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Improving coronavirus numbers have made more summer events possible. Here’s the latest updates on this year’s changing entertainment landscape.
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Aug 6, 2021, 10:08am CDT
Steak is best eaten with yearning in your heart and a big smile on your face.
From the moment you step into your car, the genesis of your journey is an afterthought. How could you wish for anything in your past when food heaven is on your horizon? Steak48 has this way of creating that sense of yearning, imprinting an indelible smile on your face as your car reverses out of the driveway. You could call this another steakhouse, but that’d be giving other steakhouses too much credit.
Steak48 is a destination. An experience. It can only be described as Chicago’s premiere contemporary steakhouse. In fact, you can call 615 N Wabash Ave a microcosm of the allure of the city itself. In a way only the City on the Lake can shine amongst its peers of the metropolii, Steak48 has a way of radiating brighter than its peers in a competitive culinary landscape.
It isn’t easy to stand out amongst the culinary titans in River North. The luminous Steak48 on the facade certainly aids it visually as the backdrop of the barren stone of the Medinah Temple stares back. The warmth of a perfectly done steak, the freshest seafood flown in daily, and a bottle of red wine beckons as the chilling freeze of one of Chicago’s most historic structures slips into irrelevance.
Entering Steak48 in and of itself is a memorable stroll. The large wooden doors protect a mystifying walkway lined with cleavers and knives that would make an aged butcher wish to come out of retirement. Glass enclosure of a 3,000-wine vault greets you alongside a smile from the hostess stand. Atmosphere and service is the true sixth sense when it comes to your culinary experience, and by way of appetizers, your first 90 seconds inside Steak48 sets the tone for the rest of your evening.
The venue is large, yet intimate. As you pass by sections of tables nestled in private rooms and a large wrap-around bar serving premium cocktails to patrons, all 12,000 square feet of elegance is drowned out by one thing—a light beaming from a distance, there to ask you all of the right questions. What is back there? Who is in there? Why am I drawn to this, attracted by it? Any restaurant brave enough to beg its patrons to gaze beyond its pass with an exposed kitchen is a restaurant operating with a level of confidence that permeates through every single aspect of your experience.
It’s an atmosphere designed to make you feel important. It suppresses the delusion of inflated self-worth with the portrait of true value. You’re supposed to be here. Tonight. This is your destination, and it’s going to be one you speak about to anyone willing to listen. There’s no shortage of individuals—celebrity or everyday person—willing to endorse it with equal pride.
The menu is large. You feel it in your hand and you’re overwhelmed by the expanse of options and an endless list of potential wine pairings on the back. The weight of it is unimportant, however, as the immediate understanding that every potential combination of food and beverage is primed to be a memorable one.
It didn’t take long with the cocktail menu to gravitate towards a winner. I instantly went for the Paloma—a smoky rendition with mezcal and fresh grapefruit—while my mother (yes you read that right I treated my mother to a much-deserved dinner) went for the Stone Fruit Martini.
Cocktail hour might as well have been for a show rather than a 5-star dinner because a mere 20 feet from us, behind the glass enclosure of the kitchen, stood Chef Brian Key. The revered Executive Chef and Chicago native is a natural in his domain. Confident and talented, yet jovial, the Chef interacted with us from a distance as he orchestrated the pass, carefully approving each plate for service. Too often steakhouses carry a stuffy aura of condescending luxury, but not Steak48 and not Chef Brian Key. His demeanor and ability to relate to us as customers made the experience comfortable and only built our excitement to navigate his menu.
There’s a heightened sense of awareness in the appetizer section of the menu. You’re probably wondering what the hell that means, so hear me out. With 17 different side dish options, some of the thickest, juiciest steaks around, and a raw bar so fresh and succulent you could easily mistake your location for Maine, it needs to be. It’s Chef Key’s arena to showcase his creativity while not exhausting you before you even contemplate the main attractions.
Items such as the Chicken Fried Lobster and the King Crab & Avocado Stack is Chef Key personified. Crab and lobster are steakhouse staples, but the reimagination of these favorites is what sets the Chef and ultimately, Steak48 apart.
That main attraction being of course, steak. I could go on for hours about the quality of the cuts, how both plates came out cooked to perfect temperature, how the flavor of the crust enhanced the entire meal, or how each and every bite will melt in your mouth. That’s not why you’re still reading this. No, you’re still reading this because you’re immersed in the feeling of what eating the off-the-menu Butcher’s Cut would mean to you, transporting yourself to a time and place you’ve imagined at a pivotal point in your life. Or you’re picturing yourself sitting in my shoes and having an 18-oz bone-in Filet Mignon on a 500 degree plate being set on the table, tantalizing you before you even bury your knife in it.
Truth be told, steak is steak and if done properly will be delicious no matter what. We are carnivores and red meat is the holy grail in the same way two plus two equals four.
But you simply cannot embark on the journey of Steak48 without first understanding that you are there for an incredible steak that highlights the entirety of a memorable experience. It’s the warmth of the sunshine beating down upon your face at the first Cubs game of the season, an ice cold beer in hand as you sit in the bleachers amongst 15,000 people chasing that same high.
In these moments, there is nothing wrong. You take your first bite of Chef Key’s main attraction and in that moment, the world halts. There is nothing wrong.
Every main attraction needs a supporting cast and Steak48 is no different. If the steak is Michael Jordan then the Chef’s variety of side dishes is the rest of the 1998 Chicago Bulls. Classic vegetable dishes such as broccoli, creamed spinach, asparagus, sweet corn, and brussel sprouts are done to absolute perfection. If that’s your preference, you have a full endorsement. But you’re here to make a memory, step outside the comfort zone and enhance your meal with the Alaskan King Crab & Rock Shrimp Mac & Cheese, the Asparagus Fries or the Corn Creme Brulee. It’s one thing to head back to Winnetka enjoying a medium rare steak and sauteed sweet corn, it’s another to tell your neighbor the next day that you experienced a dinner Downtown Chicago so unique that the only way they’d understand is if they tried it for themselves.
In this day and age we are forever moving the boundary of what it means to be “traditional”. The definition of what a steakhouse is supposed to look like is no longer predetermined. Steak48 understands that notion and embraces that. As I stated, the genesis of your journey is irrelevant when the ability to harness a fleeting moment and expand on it knowing the result is more than a meal, but a memorable experience centered around a destination of a restaurant; your possibilities are endless.
Be real with yourself, though. Just like your suburban neighbor, you’re only going to understand if you put your key in the ignition and go experience it for yourself.
Steak48 is located at 615 N Wabash Ave. Chicago, IL 60611. To service hours, history, or to make a reservation visit their website at www.steak48.com/steakhouses/chicago/ or call (312) 266-4848. Valet parking is available or accessible parking can be found off of Ohio St at the iPark garage.
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The 15-year-old was standing outside about 7:45 a.m. in the 7000 block of South Merrill Avenue when a dark-colored sedan drove by and someone inside opened fire, Chicago police said.
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Aug 6, 2021, 9:18am CDT
Teen wounded in South Shore drive-bySun-Times Wireon August 6, 2021 at 2:18 pm Read More »
Mike Madigan and Ed Burke got into politics the old fashioned way: through their dads.
When he was a law student at Loyola, Madigan introduced himself to Mayor Richard J. Daley as the son of Michael Madigan, a precinct captain and 13th Ward Streets and Sanitation superintendent. That made the young man good people in Daley’s eyes. He found Mike Jr. a job in the city’s law department, then supported his candidacy for the state house.
Burke’s filial connection to politics was even more direct: his father, Joseph Burke, was alderman of the 14th Ward. Joe died in 1968. A year later, Ed won a special election to fill his seat, and has held it ever since.
In those days, if you wanted to get ahead in Chicago politics, it helped to be a brat, born and raised in Chicago politics. In 1948, Abner Mikva, a young man from Milwaukee attending the University of Chicago, tried to volunteer at a ward committeeman’s office. He was told, “We don’t want nobody nobody sent.”
Mikva nonetheless went on to a successful career in Chicago politics, serving five terms in the legislature, and four terms in Congress. Back then, he was an outlier, boosted by the transplant-heavy Hyde Park vote—and later by the Evanston vote when the Machine redistricted him out of his alma mater’s neighborhood. Today, he’d be the norm. Consider the origins of some of today’s most successful local politicians.
Powerful offices once occupied by Irishmen whose roots in Chicago’s neighborhoods ran generations deep are now almost entirely filled by… transplants. What’s going on?
When Barack Obama arrived in Chicago, in 1985, he knew nobody here except a great-uncle who worked at the University of Chicago library. Not a guy who could help him in politics. Eleven years later, he was a state senator. Eight years after that, a U.S. senator. Four years after that, president. Obama successfully threaded the needle of being in Chicago without being of Chicago. As the city that has produced the most Black members of Congress, Chicago was essential to his political rise. But the fact that Obama was not a traditional Chicago politician meant that John McCain’s accusation that he was “born of the corrupt Chicago political machine” never stuck to him, the way it might have stuck to someone named Daley.
In his runs for Congress, and for mayor, Emanuel’s enemies tried to portray him as a carpetbagging suburban elitist. Nancy Kaszak, Emanuel’s 2002 primary opponent, cut an ad depicting a limousine cruising through the Northwest Side—meant to represent Rahm—then declared, “I’m from here.” During the 2011 mayoral campaign, candidate Miguel del Valle scoffed, “I’m from Humboldt Park. He’s from where—Wilmette, Winnetka? I went to Tuley High, he went to what—New Trier? And Rahm’s tougher than me?” Emanuel never lost an election.
In her campaign for mayor, Lightfoot turned her opponents’ backgrounds in traditional Chicago politics against them. A month and a half before the primary, the feds charged Burke with shaking down a Burger King owner for a permit. Lightfoot cut an ad identifying Preckwinkle, Bill Daley, Susana Mendoza and Gery Chico as the “Burke Four,” because of their ties to the shady alderman. She ran not as a Regular, but as a “goo goo”— a good government reformer—the same label that helped Preckwinkle become an alderman with by cleaning up the vote in Hyde Park and Kenwood in 1991. (The incumbent Preckwinkle defeated, Timothy Evans, now runs the county courts.)
For more than a century, Chicago politics has been based on ethnic alliances. That’s how the experienced politicians were conducting their campaigns. Chico and Mendoza were going for the Latino vote. Willie Wilson was going for the black vote. Daley was going for the white vote. Lightfoot made it into the runoff by selling her anti-corruption message to her fellow goo-goos along the north lakefront—many of them transplants like herself. Then she crushed Preckwinkle by portraying her as a representative of Machine politics.
Why are newcomers to the city beating Chicagoans at their own game? Perhaps it’s because Chicago is a less provincial city than it used to be. Especially since the 1990s, the city has been a magnet for ambitious college-educated professionals from all over the Midwest, and all over the country—and not so much for other age groups. (Preckwinkle and Lightfoot came here to attend the University of Chicago, Kelly to attend Bradley University in Peoria, Duckworth to attend Northern Illinois University.) After making their marks in business, law, academia, and the arts, it was only natural that they would try to conquer politics, too.
In politics, it often helps to be an outsider. Here in the city with the most corrupt political culture in America, it seems to be helping a lot. Lightfoot, who prosecuted bribe-taking aldermen during Operation Silver Shovel, staked her campaign on the fact that Chicagoans were sick of Chicago politicians. She was right. Chicago wanted somebody nobody sent.
Transplants Are Trampling the Chicago MachineWhet Moseron August 6, 2021 at 2:00 pm Read More »
When two icons of House Music get together to work on productions, there can be only one result, and that is the timeless track, ‘This is Chicago House’ by Vince Lawrence and Chuck “The Voice” Roberts. Vince Lawrence is a Chicago House Music pioneer who worked on the very first House tracks ever to see the light of day. Chuck “The Voice” Roberts is the vocalist behind the legendary club anthem that opened with the words ‘In the beginning there was Jack’ – a statement that has inspired 100’s of remixes and moved millions of dancefloors around the globe.
Vince and Chuck are two of the most iconic artists when it comes to Chicago House music. They have lived and breathed the genre since it first appeared in venues around the Windy City. The duo collaborated with Chicago House AC to produce ‘This Is Chicago House!’ in conjunction with Slang Music Group. The track speaks to every moment in the history of the global House Music family. From legacy to future possibilities, Vince and Chuck focus on the beat, groove and hook, in a way that defines how music should be heard and experienced.
“House music culture is international – soccer fans around the world celebrate their successes with house beats and songs. While collaborating with Chicago House AC, we worked to channel that culture within this song,” says Slang Music Group’s Vince Lawrence, a first-generation Chicago house music producer. “I think it’s awesome that the team acknowledges the efforts of pioneering musical artists such as myself, by naming themselves after the beloved music genre born in Chicago!”
Chicago’s newest professional soccer club adopted ‘This Is Chicago House’ in anticipation of the record gaining prominence as an immediately identifiable song of substance in the community. Producer Vince Lawrence believes ‘This is Chicago House’ will have an undeniable impact on the dance floor. Lawrence points out the driving beats, funky bass, piano and keys to die for, all blessed by Chuck’s sermon from the pulpit. He believes there is no other track currently which completes the musical journey like this. Filled full of the spirit that makes you stomp your feet, move your hips and testify that this is the greatest form of music ever, ‘This is Chicago House’ is without parallel.
With remixes and other versions to come, Vince and Chuck announce just why Chicago is still number one in the eyes of people that know. There is no denying the talent that stands behind the music, and as the world reopens again, this song alone will bring the joy back to those that so desperately need it.
“The roots of House music and its influence across the globe run deep, and those roots start right here in the city of Chicago,” notes Chicago House AC COO, Night Train Veeck. “To be able to pay homage to the pioneers of the genre through the world’s game is something tremendously special.” In addition to the release of the track ‘This Is Chicago House!’ Chicago House AC released their inaugural season Nike kit.
Earlier this season, Chicago House AC announced a multi-year partnership with Nike. To celebrate the partnership, Nike collaborated with Chicago House AC on the creation of a limited edition, collectible kit design that will only be available during Chicago’s inaugural season this Fall.This on-field Nike Vaporknit III jersey is a premium quality piece with the following details included:
A premium embossed Chicago House AC primary crest on the left side of the chest
A commemorative holographic hip tag that includes alternating logos and reads “Inaugural Season Chicago House AC NISA – 2021”
A sublimated Nike logo on the right side of the chest
A sublimated National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) logo on the left sleeve
A sublimated FYZICAL logo on the right sleeve
A sublimated secondary “House” logo in patina green on the upper back
Sublimated numbers below the secondary logo on the middle back
Sublimated player last names below the numbers on the lower back
A sublimated Weiss Memorial Hospital logo on the shorts
Chicago House AC aims to have a deeply positive impact on underserved neighborhoods through initiatives that provide opportunities for educational programming, mentorship and safe places to play soccer and futsal for children in the city. The club will also work inclusively with organizations to improve social justice, racial equality, diversity and community improvement. The club is committing 10% of annual corporate partnership revenue and Nike jersey revenue to be donated to non-profit and community-based organizations and fan directed initiatives.
“We have a jersey. We have an anthem. This is getting real,” said Chicago House AC Managing Partner & CEO, Peter Wilt.
The collectible Nike Vaporknit III jersey is now available for purchase on the club’s merchandise website.
Additionally, if you’re interested in purchasing tickets to Chicago House AC home matches this year, you can find more information here.
When the Chicago Bulls first drafted forward Lauri Markkanen, the thought was that he would become the ideal stretch four in today’s NBA.
After his first year and going into his second year, Markkanen looked as though he was taking a big leap. Markkanen put on a bunch of muscle in effort to become a more physical scorer and rebounder, and he looked the part as a sophomore.
He put up career-high numbers in his second year, averaging 18.7 points and 9.0 rebounds. However, when Jim Boylen took over as head coach, that’s when things began unraveling. He was essentially forced outside and told to play as a perimeter guy.
His game suffered, and Markkanen began looking like a different player because of Boylen’s ineptitude. Now, Markkanen may be on the way out as a restricted free agent, and ready for a fresh start with a new team.
Friday morning, this report came out about Markkanen telling Finnish media that he would like a fresh start.
Markkanen wants out of Chicago.
“We have offers from several different teams. I want a fresh start to my NBA career somewhere else. Hopefully things will be sorted out quickly with the Bulls.” (via YLE)
Prior to this report, it was thought that Markkanen could end up staying in Chicago for one more season. There was only one known, interested team in Markkanen’s services. That team was the Charlotte Hornets.
However, when the Hornets decided to sign free agent forward Kelly Oubre Jr. on Thursday night, they seemingly left the running for Markkanen. Now, the only option for Charlotte would be to acquire Markkanen via sign-and-trade.
Speaking of sign-and-trade, that is still an option for the Bulls if there are indeed “several” teams interested in Markkanen as reported. If there are multiple teams interested in Markkanen, a sign-and-trade could end up being the best route to go for Chicago.
Thus far during free agency, the Bulls have executed a handful of sign-and-trades. Lonzo Ball came to Chicago via sign-and-trade, as did DeMar DeRozan. The Bulls also dealt forward Daniel Theis to the Houston Rockets and in turn received a trade exception.
Interested teams could still include franchises like the San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves, as first rumored before the start of free agency. The Spurs, above the others, were thought to be a real favorite to land Markkanen as they were interested even before the season ended.
One thing is clear: Markkanen wants out and the Bulls will need to find a backup forward to replace him. They could end up depending on first-year pro Marko Simonovic who is coming over this year, but signing another veteran to help ease Simonovic into the NBA would be a wise move. As things continue to develop with Markkanen, we’ll provide the latest.
AAA
Game Recap
We may see more days like this on offense for Iowa in the 2nd half. The Cubs have called up a couple of the top hitters already, and it seems like it is only a matter of time before they give Alfonso Rivas and Greg Deichmann an opportunity as well.
On the positive side Keegan Thompson fired 3.1 shutout innings (after throwing 3 no-hit innings in his first start with Iowa). His uptick in stuff has held, so far, but so has his slight downtick in control. I’m not overly worried yet. Thompson has remained effective. But I’ll be curious to watch if his increased walk rate hampers him in the middle innings once he gets stretched out.
Top Performers
Injuries, Updates, and Trends
Zach Davis received a bump up to AAA. The speedster has continued to be hampered by minor injuries, and at 27 years old it seems like only a matter of time before he loses a step (he may have already lost a half step). The bat has held up better than any could have expected after his collegiate struggles dropped him to the 32nd round in the draft despite his obvious athleticism. Davis has worked hard to build a solid career. He learned how to switch hit as a pro, and though he hasn’t hit enough to carry him to the Majors, his career has to be considered a success just by reaching the highest level of the Minors.
AA
Game Recap
I keep not getting around to watching Luis Lugo and the guy keeps going out there and dominating. I really need to spend some time digging into what has triggered this extended run of success. He had the Smokies in line for a 1-0 victory as he shutout the Biscuits through six innings but the pen couldn’t hold the lead and the offense was unable to add on.
Top Performers
Injuries, Updates, and Trends
Big lefty Luis Lugo was absolutely terrible through his first 7 starts (10.80 ERA). Since that time, he’s moved to the pen, and then earned his way back into the rotation, and he’s been absolutely shutting the opposition down. Over his last 9 games (5 starts), Lugo has thrown 36 innings, and given up just 5 runs (3 earned) which translates to a 0.75 ERA. He’s allowed just 20 and 16 walks while striking out 45.
High-A
Top Performers
Injuries, Updates, and Trends
Max Bain came off the developmental list with a simplified delivery and delivered his best performance in a while. He looked looser and more athletic in his motion and the change seems to have improved his control. He relied heavily on a mid-90s fastball with good movement throughout his 3.2 no-hit innings. Bain is reportedly an incredibly hard worker and he’s got arm talent to go with it. Perhaps simplifying things for him will help him unlock his potential.
He is getting some serious arm side run in the zone pic.twitter.com/3SZJyveVyV
— Todd (@CubsCentral08)
South Bend kept the no hitter alive through 7 innings before Bradford Deppermann was lit up in the 8th.
trends
Low-A
Game Recap
Not only did Richard Gallardo had his sinker working (8-4 SO-GO) while keeping hitters off balance with his secondaries. He spent about 10 days on the development list after his last start, I would assume to throttle his innings load, but with injuries to others in the Pelicans rotation he re-added. Gallardo is a polished pitcher for his age, with three average offerings he commands pretty well. He’s now gone 5+ innings four straight times and 5 of his last 6 starts.
This looked like it was going to be another game among the affiliates where the offense failed to deliver, but the Pelicans bat came alive in the 9th. Down 3-1, Yohendrick Pinango and Pablo Aliendo opened the inning with singles to bring the winning run to the plate, with power hitters Matt Mervis and Matt Warkentin due up. But the big bats were both retired and it looked like Myrtle Beach would waste their final opportunity. Jacob Wetzel came through however, tripling home both runners to ties the game. Fabian Pertuz followed with a single to score Wetzel for the game winner.
Top Performers
ACL
Top Performers
Injuries, Updates, and Trends
Ismael Mena (.244/.312/.354) began heating up at the plate on July 30th. In the 4 games since he has gone 9-for-16 with a pair of homers to raise his average up from .167. Mena was signed for a huge $2.2M bonus by San Diego as a raw, projectable athlete with good speed and the frame to add power. Mena is reportedly in the process of adjusting his game as his body has filled out, still relying on a lot of small ball tendencies despite growing into a fairly powerful specimen.
Reggie Preciado (.373/.436/.530) has never really stopped hitting down in Mesa. Sure, he got off to a scorching start and cooled a bit, but he’s remained a steady contributor throughout the first 6 weeks of the ACL season.
Shortstop Luis Vazquez returns on a rehab assignment after going down with an injury 4 games into the season at South Bend.
DSL
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A man was killed in a shooting Thursday in Gresham on the South Side.
He was standing outside about 1:40 a.m. in the 1600 block of West 79th Street when someone approached and fired, Chicago police said.
The man was struck in the head and taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 4:42 a.m., police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.
No arrests have been reported.
Man dies in Gresham shootingSun-Times Wireon August 6, 2021 at 1:20 pm Read More »
As little as five or 10 years ago, women on the podiums of symphony orchestras large and small remained a rarity. But with the rise of the #MeToo movement and intensified discussions of equity and diversity since the death of George Floyd in 2020, the situation is rapidly changing.
A new generation of female conductors has emerged, and they are making their presence felt. Among them is Miah Im, music director of the Houston Grand Opera Studio; Anna Rakatina, assistant conductor of the Boston Symphony, and Eun Sun Kim, music director of the San Francisco Opera.
Also prominent on that list is Yue Bao, 30, who was named the Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Foundation Conducting Fellow of the Houston Symphony in November 2019. One of her biggest career milestones so far will come Aug. 8 when the Shanghai native makes her debut as guest conductor with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park.
When she got the news about the engagement several months ago, Bao was literally jumping for joy in her apartment. “It’s a really big deal for me,” she said.
When she began collaborating with Ravinia officials on the chamber-orchestra program, the only fixed selection was Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante for violin and viola, featuring violinist Stella Chen and violist Matthew Lipman as soloists.
She then added Tchaikovsky’s Suite No. 4, “Mozartiana,” and the “Duo Ye” No. 1 for Chamber Orchestra (1985) by Chen Yi, a Chinese-born composer who is on the faculty of the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She was a finalist for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Music.
According to the composer’s notes accompanying the work, “Duo Ye” is a traditional song and dance of the Dong minority in the Guangxi region of China that is used to welcome guests or celebrate a happy occasion.
“So, I think it will be fitting as an opening piece,” Bao said, noting Ravinia’s festival atmosphere, “and it also has a really energetic spirit and quite charming folk songs, so I hope it will bring a different color to this program.”
Bao’s introduction to music came when she was 5 or 6 and began piano lessons in part because her mother saw some articles about the instrument improving children’s IQ. “I’m not sure that worked for me,” she said with a laugh.
She soon found herself inspired by her teacher, Liang Guo, who was also a composer, so she also began to try her hand at writing music. The aspiring musician would sometimes assemble some of her friends to learn and play her pieces, and one day her teacher saw her leading such a gathering and recommended she study conducting in college.
“To be honest,” Bao said, “at that time, I didn’t think my personality was the right match for a conductor, who was powerful, like a boss, in my imagination. But I trusted him [Liang Guo] and I started it [conducting], and then I felt that it was something that came naturally to me and I really enjoyed it. And the more I studied the more I found I had had the wrong perspective about conducting. It’s really a collaborative relationship between you and the musicians.”
Bao graduated from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in 2014 and moved to the United States to attend the Mannes School of Music in New York City, obtaining a master’s degree and artist’s diploma after three years. She then went on to get another artist’s diploma at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia in 2019 — a time she saw as kind of bridge between her musical studies and the professional world.
While she was at both American schools, she had the chance to assist conductors at several professional orchestras, including Gilbert Varga at the St. Louis Symphony and Osmo Vanska, music director of the Minnesota Orchestra. In addition, in the summer of 2019, she was a conducting fellow at the well-respected Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in Santa Cruz, Calif.
All these opportunities meant that by the time she arrived at the Houston Symphony for her first full-time role — a position that is the equivalent of an assistant conductor at other orchestras — she already had considerable experience.
“It is really great to see the field diversify,” Bao said, “and to see more female composers and conductors. I think it definitely takes time to achieve the goals we want to achieve but we are on the right path to it.”
To that end, she believes the best thing she can do as a young conductor is keep working hard and making great music. “Music talks,” she said.
Kyle MacMillan is a local freelance writer.
Over the course of this week, the Chicago Bulls have completely made over their roster. Vice President Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley have put together quite the string of moves throughout NBA free agency.
The Bulls have brought in point guard Lonzo Ball, guard Alex Caruso, wing DeMar DeRozan and center Tony Bradley to go with their core of Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic and Patrick Williams.
The one player remaining after the Bulls have moved a few of their own in the process is forward Lauri Markkanen, who has yet to receive an offer sheet from another team.
The Bulls extended a qualifying offer to Markkanen, which means he could stay in Chicago if no other team signs him to a larger deal. As of Thursday night, it looked like the Charlotte Hornets were very interested in signing Markkanen. However, the Hornets made another move Thursday night which could take them out of the running for Markkanen.
The Hornets were interested in both Markkanen and Kelly Oubre Jr., but came to an agreement with the latter late Thursday night. Oubre’s deal is expected to exceed $12 million per year.
Charlotte will likely have to pass on Markkanen now that they signed Oubre, meaning that Markkanen once again has zero serious suitors at the moment. This could end up keeping Markkanen in Chicago for one more year, which actually might not be the worst idea for the Bulls.
With Williams the presumed starter at four now, that moves Markkanen to the bench. Chicago’s primary bench players will now be Caruso, Markkanen and Coby White. Add in the newly-signed Bradley in the front court, and the Bulls are fairly deep.
Markkanen staying put also means the Bulls could have a very tradable asset before next season’s trade deadline. With being on a 1-year deal and coming off the bench, Markkanen will be playing for his future. Anytime a young player is playing on a 1-year contract, they’re bound to be more motivated than ever.
In this case, Markkanen will probably also be demoted, in a sense. Coming off the bench will be new for him, and will push him even more so. If Markkanen relishes his new role in Chicago, the Bulls could have an attractive trade chip this coming season. Then, they would be able to get something in return for a player they’ll likely move on from next offseason.
Last season, Markkanen averaged the fewest points and rebounds per game he’s had since entering the league. However, he shot a career-high 48 percent from he field and over 40 percent from beyond the arc. If he continues to show efficiency from the field, Markkanen would fetch the Bulls a strong return at the deadline this year.
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