Back to School
On summer transformations, Art Song Chicago's Collaborative Works Festival, and whether art should be political
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Near Tanglewood at the end of July
AN OCTOBER 2026 Newsletter
When I was a child, I used to get swept up in September’s back-to-school fervor, amassing new school supplies (a trip to a place like Office Depot or Staples fills me with untold joy to this day), and preparing to reunite with friends after summers away with annual sojourns both at Interlochen Arts Camp and with cousins in Greece. In those pre-internet days, the weeks away were truly transformational: With no endless scroll to distract, family time in Greece meant I was able to immerse myself in book after book on the beach and navigate a foreign culture and language, all allowing my imagination and creativity to flourish. With no screens to hide behind, weeks at arts camp meant focused musical practice, intensive rehearsals in the theatre, and learning how to push through the boundaries of my naturally introverted tendencies to navigate the hyperstimulating social scene of brilliant, ambitious, and preternaturally talented teenagers drawn from all over the world to this set of cabins, art studios, rehearsal rooms, and concert stages built in the middle of the woods in the remote north of Michigan.
As the final weeks of August faded into the first days of September, I always found myself thrilled at the new beginnings each school year represented, eager to show friends and teachers how much I had changed and grown over the course of each summer.
Even in this age of smartphones, artificial intelligence, and adulthood, this summer proved to be a transformative one as well, and this past month, I’ve felt twinges of that same excitement I used to experience in my younger days. I used the first couple of weeks of September to rest and recover from the marathon of the past four months, and relished having the time to prepare for the season ahead, seeking to carry the lessons of a summer of festival-hopping—including new perspectives on the impossible and perhaps pointless quest for “perfection,” increased awareness about the ways my insecurities can block me artistically, and more efficient practice techniques—into the weeks and months ahead.
The season began, as it has for the past decade and a half, with Art Song Chicago’s annual…