Name: Vonnegut USA Chicago Featuring Lewis Black and Sophie Maurer
Start: 2022-10-26T17:30:00-05:00
End: 2022-10-26T19:30:00-05:00
Location: The Cliff Dwellers

Vonnegut USA Chicago Featuring Lewis Black and Sophie Maurer

The Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library is a public-benefit, nonprofit organization championing the literary, artistic and cultural contributions of the late writer, artist and Indianapolis native Kurt Vonnegut. The library seeks to engage people in the written word — especially their own. We are in a brand new home in a historic building in downtown Indianapolis (543 Indiana Ave.), thanks to over 1,400 supporters. Learn more about us at Vonnegutlibrary.org.

Kurt Vonnegut Museum * Library

Celebrate Vonnegut's Centennial in Chicago with Comedian Lewis Black and Free Speech Ambassador Sophie Maurer.

The Cliff Dwellers

In 2019, we at the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library (KVML) in Indianapolis brought our Teaching Vonnegut workshop to the classrooms of Columbia College, Chicago. Now, we are bringing our Vonnegut programming back to Chicago permanently as part of our Vonnegut USA tour in honor of the 100th anniversary of Kurt Vonnegut’s birth.This year we are taking Vonnegut&#x27;s message of free expression and common decency on the road, and we believe Kurt would expect Chicago to be at the top of our travel itinerary. In a 2006 interview with Stop Smiling magazine, Kurt said, “I was born in Indianapolis, but I’m a Chicagoan who lives in New York.”Vonnegut attended the University of Chicago after surviving his horrific war experience at the hands of the Nazis. Much of what Vonnegut learned in his graduate school’s cultural anthropology program translated into his novels, from seeing all cultures as largely analogous to his disinterest in including clear villains within his stories.Vonnegut returned to Chicago many times throughout his life, from his 1969 lecture to the American Physical Society on the subject of ethics in science, to his 1994 talk at the University of Chicago on the subject of the atomic bomb or his 2001 acceptance of the Carl Sandburg award at the Harold Washington Library.Please Join KVML as we celebrate Kurt Vonnegut&#x27;s 100th birthday with a Century of Stories. We hope to see you as one of our esteemed guests at The Cliff Dwellers in Chicago where we will share together:<ul><ul><li>live interview of Lewis Black by Sophie Maurer</li><li>information about our educational programs</li><li>live music by Tony Kidonakis</li><li>a fully catered reception</li></ul></ul>Chicago was a special place in Vonnegut’s heart, and we at KVML would love nothing more than to celebrate our favorite author in one of his favorite cities.Special Thanks to our Co-Hosts for the evening the DLA Piper, American Writers Museum, Malcolm O&#x27;Hagan, Nike Whitcomb, and Melanie Norton and to the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame. Cliff Dwellers and KVML Members save $25 on Early Bird Tickets. Email VonnegutUSA@vonnegutlibrary.org for Discount Code! Tony Kidonakis teaches at VanderCook College of Music in Chicago, where he joined the faculty in 2009. Born in Morris, Illinois, Tony was drawn to music from an early age, with his mother teaching him tunes like “Heart and Soul” and “Chopsticks” on the organ and showing him how to sing harmony by listening to the Everly Brothers. He took up the saxophone in fourth grade, started piano lessons soon after, then learned the bass by playing along with recordings of his favorite band, the Beatles. Tony earned his bachelor’s degree in music education from Northern Illinois University, studying saxophone with Steve Duke. He toured the U.S. and Europe with the Northern Illinois University Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Ronald Carter, and alongside legends including Benny Golson, Curtis Fuller, Jimmy Heath, Ed Thigpen, Frank Foster, and Wynton Marsalis. In addition to his master’s degree in music education from VanderCook, Kidonakis earned a master’s degree in saxophone performance from Northwestern University, where he studied with and served as a teaching assistant for Dr. Frederick L. Hemke. Tony maintains an active performance schedule with numerous local musicians and has worked with recording artists such as The Drifters, Gene “The Duke of Earl” Chandler, and The Cryan’ Shames, including a guest appearance with The Redwalls on NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He has performed dueling piano shows for Howl at the Moon in Chicago and aboard Norwegian Cruise Lines. Tony taught grade school band for five years in Downers Grove, Illinois, and is the composer for The Paideia Projects, a series of video documentaries on the contributions of Ancient Greece to Western civilization. Kidonakis currently serves as VanderCook’s Director of Jazz Studies and associate professor teaching courses in saxophone, jazz, and arranging. He is also the Artistic Director of VanderCook’s “One City” jazz program, in which 5th–8th grade students from Chicago’s Bronzeville and surrounding South Side neighborhoods attend VanderCook weekly and are provided with free instruments, lessons, and jazz ensemble instruction.

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Vonnegut USA Chicago Featuring Lewis Black and Sophie Maurer

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Vonnegut USA Chicago Featuring Lewis Black and Sophie Maurer

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