SPRINGFIELD – People walking through downtown Springfield on Monday morning looked up to an unusual sight – a helicopter hovering over the Old State Capitol, dropping a rope and lifting away the flagpole that sat atop the bronze-colored dome. “We took off the flagpole of at the Old State Capitol today in preparation for a…
URBANA — The Baroque Artists of Champaign-Urbana, known as BACH for short, are in concert this Sunday at 7:30pm at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Urbana. The chamber choir is performing “Membra Jesu Nostri” by German composer Dietrich Buxtehude and “To the Hands” by modern American composer Caroline Shaw. Listen to this story here. BACH…
CHAMPAIGN — Champaign restauranteur Thad Morrow’s first industry job was at Le Petit Café in Bloomington, Indiana. He was an undergraduate at Indiana University and told the owners that he’d work for free for two weeks. They agreed. “I learned how to cook a few French things, and then, off to the races,” remembered Morrow,…
URBANA — The 14th annual C-U Folk and Roots Festival gets underway Thursday night at several different venues in Urbana. One of this year’s festival headliners is the multi-instrumentalist Dom Flemons, who has appeared at this event on several occasions, including 2021. Listen to this story here. Flemons, who calls himself “the American Songster,” is a…
URBANA – A Central Illinois native will launch a live call-in talk show nationwide on Wednesday night. Jeremy Hobson is a former host of Marketplace Morning Report and WBUR/NPR’s Here and Now. His new show “The Middle” is a limited talk show series. It will air weekly on WILL-AM 580 and FM 90.9 at 8:00…
A Champaign-based leasing company, Fairlawn Real Estate, is revitalizing their apartments with a new arts initiative. The initiative is called Fairlawn for the Arts, according to project manager for Fairlawn Real Estate Tom Hagensick. He says the initiative both supports the arts and brings a fresh look to apartments in the Champaign-Urbana area. “I think…
URBANA — The Jupiter String Quartet have been artists-in-residence at the University of Illinois for the last ten years. The quartet’s first performance this season is Saturday night at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana. Illinois Newsroom’s Brian Moline spoke with Jupiter violinist Nelson Lee about Saturday night’s concert, which is in the…
WASHINGTON — Nuclear bombs. That’s the go-to answer for incoming space objects like asteroids and comets, as far as Hollywood is concerned. Movies like Deep Impact and Armageddon rely on nukes, delivered by stars like Bruce Willis, to save the world and deliver the drama. But planetary defense experts say in reality, if astronomers spotted…
Starting in the 1970s, WILL and other public broadcasters began turning to listeners and viewers for part of their operating funds. Debbie Day, WILL’s first development director, talks about how the Friends of WILL helped Illinois Public Media grow.
After three months of planning, two local groups have created a safe space for Latinos to celebrate Mexican Independence Day. University YMCA and Champaign-based restaurant Maize collaborated to commemorate El Grito. El Grito, or the “Cry for Dolores,” is the battle cry and the start of the liberation of Mexico from Spain on September 16,…
URBANA — Sinfonia da Camera, the chamber orchestra in residence at the University of Illinois, begins its new season Saturday night at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana. This concert will feature music director Ian Hobson at the podium and behind the keyboard as the soloist in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C…
At a time when Black composers and performers were underrepresented in the classical music world, WILL-FM’s Roger Cooper filled the gap with “Classically Black”, a nationally distributed series of programs produced for Black History Month from the late 1980s until Cooper’s retirement in 2008.
Pritzker, Secretary of State Jesse White cut the ribbon
MACOMB – A mural honoring civil rights pioneer the Rev. Dr. C.T. Vivian and his connections to Macomb was officially unveiled on Saturday in the 200 block of East Carroll Street. The mural, entitled “Life of a Servant,” is 75 feet long and 18 feet tall. On one end a profile of an older Vivian overlooks…
URBANA – Here’s a partial list of professional fireworks displays for Independence Day weekend, July 1-4, 2022: July 1 Freedom Fest – Lake of the Woods, Mahomet – fireworks begin at 9:00 p.m. Farmer City Raceway Fireworks – 850 Grove Street, Farmer City – fireworks begin at dusk July 2 Thunder Over Lake Vermilion –…