Young musicians on the rise in Oak Park
The Handel Week Festival is an annual festival now entering its 26th year. It celebrates George Frideric Handel and his music. It was modeled after Evanston’s Bach Week Festival. The Oak Park event is organized by Dr. Dennis E. Northway and Charles Chauncey Wells. Northway is very proud of his organization, as he believes that Handel Week, Inc. is “absolutely committed to assisting in bringing forth another generation of artists to make the world more beautiful, one musical note at a time!”
This year, Handel Week Festival is recognizing Henry Griffin, 25, and Norah Lougachi, 18. Griffin and Lougachi are two talented musicians who have been dedicated to their craft from a young age. Their commitment has led to a world of new opportunities and successes.
Griffin, a versatile conductor and rising baritone in the world of opera, graduated from the Manhattan School of Music and is currently studying at the Eastman School of Music as the Robert P. Fountain Fellow in conducting.
The Oak Park native was raised in a musically rich environment. His father, David Griffin, is a Chicago Symphony Orchestra musician, and his mother, Susan Wagner, is a clarinetist in the Lyric Opera orchestra.
Griffin played the trumpet in the band and jazz ensemble when he was a student at Oak Park and River Forest High School. He also studied piano with local teacher Hannah Voigt and sang in the Chicago Children’s Choir for eight years.
About his participation, Griffin is grateful for the opportunity.
“I am so grateful to Dennis Northway and the Handel Week Festival for this opportunity to conduct these Baroque gems and to collaborate with such fantastic artists — in my hometown,” Griffin said.
Griffin has been named the Mark & Randi Ravitts Conducting Fellow for the Festival — an honor for a gifted musician. He will conduct two pieces at the prestigious festival. Griffin is at Concert I on Sunday, Feb. 16 with Northway.
“I am delighted to share the podium with him on our first concert,” Northway said.
Another OPRF product to perform at the Handel Festival is Norah Lougachi. Lougachi, an OPRF senior, is an aspiring professional opera singer.
Since she was four, Lougachi has studied piano with Dr. Sally Sloane in Oak Park. She has since performed in multiple ensembles at OPRF, including the Chamber Choice and A Cappella Choir.
Like Henry Griffin, Lougachi’s roots run deep in Oak Park. She has sung in six different choirs at her school, performed in the chorus of the Joffery Ballet’s Nutcracker in Chicago, and participated in another choir under John Williams and the Boston Pops at the prestigious Tanglewood Festival.
Lougachi will sing with the Handel Week Festival Chorus at Concert III on Sunday, March 1.
Lougachi has been awarded the Suzanne and Charles Wells Choral Scholarship from Handel Festival Week along with a scholarship toward further music study at Northwestern University this fall.
According to Northway, Lougachi was “the clear exceptional candidate and compelling choice” due to her “maturity of musicianship and excellent sight-reading skills, along with her beautiful Soprano voice.” After she graduates in June, she plans to double major in Voice and French.
Henry Griffin and Norah Lougachi both have things in common: they will perform at the Handel Week Festival and graduate from their respective schools this year. As fellow Oak Park natives, it is only appropriate for the neighborhood to take pride in their hard work and dedication during this exciting time.
The festival will take place at Pilgrim Congregational Church, 460 Lake St. in Oak Park.
