{"id":171284,"date":"2025-08-24T08:36:24","date_gmt":"2025-08-24T08:36:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/171284\/"},"modified":"2025-08-24T08:36:24","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T08:36:24","slug":"hundreds-tune-into-calming-classical-music-at-thirsty-ears-fest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/171284\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds tune into \u2018calming\u2019 classical music at Thirsty Ears fest"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A few hundred onlookers watched raptly as the sounds of a violin and cello from The Confluence Quartet filled a one-block stretch of the Uptown neighborhood Saturday.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>From a small stage Saturday afternoon, Davis Butner, a violinist and violist, explained they were inspired by the city of Chicago, naming the group after the Chicago River confluence. He said the group, which met through the Lakeview Orchestra, brings together its varied professional backgrounds \u2014 from development to architecture \u2014 to make music.\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul class=\"mng-gallery-initialized mng-gallery-slider\">\n<li data-index=\"1\" class=\"mng-ge mng-gallery-active\" id=\"mng-ge-0\" aria-hidden=\"false\" tabindex=\"0\"><img alt=\"Violinist Grace Liu performs as part of the Confluence Quartet...\" class=\"size-article_inline\"  \/>\n<p>Violinist Grace Liu performs as part of the Confluence Quartet at the 10th annual Thirsty Ears Festival on Wilson Avenue in Chicago\u2019s Ravenswood neighborhood on Aug. 23, 2025. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-index=\"2\" class=\"mng-ge\" id=\"mng-ge-1\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A person dines outside at Fin sushi bar while enjoying...\" class=\"lazyload size-article_inline\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/CTC-L-classical-music-fest014_df0930.jpg\" \/>\n<p>A person dines outside at Fin sushi bar while enjoying classical music at the 10th annual Thirsty Ears Festival on Wilson Avenue in Chicago\u2019s Ravenswood neighborhood on Aug. 23, 2025. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-index=\"3\" class=\"mng-ge\" id=\"mng-ge-2\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A Thirsty Ears T-shirt is seen hanging as a person...\" class=\"lazyload size-article_inline\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/CTC-L-classical-music-fest015_873c71.jpg\" \/>\n<p>A Thirsty Ears T-shirt is seen hanging as a person shops for merchandise at the Remade in Chicago booth at the 10th annual Thirsty Ears Festival on Wilson Avenue in Chicago\u2019s Ravenswood neighborhood on Aug. 23, 2025. Remade in Chicago transforms gently used T-shirts into wearable art.  (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-index=\"4\" class=\"mng-ge\" id=\"mng-ge-3\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"David Wargula and Mary McInnis relax to classical music at...\" class=\"lazyload size-article_inline\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/CTC-L-classical-music-fest009_546966.jpg\" \/>\n<p>David Wargula and Mary McInnis relax to classical music at the 10th annual Thirsty Ears Festival on Wilson Avenue in Chicago\u2019s Ravenswood neighborhood on Aug. 23, 2025. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-index=\"5\" class=\"mng-ge\" id=\"mng-ge-4\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"People relax to classical music at the 10th annual Thirsty...\" class=\"lazyload size-article_inline\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/CTC-L-classical-music-fest013_8a174a.jpg\" \/>\n<p>People relax to classical music at the 10th annual Thirsty Ears Festival on Wilson Avenue in Chicago\u2019s Ravenswood neighborhood on Aug. 23, 2025. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-index=\"6\" class=\"mng-ge\" id=\"mng-ge-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cellist Alexander Hersh performs at the 10th annual Thirsty Ears...\" class=\"lazyload size-article_inline\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/CTC-L-classical-music-fest007_efaeba.jpg\" \/>\n<p>Cellist Alexander Hersh performs at the 10th annual Thirsty Ears Festival on Wilson Avenue in Chicago\u2019s Ravenswood neighborhood on Aug. 23, 2025. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Show Caption<\/p>\n<p>1 of 6<\/p>\n<p>Violinist Grace Liu performs as part of the Confluence Quartet at the 10th annual Thirsty Ears Festival on Wilson Avenue in Chicago\u2019s Ravenswood neighborhood on Aug. 23, 2025. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#\" class=\"icon-enlarge mng-gallery-fullscreen-expand\" aria-label=\"Expand fullscreen slideshow\">Expand<\/a><\/p>\n<p>They also brought two others onstage \u2014 a cellist and violist \u2014 for Johannes Brahms\u2019 String Sextet, No. 2, in G major, which Butner described as the \u201cmost epic sextet ever written.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This live performance is one of more than a dozen throughout this weekend\u2019s Thirsty Ears Festival. Billed as Chicago\u2019s only classical music street festival, it also includes shopping, food and a mini film festival Saturday. It\u2019s put on by Access Contemporary Music, a nonprofit that promotes classical music.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat I\u2019ve always wanted to do is just focus on the music and forget all the nonsense around it. Forget all the mythology. Forget all the stereotypes of dead, white European men. Forget that it\u2019s expensive or elitist,\u201d said Seth Boustead, ACM\u2019s executive director. \u201cJust forget all of that, and just listen to the music.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery year, people come up to me and just say, \u2018Oh, my God, what a discovery.\u2019 I just really love this music,\u201d Boustead added.<\/p>\n<p>This year marked the festival\u2019s 10th anniversary, Boustead said, adding that they even put on the festival during the COVID-19 pandemic in a parking lot. He said he\u2019s not interested in growing the festival \u2014 one block is the sweet spot \u2014 but that he\u2019s always looking for ways to improve sound quality. His favorite part of the festival is watching the musicians perform during the films.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"cdL9PEfVjA\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2016\/08\/05\/thirsty-ears-fest-ready-for-world-premiere\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Thirsty Ears Fest ready for world premiere<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cIt is so magical,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have several hundred people on the street watching these (silent) films, and people need to pay attention and they do. It\u2019s such a nice place to come out, hear some music and just relax on a beautiful stretch of street.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>People filtered into the street Saturday afternoon, sitting on blankets and patio chairs to listen to the performances. As a duo called the Bach and Beethoven Experience took the stage, Monica Haxel sipped a drink with a friend.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While Haxel said she\u2019s always had an affinity for classical guitar, she started taking piano lessons as an adult at ACM. She said she\u2019s attended the festival for years and especially appreciates the \u201ccalming\u201d and \u201cpeaceful\u201d atmosphere.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can look up into the sky, and with the trees as a backdrop, I love it,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While Deanna Iocco and Schuyler Longmore said they don\u2019t consider themselves huge classical music fans \u2014 besides the occasional background \u201cgentle classical\u201d playlist on Spotify or Mozart on YouTube \u2014 they thought Thirsty Ears looked like a perfect pastime to enjoy the nice weather with their 5-month-old daughter. Longmore, 34, said the cello and piano music was particularly nice to listen to.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis has been lovely. It\u2019s been very relaxing,\u201d said Iocco, 39, of the West Rogers Park neighborhood. \u201cWe\u2019re glad that these things are happening around Chicago and hope more people experience them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Originally Published: August 23, 2025 at 6:30 PM CDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A few hundred onlookers watched raptly as the sounds of a violin and cello from The Confluence Quartet&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":171285,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,1576,5386,1818,97868,17008],"class_list":{"0":"post-171284","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-classical-music","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-illinois","12":"tag-thirsty-ears-festival","13":"tag-uptown"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115082833775620289","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171284\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}