tickets $35 | $20

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Festival Passes on sale October 16, 2023. 
Single tickets on sale in 2024. ​

WordSong Chicago explores how one poem can be interpreted in multiple ways by readers, composers, and performers. Shores of Song Festival Director Mark Bilyeu moderates this program featuring four musical settings of Chicagoan Christina Ramirez's poem "benediction". Performances will be given by Fourth Coast Ensemble and Grammy nominated guest soprano Laura Strickling.  Audience members will receive an interactive guide to write down thoughts, reactions, and insights throughout the program.

This 90 minute program is followed by a post-concert reception in Eugenia Cheng's Liederstube studio, where anyone can grab a Schubert anthology off the shelf and perform their favorite Lied with a supportive community of song lovers cheering them on.

about our venue

Designed in 1885 by architect Solon S. Beman, the Fine Arts Building originally housed the Studebaker Company’s carriage assembly and showroom. Completed in 1887, the Studebaker Building was 8 stories tall and one of the first steel-frame skyscrapers in downtown Chicago. It was quickly hailed as one of “Chicago’s architectural jewels.”  

By 1898, Studebaker had outgrown the space, and a renovation to transform the building into the Fine Arts Building was led by Charles C. Curtiss, who the 10th floor Curtiss Hall is named after. During these renovations, the carriage showrooms were converted to two theater spaces, the Studebaker Theater and a smaller music hall. The renovations transformed the building’s upper floors to offices, craft studios, and 65 music studios equipped with special soundproofing. An addition to the top of the building expanded the building to a total of 10 floors. At this time many of the building’s murals and motifs were added to the 10th floor. The Fine Arts Building officially opened in October of 1898. The art columns of the local press were filled with news of artists moving into what one journal called “the first art colony of Chicago.”

In 1978, the Fine Arts Building was declared a Chicago Landmark. With the Auditorium on its south side and the Chicago Club’s present building on its north, the Fine Arts Building completes a block of structures united by common stylistic features and is a major fixture on the historic stretch of Michigan Avenue overlooking Grant Park. Today, the Fine Arts Building continues its legacy as a home for art in all forms.