The Elmhurst History Museum has big plans for a new outdoor public performance space that officially opened June 6 with a ribbon cutting and performance by musicians of the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra. The celebration will continue over the summer with two special performances and a new 4th Fridays Concert Series.
Dave Oberg, the museum’s executive director, said the new performance space is “part of a long going discussion, and part of our ongoing evolution as an institution.”
“We began utilizing our 1.37-acre campus more for family-friendly programming and bigger events in the better weather months,” he said.
Museum officials decided a more polished setting would allow for larger concerts and bigger storytelling events. But, Oberg said, it seemed cost-prohibitive.
“Then we had the opportunity of a lifetime come along,” Oberg said, when the Illinois Department of Natural Resources issued a call for new applications for the Illinois Public Museum Capital Grant Program. “We were lucky enough in February of 2022 to be awarded a grant to make this thing happen.”
But by 2025 when the project was finished, the cost had gone above the grant amount of $698,500.
“I’m really proud to say that the Elmhurst Heritage Foundation Board engaged in a private capital campaign and raised over $60,000 needed to complete the project,” Oberg said.
Next on the slate for the new performance spate is an opportunity for young children and their parents and grandparents to have a fun-filled, active afternoon as family performer Jim Gill presents a Kids Concert at 2 p.m. on June 22.
“I’m going to be strumming my banjo while everyone claps along and sings along and dances along,” Gill said. “What I’ve been up to all these years.”
Gill noted that his concerts attract families with young children.
“There are parents and grandparents there with toddlers and preschoolers and even the early school-age years,” Gill said. “The games work for everybody.”
One highlight of every Jim Gill concert is his popular “Silly Dance Contest.” “Everybody’s up and dancing and then freezing silly,” Gill promised.
The performer said another popular number at his concerts is “Spin Again.” “You spin and then stop and enjoy how dizzy you are,” he explained. “Kids love to spin — and they really enjoy it with a giant grin.”
Gill reported that he enjoys sharing a diverse assortment of activities at his concerts.
“I love to have a mix of games where you get to dance freely but then some moments of focused play like you would have in an indoor concert,” he said.
Before and after the concert there will be a station where kids can try out musical instruments.
Another special performance will be at the new space at 1 p.m. July 13, when Bourbon Aristocracy performs bluegrass music as part of the Family Farm Fest. “We’ll have a petting zoo that day,” Oberg said. “We have a really super fun farm game show with Tim Balster, who’s a great local entertainer. We’re going to have chore stations and craft activity stations.”
The new 4th Fridays Concert Series will open with the Highland Park Pops Big Band at 7 p.m. on June 27.
The 17-piece band has been performing for 50 years, according to Mark Zar, lead trumpet player and director.
“The band rehearses each week,” Zar said. “During the summer we have our rehearsals outside open to the public at Sunset Woods Park in Highland Park.” The rehearsals are from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday nights.
The music they will play June 27 “is an assortment of jazz, swing, big band standards and dance music,” Zar said. “It’s a lot of Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, and others, with a smaller mix of more contemporary tunes.”
That concert will be followed by Morry Sochat and The Special 20’s on July 25, playing blues; Coffee Jazz Collective on Aug. 22; and Carpacho y Su Super Combo with salsa and cumbia music on Sept. 26.
That’s all made possible by the new outdoor performance space, Oberg said.
“It’s a game-changer for us. It’s a major capacity-builder for the museum. We’re going to be able to do some really great performances here,” he said. “I think it’s going to absolutely benefit the businesses and the restaurants in the downtown area.”
Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.