“I don’t think about it as depriving myself of sleep,” Laurito said. “I’m gaining an opportunity to see people play I don’t usually get to and it’s informal. Most of us usually perform in high-stress concerts or recitals so this is just for fun.”
The NU community should come to Music Marathon because it’s an easy way to get exposure to new types of music and it helps an oft-overlooked group, Maine said.
“It’s a great way to be exposed to a part of the music you might not see otherwise,” she said. “And it benefits the talents and efforts and hard work of children. There can’t be a better reason to come for a half-hour and sit in a chair.”[email protected]
