Orchestra

Trinity High School offers three levels of string ensembles under the direction of River Forest resident, Kristin Cappelli-Hedlund. Violin, viola, cello and bass will be included. Performance opportunities will be available at each skill level throughout the year. “I am very excited about watching this pilot program blossom,” says Cappelli-Hedlund. “What makes it unique is that it will have three levels of training, allowing beginner students without previous string experience to participate; very few orchestras will consider a student who has had fewer than three years of training.”

Students with at least one year of string experience may join on the intermediate level. The group will work on ensemble pieces by Vivaldi, Bach, Beethoven and others. “The compositions are chosen for their complexity and variety,” says Cappelli-Hedlund.“Our focus will be to improve technical skills such as shifting, vibrato, counting and sight-reading.”

The Advanced String Ensemble will include students that have studied their instrument for at least three years and play in first, third and fifth positions. Students will concentrate on sight reading, bowing techniques, audition skills and ensemble playing. “This level is for the student who is interested in playing challenging chamber and string orchestra music,” says Cappelli-Hedlund. “I will also be taking my students on field trips to perform at the Chicago Music Mart and the Great American String Festival Competition so they get a taste of performing and competing at an advanced level.”

Cappelli-Hedlund is a graduate of Indiana University School of Music where she was a student of Josef Gingold. She has performed as a professional violinist in several orchestras including the Tanglewood, Chautauqua and Grand Teton music festivals.

For the past 15 years Cappelli-Hedlund has been a faculty member at the Merit School of Music in Chicago, where she serves as Chairman of the String Department. Last year, one of Cappelli-Hedlund’s merit groups was featured on channel 11’s “Art Safari” program. She also teaches at Grace Lutheran School in River Forest, where she is the orchestra conductor. In 1990 she founded the Oak Park River Forest Young Violinists Program, a private music studio, where she maintains a large number of violin and viola students.

Woodwinds, Brass and Percussion Also Added

Christine Janzow Phillips, named director of Trinity High School’s new chamber orchestra.

Christine Janzow Phillips holds a bachelor’s degree in oboe performance from St. Olaf College and a master of music degree from Northwestern University, where she studied with Ray Still, then principal oboist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. A former member of the Singapore Symphony, Ms. Phillips is currently principal oboist of the Northbrook Symphony, oboist and English horn player with the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, and oboist with Quintuplex Woodwind Quintet. She plays frequently with Chicago area orchestras and has performed with Music of the Baroque, the Elgin Symphony, the Elmhurst Symphony, the Lake Forest Symphony and the Northwest Indiana Symphony, among others. She is a member of the faculty at VanderCook College of Music, Concordia University, and the Merit School of Music in Chicago. She also directs a woodwind ensemble at Trinity High School in River Forest and teaches oboe both at Glenbard South High School and at her private studio in Forest Park.