our work
Concerts
With a roster of incredible local artists, LYNX art song recitals provide a warm, inclusive atmosphere for anyone looking to enjoy the highest quality of song performance.
Educational Programs
LYNX’s educational programming is designed with access in mind. We prioritize inclusive opportunities that build knowledge, connect communities, and brings new perspectives to song.
New Music Commissions
LYNX’s Amplify Series is our current commissioning series, adding new music to the genre of song from emerging and established composers, and sharing the voices of nonspeaking autistic poets.
What is art song? Art song is most simply defined as poetry set to music, typically for solo voice and piano. The genre spans centuries of repertoire in dozens of languages, and is still being written today. At LYNX, we welcome a broad definition of song—see below for examples of songs from LYNX concerts, and check out our YouTube channel for more:
Our Goals
Connect diverse communities to professional art song performances and educational experiences.
Foster a thriving musical landscape through meaningful community-centric artistic opportunities.
Celebrate the breadth of human experience through art song.
Our VALUES
Inclusion: LYNX strives to equally elevate the stories and artistry of all people, which includes consciously and directly involving people from diverse backgrounds, creeds, orientations, and neuro-identifications in the art-making process.
Community: LYNX believes in the ripple effect of conscious community-building that is derived from fellowship in common ideas, interests, and goals. LYNX strives to unite communities of diverse backgrounds both in the art-making experience and in the concert setting.
Learning: LYNX believes in learning by collaboration, listening, and shared experiences. While LYNX places educational programming at the center of its mission, our values, goals, and even mission adapt and change as we listen and learn how to better serve our communities.
OUR STORY
Hailed by the Chicago Tribune for its "stirring contributions to the art song genre", LYNX, also known as LYNX Project, is a Chicago-based nonprofit organization that amplifies diverse voices through new song commissions, inclusive concerts, and educational programming. Founded in 2015, LYNX was formed to revitalize the genre of art song and share it with new audiences.
LYNX is passionate about bringing modern voices and new perspectives into the art song canon. LYNX's Amplify Series (formerly Autism Advocacy Series) sets the poetry of primarily nonspeaking autistic individuals in new song commissions, and directly connects neurodiverse communities to professional artistic experiences. To further serve the autistic and nonspeaking communities, LYNX has augmented the educational opportunities within this series to feature inclusive poetry-writing courses.
LYNX was the subject of a 2017 documentary by Purdy Productions for the Amplify Series. In the 2021-22 season, LYNX published an anthology of sheet music from this series with NewMusicShelf, and released their debut album beautiful small things on the ArtistShare label to critical acclaim.
In addition to performance initiatives, which include the Amplify Series and Snapshots of Every Voice, LYNX is passionate about music education opportunities for youth. In Composition of a City, classical and hip hop artists co-teach songwriting classes for teens. With the support of an Alumni Enterprise Award from the Music Academy of the West, LYNX developed an online curriculum for Composition of a City that is free to educators for in-person, virtual, and hybrid learning. In the first six months of deployment, this curriculum reached over 400 students, primarily from the South and West Sides of Chicago. Through generous partnership with WFMT Chicago, LYNX has additionally developed this curriculum to serve students with a variety of learning differences.
Since its founding, LYNX has commissioned more than 40 poets and composers through its Amplify Series. Championing emerging and established artists, LYNX offers meaningful artistic opportunities and fosters deep connections between artists and communities.
What People Are Saying
