Meet Our Team
Jon Weber
“Songwriting is a uniquely powerful and accessible way to share intensely personal experiences that reside in and move those who listen.”
Jon Weber founded Listen Up Chicago as a platform to better understand the impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic on Chicagoans and demonstrate how the arts can help build relationships and empathy in a time of public crisis. A 2020 Civic Leadership Academy Fellow at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy, Jon draws on his experience organizing education and community engagement programs for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, including songwriting projects with teen parents and families who have lost children to gun violence.
Anne-Marie Akin
“There is power in music. It erases division. It destroys despair. It reminds us of our humanity.”
Anne-Marie Akin, is a gifted singer-songwriter, poet, essayist, and educator originally from Memphis, Tennessee. For more than 25 years, Anne-Marie has developed and taught courses at Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music that instill joy and build community through music making. Since 2015 she has participated in Carnegie Hall’s Lullaby Project, partnering with teen mothers to compose an original song for their babies.
Joe Clark
Praised as “haunting” (Chicago Tribune), “very intriguing and attractive” (Journal of Singing), and “a tour de force” (Chicago Classical Review), the music of composer and arranger Joe Clark is an ambitious synthesis of musical traditions in “an emphatic new voice that should be heard” (AllAboutJazz). Clark's compositions and arrangements have been performed by Yo-Yo Ma, Renée Fleming, the Minnesota Orchestra, Jeff Hamilton, Randy Brecker, Jon Faddis, Marquis Hill, Kurt Elling, Phil Woods, Ira Sullivan, Quince, V3NTO, the Spektral Quartet, musicians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and ensembles worldwide.
Juan Díes
“In Mexico, having a ‘corrido’ written about you is the equivalent of having a monument built in your honor. I want to bring a small piece of this tradition to Listen Up Chicago and honor our local heroes.”
Juan Díes is co-founder and CEO of the two-time Grammy® nominated Sones de Mexico Ensemble, established in 1994 to perform, record, and promote Mexico’s rich heritage of folk music and dance traditions. Juan currently serves on the City of Chicago’s Cultural Arts Council and is co-chair of the Year of Chicago Music for the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. Juan holds an M.A. in folklore/ethnomusicology from Indiana University, is an Earlham College Distinguished Alumnus, a United States Artists 2019 Fellow, and an Illinois Arts Council 2020 Fellow.
Thaddeus Tukes
“Through Listen Up Chicago, I've reached parts of myself that I hadn't previously uncovered, spiritually and musically. The narratives we heard were riveting, and the vulnerability invoked has stayed with me. This is an experience I will never forget. I'm very, very grateful.”
Originally from the North Pullman neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side, Thaddeus Tukes is a composer and percussionist who specializes in the vibraphone. Thaddeus has been a featured soloist at leading music venues in Chicago and across the country, including Carnegie Hall in New York, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Alfred's on Beale Street, and Andy's Jazz Club.
Mat Lejeune
“I am honored to do my part in helping bring Listen Up Chicago to fruition. It’s always a thrill to record amazing musicians who can so deftly bring talented songwriters’ creations to life. It’s even more fulfilling when the goal is to shine a light on people who do so much for others in their communities.”
Mat has recorded and mixed tens of thousands of songs in every genre imaginable. His sharp ear, versatility, attention to detail, and warm demeanor make him among the best in Chicago and a perfect collaborator for Listen Up Chicago.
Charles Osgood
“Listen Up Chicago is a wonderful idea fulfilled! I’m so happy to have returned to neighborhoods I rarely see and be a part of giving back to those who have done so much for Chicago.”
A former Chicago Tribune photographer, Charles Osgood collaborated for 13 years with Rick Kogan on his column, “Sidewalks” about interesting people and places in the greater Chicago area. Two books of their columns are available in local bookstores and online.
Photo by Todd Rosenberg
Clara Takarabe
“Listen Up Chicago marries both art and care work labor and puts forth a deeply nuanced idea of what essential work is. Thinking about who and what Listen Up Chicago is has changed me.”
Clara Takarabe is a longtime substitute violist in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a thinker and writer in art labor and care labor, and is co-director of the Northwestern Music and Medicine Program, which is a program involved in MRI/EEG research of music in the brain as well as education and interventions for neuropsychiatric syndromes of dementia and epilepsy. Clara’s work in art and care labor theory has been featured in the Takarabe Lectures, the Festival Internacional de Musica de Querétaro, Art Co-op, Anticapitalism for Artists, Misuzu Shobo, the Jacobin, Against the Current, and Frontiers in Neurology. Ms. Takarabe is a founding member of Shred, an art and care labor think tank. Soon, she will release a new album called Gigantomachy with composer Anton Riehl, blending classical and electronic music genres. Clara is a graduate of the University of Chicago.
Thank you
Many people have contributed their enthusiasm, energy, and encouragement make Listen Up Chicago a reality. A partial and growing list of these contributors is below.
Sergio Aguirre, Jessica Biggs, Ricardo Cifuentes, Brenda Kass Fineberg, Marshall Hatch, Jr., Skyla Hearn,
Jeff Meegan, Hilesh Patel, Nick Shields, Clara Takarabe, Bengi Weber, Chris Weber.