Saturday, September 7 at 8:00 pm
Live over the air at 98.7 FM and streaming on wfmt.com and on the WFMT app
CHICAGO – August 23, 2024 – On Saturday, September 7 at 8:00 pm, Folkstage, WFMT’s long-running Saturday night concert series, will mark the centennial of the iconic Chicago children’s music pioneer Ella Jenkins with a live one-hour birthday special. Folkstage host Marilyn Rea Beyer will be joined by Jenkins’s longtime collaborator and friend Fred Koch, who will serve as music director and guest commentator for the special.
Jenkins, the multiple award-winning Smithsonian Folkways recording artist, laid the groundwork for the field of children’s music and inspired generations of leaders of the genre who have followed in her footsteps. She was born in St. Louis but has spent most of her life in Chicago. Notably, in 1956 she appeared on WTTW’s early children’s television program Totem Club, which led to This is Rhythm, her own full segment on the show. Over the course of a career that has spanned more than seven decades, she has traveled the world to share her music with children, and to learn from them their own cultural songs and stories. Her discography includes 40 releases and her first recording in 1957, Call and Response, has never been out of print and remains a bestseller.
Joining Beyer and Koch will be a lineup of local folk music luminaries paying tribute to Jenkins, including Koch, Juan Dies, Shanta Nurullah, Bucky Halker, and Susie Lofton.
“Ella Jenkins is among a rare few living artists whose name is synonymous with an entire musical genre, and who have so profoundly influenced multiple generations,” said Beyer. “It’s an honor to present a Folkstage show that celebrates Ella’s life of activism framed in music that kids love and adults remember.”
Folkstage is made possible, in part, by the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Nancy Clark, Freddi Greenberg and Dan Pinkert, Bruce Hirsch, Andy and Becky Anderson, Robert and Laura Boyd, Fred Geisler and Lois Polatnick, Robert Sloan and Maurine Neiberg, and the generous support of WFMT members.
WFMT is one of the world’s most respected classical music radio stations, accessible via broadcast at 98.7FM, streaming live at wfmt.com, and on the WFMT app. Recognized for trusted hosted programming, immersive live performances and concerts, strong partnerships with community organizations and championing young, local musicians and access to the arts, WFMT spotlights inspiring music, musicians, and musical performances from Chicago and around the world including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Sinfonietta, Lyric Opera of Chicago, the New York Philharmonic, and many more. Connect with WFMT on Facebook and Twitter.
