Artistic Director Sara on BBC Music Matters’ Chicago Symphony Orchestra special

Our Artistic Director Sara Lee features in a special edition of BBC Radio 3’s Music Matters dedicated to the inspiring and innovative work the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is exploring under the guidance of Riccardo Muti and Yo-Yo Ma, including through its Negaunee Institute.

We have been working annually with the CSO since 2013, with two visits this year. This special partnership has allowed us to share with the CSO the valuable experience we have of reaching disadvantaged and vulnerable people through the process of creating music.

The “two people from the UK” Yo-Yo Ma mentions in the Music Matters programme were none other than Sara and our highly experienced Project Leader Rex Horan, who recently crossed the pond to collaborate with the CSO’s Civic Fellows for the ‘Notes for Peace’ project, working with parents who had experienced loss of a child through gun violence, helping them to write emotional musical tributes to their children.

Listen to BBC Radio 3’s Music Matters: The whole programme is very much worth a listen, but the section on ‘Notes for Peace’ begins around 5 minutes in; https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b65lxr