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Celebrating their 62nd season...

Arsenic & Old Lace – by Joseph Kesselring Ilehamwood Farm, DeKalb IL June 30, July 1, 2, 3 1947. Cast of Arsenic & Old Lace: Dorothy Filson, Stanley Johnson, Charles Bradt, Arthur Overlee, Robert Olson, Marge Drewe, Annette Telford, Lloyd Ireland, Bryan Henaughan, Charles Smith, Gerald Quinlan, Dave Stenstrom, Edward Diedrich, and Roger Williams.

All the world’s a stage, and DeKalb County residents enjoy some of the best seats in the house thanks to friends and neighbors who share their talents at Stage Coach Players Theatre. As the curtain goes up on its 62nd season, SCP celebrates the long history the theater has had and the positive impact it has made within the DeKalb community.

Since its earliest performances in 1947, Stage Coach Players has been a shining example of community theatre at its best. It has created a place for self-expression, artistic talent and collaborative spirit. It has nurtured the skills and sensibilities that have added to the social capital of the greater DeKalb County community.

From a small founding group seeking creative outlet in borrowed theatre spaces, Stage Coach Players has evolved into a 200-member organization with a well-equipped home of its own. Along the way it has involved performers and volunteers from all walks of life, developing a base of support and attendance among those who might not otherwise patronize the performing arts.

Anne (Smith) Eddy Gray directed the first play in 1947, a performance of Pure as the Driven Snow at the Old Masonic Temple on Locust Street in DeKalb.

According to history contained in a Salute to Stage Coach Players printed by The MidWeek in 1985, Gray had an aversion to “shoot-em-ups.” She is quoted as saying, “Every time I wanted some entertainment, it seemed I had a choice among a Roy Rogers, Gene Autry or John Wayne movie.”

The original group of young actors prevailed upon Gray to form a theatre group. They all met at her residence on North Seventh Street where they formed an organization and planned a season of plays for that summer.

Gray approached John Ellwood and persuaded him to let the group use the loft of his big barn on the Ilehamwood Farm, on North First Street. John’s mother, Mrs. E. Perry Ellwood, gave the group the use of a stagecoach, which became the box office for the players and which gave them a name, Stage Coach Players.

Front of the barn theatre on the John Elwood farm. 1947 Unique Ticket Booth, first year of Stage Coach Players.

The barn was cleaned and rebuilt inside by volunteers who, with equipment donated by local firms, turned it into a workable theatre.

During the summer of 1947, Stage Coach Players presented Arsenic and Old Lace, Claudia, Berkeley Square, and On Borrowed Time in the Barn. They remained at the barn for three summers (through 1949). Then, the Ellwoods sold the farm, and at the same time, the stagecoach was sold to Pioneer Village museum in Minden, NE.

For three summers, the Players presented plays in the auditorium of DeKalb High School and in the all-purpose rooms of DeKalb grade schools. At the start of the 1950 season, the resourceful Gray used a courtroom at the DeKalb County Courthouse as the setting for The Trial of Mary Dugan.

In the show, the audience was treated to as realistic a trial as was possible. Each night, 12 members of the audience were chosen to sit in the jury box. All props, such as fingerprint records and evidence photos, had to be realistic enough to be handed to the jury. At the conclusion of the play, the jury was sent out to reach a verdict. Each night, the cast had to be prepared to either react to a “guilty” or “innocent” verdict.

The historic Walker & Frink stagecoach that gave the DeKalb theatre group inspiration for its name is still on display at Pioneer Village in Minden, NE.

Travelers on Interstate 80 can’t miss the billboards for Harold Warp’s Pioneer Village, a 20-acre museum with 28 buildings that shares “The Story of America and How it Grew.”

In 1947, when the original young theatre troupe was looking for a home, director Ann (Smith) Eddy Gray convinced John Ellwood to let them use his family’s barn and John’s mother, Mrs. E. Perry Ellwood, daughter-in-law of barbed wire manufacturer Isaac E. Ellwood, let the theatre group use the old stagecoach as a box office.

Around 1951, the Ellwoods sold the antique stagecoach to Harold Warp, owner of a Chicago plastics firm and founder of Pioneer Village. The stagecoach has remained on display there since its opening days. According to a spokeswoman at Pioneer Village, inventory records from Harold Warp’s estate indicate the stagecoach was driven between Detroit and Chicago about 1850. The Chicago-Detroit Road was opened in 1835, and originally followed a Native Indian trail.

At age 20, Warp left his home town of Minden, NE, in 1924, taking with him a patent for a new kind of plastic. In Chicago, he founded Warp Brothers Flex-o-Glass, maker of plastic bags and other plastics. The company is still run by his family, with factories in Chicago and Dixon.

Warp’s love of history and his dream to preserve antique items significant to America’s development prompted him to create Pioneer Village in 1953. Since that time, more than six million people have visited the educational center, which features more than 50,000 items including complete buildings, a prairie church, a one-room school and an 1869 fort (visit www.pioneervillage.org for more details).

Items like the original Ellwood Family-owned stagecoach are grouped and displayed chronologically. Warp chose 1830 for the beginning year of each exhibit, corresponding to the time man learned to roll steel, draw wire and hold steam under pressure.

The Ellwood stagecoach is mentioned on several pages in the book A History of Man’s Progress, written by Warp in 1967, to describe every item on display at Pioneer Village. In the section devoted to barbed wire fencing, the well-known relationship between Isaac Ellwood, Joseph Glidden and Jacob Haish is detailed, including this side note: “Incidentally, we have Mr. Ellwood to thank for saving the old Chicago-Detroit Stagecoach on display at Pioneer Village. It was stored in Ike’s barn in DeKalb, Illinois, for many years.”

Another interesting local connection to Warp was the fact that he owned farmland in DeKalb County at one time. According to the 1970 DeKalb County plat book, Warp owned about 100 acres north and east of Sycamore, off Mt. Hunger Road, bounded by Henderson Road, Swanson Road and the Kane County line.

In 1953, Stage Coach Players moved into the theatre on Loves Road, a modular metal building. The land was acquired from the DeKalb County Board; it was part of the County Farm. The first play in this new building was Bernard Shaw’s Androcles and the Lion, directed by Gray.

While teaching at what was then known as the Drama Department of Northern Illinois University, Gray did not confine her efforts to traditional settings either. She presented Romeo and Juliet in the plaza in front of Swen Parson Library, used the “castle on the hill” Altgeld Hall as the background for MacBeth and chose the island in NIU’s East Lagoon as the setting for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Gray was considered ahead of her time.

Gray moved to Taos, NM, in the mid-1950s, where she was a character actress for two seasons. That was followed by summer stock in Sister Lakes, MI, where she achieved the unbelievable by directing 10 plays in 10 weeks. She later became manager of the Studebaker Theater in Chicago, the first female manager of a legitimate theatre.

Gray then managed Ravinia Theatre in Highland Park. In 1971, she took time from her busy Chicago schedule to return to DeKalb to direct the 25th anniversary production of Arsenic and Old Lace. She died about four years ago, according to long-time members, Bob and Kathy Cain.

When SCP moved to the “Little Theatre” on Barber Greene Road, it was the only building out on the edge of town. The theatre was without water until 1961, when a well was dug. As the seasons went by, more conveniences were added: an addition with dressing rooms, restrooms, and storage space.

Meanwhile, residences and businesses grew up all around the theatre, and finally the members decided they needed a better space with heating, air conditioning and protection from the elements. In 2001, a new building was acquired at 126 S. Fifth St., which had been the Moose Hall and for 30 years, the Church of Christ
in DeKalb.

In 2001, the Stage Coach Players presented Plaza Suite and The Fantasticks in the old theatre on Barber Greene Road, and after a fitting farewell ceremony, they moved into the new theatre with productions Gypsy and The Importance of Being Earnest.

Stage Coach Players is a non-profit organization with a clear mission “to foster an appreciation of the theatre and create opportunities for all those interested in the theatre to participate.” It is one of the oldest, continuously operating community theatre troupes in Northern Illinois.

For years the theatre has allowed a means to escape the real world and an opportunity to perform. When the lights go down on the stage, you are taken away to a different place for a while. That’s what theatre is about - the ability to escape the everyday and go into a different world, a place you can control.

Seeing neighbors, co-workers, family and friends onstage is among the keys to SCP’s success. Support from the community has fueled its creative process.

“The community has been extremely supportive. There are some season ticket holders who have been patrons for over 50 years. It’s so fun to reflect back and talk about past shows with them,” said Gloria Dennison, the current director for Stage Coach.

“It’s also fun to look back and see how much the theatre has done–how much we have experienced together, the wonderful changes and additions that have been made over the years.”

SCP has been the embodiment of true community theatre since its first season, 62 seasons of entertaining more than 225,000 people, with over 300 plays starring some 2,500 community members. More than 4,200 other dedicated volunteers have worked behind the scenes since 1947, at SCP’s various homes.

Audiences represent people from all over DeKalb County and the region. SCP boasts a friendly, relaxed community with roots deep in farming and agriculture. Spending a night at Stage Coach Theatre has become a tradition generations of local residents look forward to and support.

Stage Coachers themselves are as diverse as their audiences. Vocations include corporate executives, hair stylists, painters, college professors, chefs, musicians, photographers, healthcare workers, students and many others.

Charlie Bradt, now 103 and still residing in DeKalb, was part of one of the very first seasons. He performed in Arsenic and Old Lace, directed by Gray. He also appeared in Stage Coach’s presentation in 1981 of The Sound of Music.

Bradt remembers having great fun being involved with Stage Coachers over the years.

“It was a wonderful group of people. I remember performing when it was in the barn!” he said.

Long-time members Bob and Kathy Cain of Sycamore are perfect examples of dedicated Stage Coachers. Bob has been a member of SCP since 1976, serving as its president in the mid-1980s. He was artistic director for many shows, and even wrote a one-act comedy called Maybe Some Day, produced by Stage Coach. Bob continues to be active in today’s performances, specializing in designing special effects and lighting for the sets.

Kathy has been just as involved as her husband, directing or acting as stage manager for many plays. Her specialty is musicals. She joined SCP in 1978. She has served as chair of the important Archives Committee for many years, helping preserve SCP’s precious history.

“This is a good outlet for our creative talents,” said Bob.

“One of the special things about Stage Coach is that we get to work with people we’d probably never meet otherwise; it’s such a diverse group of people of all different ages, vocations and interests,” added Kathy.

It’s not unusual to have entire families involved in a production—from actors to stage hands, ticket sellers to ushers. It’s a great opportunity to get the entire family involved. Each season, SCP produces six to eight shows, five or six in the summer, and either dinner-theatre or a major musical in the fall or winter and A Christmas Carol in December.

Being involved in Stage Coach Players has definitely been a family affair for Larry and Linda Ball over the years. The DeKalb residents have been active Stage Coachers since the 1970s, and passed the theatre bug on to their children and grandchildren. Larry continues to act and help behind the scenes, while Linda enjoys working on props. Their son, Tim, acts and directs for SCP, and their grandchildren have been featured in acting roles over the years.

In her role as president of SCP, Dennison has come to appreciate the support of Resource Bank and its staff members—a relationship that started 12 years ago.

“Resource Bank has sponsored and supported us along the way. They have always been very helpful in answering questions and guiding us with different accounts,” she said. “Staff members are always available and willing to help answer our questions. Best of all, they are open on Sundays, when I need cash for the box office!”

Thanks to that relationship and the community’s support, SCP has done an incredible job transforming the former Moose Hall/Church of Christ into a bona fide theatre. Renovation and improvement projects are constantly underway.

The permanent building has allowed SCP to expand workshop offerings in the community—some specifically for children, with others for actors, stage lighting, costuming and more.

SCP has more than 200 members and a 12-member board of directors, all of whom volunteer in some way or another during the productions.

“We’re anxious to show off all we’ve accomplished in the building this season,” said Dennison. “And we are looking forward to celebrating the 62nd season with all of DeKalb County.”

LIFESTYLE

Having his cake, and eating it too.

John enjoys some quality time with his grandchildren, making sweet treats at the Neighborhood Bakery. Top to bottom: Chloe Henner, age 4; Lauren Henner-Woods, age 5; Kaitlyn Henner, age 6; and Carter Hogan, age 3.

John Henner’s recipe for success includes mixing his love for farming with a passion for baking. Throw in his renowned “Chocolate to the 7th Power” and it’s evident John has found the key to enjoying the sweet life in DeKalb County!

“I’ve been in the bakery business all my life.
It’s a passion and part of who I am,” said John.
“But I also love agriculture.”

John and his fiancée, Kathy Taborelli, moved from St. Charles to a small farm in Sycamore in 2001. The move allowed John to combine the two things he loves most, farming and the bakery business. “I’ve got the best of both worlds.”

John owned and operated Baker’s Basket, Inc., a wholesale bakery business in Chicago starting in 1985. The company served the City of Chicago among its clients. During his 15 years of ownership, Baker’s Basket employed more than 50 people. He sold the business in 2000, and it continues to operate and still supplies the City of Chicago with frozen bakery goods.

In April, 2001, John established Baker’s Buddy, Inc., in DeKalb, a corporate/wholesale division that makes and sells mass quantities of products for the food service industry. He opened a retail arm a few years later called The Neighborhood Bakery, which Kathy runs. Since locating in the industrial suites off DeKalb’s Pleasant Street just east of Peace Road, the cozy bakery has earned a reputation for serving up fabulous treats. While they welcome shoppers to stop in for the day’s pastries, they also make larger quantities for almost any party or occasion.

When John sold his Chicago firm, he maintained the marketing arm of a creation that has made him renowned in the restaurant world – “Chocolate to the 7th Power.” It is a chocolate cake with seven different types of chocolate. He also supplies bakery goods to four restaurants in the DeKalb area.

John’s other passion, farming, began at an early age. Even though he was born in Chicago, he grew up in western Connecticut where his Grandfather and several of his uncles had dairy farms.

During the summers, he and his older brother stayed with his uncles so they could help out and work on the farm.

“Farming has always been a part of my life and still continues to be. It taught me all about hard work and helped establish my work ethic,” said John.

When John was 16 and in high school, he followed in his brother’s footsteps by getting a job in the main bakery for Jewel Food Stores.

“Farm work is hard work, so working in the bakery was a piece of cake,” quips John.

“The money was good and there was a lot of job security. There was always something to do at the bakery; I enjoyed working there,” said John.

He worked at Jewel Bakery and made a living for 13 years. While working there, he raised his family of two children. He also put himself through college while working at Jewel, taking night classes. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Elmhurst College in 1970.

When the Melrose Park Jewel Bakery closed in 1971, John started working for other bakers. He really enjoyed the industry and wanted to stay with it, he said.

Around the same time, John bought a farm in southwest Wisconsin. In 1977, he moved to Wisconsin so he could live and work on the farm. He and his family started dairying on the farm in 1979, but sold it in 1989, allowing John more time to devote to Baker’s Basket, his Elk Grove Village company.

Moving his business to the DeKalb area in 2001 allowed John to return to a rural area. In April, 2001, he and Kathy bought a farm in Sycamore, where they currently reside. He describes it as a small grass farm, where he grows alfalfa and raises Black Angus cattle. There are more than 5,000 trees on the land, which John planted as nursery stock.

John credits Resource Bank with helping the couple with their business banking needs in the bakeries as well as
the farm. With her responsibilities at the bakery, Kathy said she is especially grateful for Resource Bank’s guidance and support.

“They are always there when we need them. It’s a really good and comforting feeling working with them. We know they will be there to take care of anything if we need them,” she said.

The transformation of the land John prides himself on.

In the seven years since purchasing the property, John and Kathy have worked hard at updating the farm to turn it into a showcase. They moved an old farm house and built a new home on the land. Many of the barns and outbuildings have been restored and updated.

“Almost everything we’ve torn down, we have recycled and used somewhere on the property. Not much went to waste,” John said with pride evident in his voice.

A good example is in the home’s basement, where hand carved wood from the land was used to finish it into usable living space.

Whether on the farm or at the businesses, John and Kathy said they really enjoy working together throughout their many business ventures.

“We love to work together. It’s what keeps us going. We learned how to balance things,” said Kathy.

She added that John does the engineering, maintenance and research/development (formulations) for the business. All of their business comes from referrals and the company does not employ salespeople.

“John’s expertise and knowledge of the industry and business are the very reasons we are where we are today and why we are still going strong after all these years. He has a lot of experience in the bakery industry and really knows what he is doing.”

John gives his partner a lot of credit as well: “She runs the place! She wears a lot of hats.”

John attributes their success to having the ability and desire to put together products the customer wants.

“We are very versatile. We have the quality, quantity, ability and experience to make it happen.”

Baker’s Buddy is the firm’s wholesale division. It sells large volumes of goods to food services. Their facilities in DeKalb give them the space and ability they need to make mass quantities of a high quality product.

The world’s perfect food…“Chocolate to the 7th Power.”
It is a chocolate cake with seven different types of pure, sweet, perfect...chocolate!

The Neighborhood Bakery—a unique old-time bakery with old-fashioned prices and tastes—is the firm’s retail division. It is open to the public Tuesday-Friday, 7 am-3 pm, and Saturday, 8 am-2 pm.

“Not many bakers around sell specialty items anymore – we really pride ourselves on that and believe it makes us stand out from the rest,” said Kathy.

Everything they make is from family recipes, and everything is made fresh. Their list of homemade products includes donuts, breads and pizza. They are known for their specialty Danishes, coffee cakes, sweet rolls, cheese folds, and an endless list of other delights, like cannoli and kolachys.

The Neighborhood Bakery also specializes in freshly-baked decorated cakes. They have a wide range of cakes, and also offer customers the unique chance to buy cake by the slice. For dinner parties, customers can buy slices of different types of cakes to give their guests a variety from which to choose. “You don’t have to buy the whole cake!”

FEATURE

On Top Of The World.

A younger Ron stands on top of a building in front of the Chicago skyline.

When Ron Romano works, he’s literally on top of the world. He’ll be the first to tell you the view is simply amazing!

His work is definitely not for the faint of heart, however, because when Romano’s on a job site, it means he’s probably on top of one of the world’s tallest skyscrapers installing a communications system.

Romano established Installation Services, Inc., in 1983, as a sole proprietorship in Chicago. He handled many roles, including project coordinator, manager, crew leader, field worker and office manager. In 1988, he filed as a corporation and continued to build his accounts in the Chicago metropolitan area.

A day at the office for most of us means our feet are planted firmly on the ground. Romano heads for the sky. Working at dizzying heights, he routinely deals with some of the “exciting things” that Mother Nature throws at him. Wind and rain on a rooftop 2,000 feet up gives one a whole new respect for the elements, he said.

Romano relocated the company to Genoa in 1992, restructuring the company’s direction to focus on installing and maintaining entire communications systems versus single towers and antennas. He said he moved the business to Genoa because he found what he needed to expand—an office complex with enough storage space for all of the huge machines and parts it takes to build and install communications networks.

The move helped Romano continue to expand the company, accumulating accounts across the U.S. and around the world. Today, he provides the installation and maintenance of high profile communications systems with a staff of 15 full-time employees, including one of his brothers.

Ron’s view, looking down from the Sears Tower.

“I love the business and this kind of work. I love that it’s always different. Every job is different. It’s a very unusual job, and not a lot of people do what I do,” said Romano.

“You really get to know who you are and learn about yourself doing this job. It’s very challenging, but I have always welcomed the challenge. I have traveled all over the world and been on the largest skyscrapers all over the world.”

Romano climbed his first tower in 1961, when he was just fifteen years old. A friend’s father worked at
M & H Communication, a tower company, and got him the job. Since then, he has worked for other tower companies around the country, climbing 1,000-2,000 feet on a daily basis.

Before establishing his own business, Romano partnered with OMNI Services in the 1970s.

He has become very well known in the tower industry by erecting and maintaining communications systems with structural and technical precision. He designs, maintains, installs, and services vital communications services to major corporations around the country, including many projects in the Chicago area.

“I’ve helped change the Chicago skyline four times since starting in this business.”

Over the years, he has built everything and installed all antenna communications systems and their components on the Sears Tower. His work included fabricating all of the monopoles and other miscellaneous structures in order to build and install the antennas.

He also removed the antenna system for Channel 44 (WNUS) from the John Hancock Building and installed its new digital and NTSC systems on the Sears Tower.

Ron and his crew using a helicopter while working
on the Sears Tower.

“When I worked on top of the Sears Tower in 1981-82, it was the first time I used helicopters to help build a project. They were a huge help because they could lift 20,000 pounds at a time. We were able to complete that job in just two remarkable days,” Romano said.

Today, there are 42 broadcast stations atop the Sears Tower and Romano has put every one of them there.

Currently, he is working on an installation atop the new Trump International Hotel and Tower in downtown Chicago.

“I’ve worked on top of the tallest man-made objects in the world. I think the tallest was the TV tower in Fargo, ND,” he said.

Romano has described and demonstrated his work on The Today Show and Good Morning America, as well as the Discovery and History Channels. He said he has probably done tower work for every TV station in the country at some point over the years.

He has worked with Motorola for 40 years, installing the very first test sites for cellular phones. Romano said when RCA did 90 percent of the world’s antenna installation, he did all the work for them.

As he continues to build Installation Services from its DeKalb County base, Romano is guided by two primary concerns—customer satisfaction and safety. He has set the safety standards for the industry and is highly regarded by his peers. He was one of the founding 15 members of the National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE).

“I want my workers to come home at night.”

Romano has worked hard to change the safety laws by working with OSHA. He serves on the Board of Directors for NATE, and is on NATE’s Trade Show Committee. He also writes articles for NATE’s Tower Times monthly magazine.

Romano also shares his talents with the community he calls home. He has been a member of the Genoa Chamber of Commerce, served on the Plan Commission and is a part of the city’s economic development group.

“This is really a good community. Everyone living here is really nice. As neighbors, we watch out for each other and we depend on one another. I wish I had moved here 30 years ago,” he said.

When he moved to the area, Romano said he was working with another bank, but he was having some problems. He felt like he was just a small fish in the sea, so he looked into switching. That is when he found Resource Bank.

“Again, I wish I had gone with them 30 years ago,” he said.

His Resource Bank representative is Kevin McArtor, who Romano said has taken care of him through everything. Transferring all his information and accounts took less than a week; the transition was very smooth, he said.

“They are very hands-on; they take care of my needs. I never have to worry. Everyone at the bank is always so pleasant. I really couldn’t ask for a better bank.”

Ron poses at his home with his dear Mother.

Romano’s wife passed in 1993. They had three daughters—Ronda, born in 1966, who now owns a specialty cleaning business; Naomi, born in 1969; and Nichol, born in 1976, who now owns Tails and Nails, in Genoa. Naomi passed almost seven years ago. Romano has three granddaughters, ages 15, 16, and 17.

Among Romano’s prize possessions is a collection of specialty tower lights he has collected over the years. He’s acquired the old lights when they were removed from towers he was working on.

When he has free time, Romano enjoys golfing, combining it with travel whenever possible. Because he travels so much with his job, his favorite thing besides golf is to be at home and reading. Romano said he will read almost anything he can get his hands on.

“My job has taken me to every state in the country. I recently built a home in Genoa, so I enjoy staying there when I can. It allowed me to attach a private living space for my mother, which gives us both peace of mind. I especially love the change of seasons; that’s one of the best things about living here.”

“It’s true what they say, there’s no place like home.”

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Shulamit Ran

At a very young age, Shulamit Ran “heard” music when she read lines of poetry within passages of her childhood books.

As she read to her mother in her native Israel, she would sing the poetry parts. She told her doubting mother that no one demonstrated how it should sound; she could just hear it in her head. She was seven years old and already composing music intuitively. It wasn’t long before her parents knew their daughter had a special gift – a musical genius that would not be ignored.

Now an acclaimed and Pulitzer Prize winning composer, Ran has traveled the world and worked with the most talented musicians of our time. Yet nothing brings her more joy than being at home with her family in Sycamore. Sitting comfortably in her bright and spacious living room on a recent Sunday, it is clear Ran draws deeply from her family and her heritage for inspiration. Her eyes light with joy on the occasions when her oldest son, David, 16, and her husband, Dr. Abraham Lotan, peek in. Their other son, Yaron, soon-to-be 15, was not home, but was talked about with equal joy.

“My life can be very intense. Every week when I come home to Sycamore, I feel the calmer pace of life and a true sense of home. My piano and my drafting board are right off the kitchen. I like being near my family and do most of my composing here,” she said.

Ran divides her time between Sycamore and Chicago, where she has taught at the University of Chicago since 1973. She is the Andrew MacLeish Distinguished Service Professor of Music, and is also artistic director of “Contempo” - the university’s Contemporary Chamber Players. In addition, she is frequently commissioned to write new music for venues around the globe.

Ran was just eight years old when her compositions received their first public performance. Her piano teacher sent her songs to a Tel Aviv radio station where a Children’s Choir sang her compositions. As friends gathered around a large radio to listen, Ran said she experienced “a remarkable feeling.”

“It was the first time I heard my songs brought to life by performers. That’s when I said, this is what I want to do.”

By age nine, she was studying piano and composition with some of Israel’s most gifted composers, including Alexander U. Boskovich and Paul Ben-Haim. Ran’s genius was nurtured with special teachers in Israel before she came to New York City with her mother in 1963 to further her studies at the age of fourteen. She studied piano and composition on scholarships at the Mannes College of Music and the America Israel Cultural Foundation. She performed extensively as a pianist for a time in the U.S., Europe, Israel and elsewhere.

“I will always be grateful to my parents for their enormous support and allowing me to follow my dream. And also, for giving me a life as close to normal as possible,” she said.

Making music—composing and arranging notes into something deeply moving and meaningful—is more than a living for Ran. It is her passion, her calling, her reason for being.

“It’s also intensely demanding, requiring untiring discipline and dedication. When it comes to composing music, it is not just the act of creating the music that is very time-consuming, but also it’s copying, proofreading, etc. People don’t begin to imagine how labor-intensive an activity composing is, as there are so many layers to getting a composition ready for performance,” she said.

In addition to earning the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1991 for Symphony, Ran has earned awards and accolades that fill pages upon pages. Symphony also earned her the 1992 Kennedy Center Friedheim Award. She is the recipient of five honorary doctorates, and was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1992, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2003.

She is sought after by some of the world’s most prominent musical organizations, who commission her to compose works especially for them or for a special occasion. Among her awards, fellowships, and commissions, are those from the Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund, Ford Foundation, NEA, Guggenheim Foundation, Chamber Music America, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and Koussevitsky Foundations. Her music has been played by the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic, the Baltimore Symphony, the National Symphony, the Jerusalem Orchestra, the Amsterdam Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, l’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the American Composers Orchestra.

“Balancing my life is an ongoing challenge. It’s a humongous balancing act, and I have become very cautious about how much travel I take on in order to spend more time at home,” said Ran.

Their family also includes Kelly, who came to them as a nanny/housekeeper shortly after David’s birth and has become a cherished part of the household. “She helps keep things together at all times, giving me peace of mind while I’m gone. I consider myself so lucky to have her in our family.”

Ran met Dr. Lotan, a respected local ear/nose/throat doctor and surgeon, at the home of mutual friends in Chicago. They married in 1986. Because Dr. Lotan had established his practice in the DeKalb area, they made Sycamore their home.

“I’m very proud of him. He’s a very compassionate man; a very caring doctor. It is more than a job to him. It’s his calling, his passion and his life—just as music is to me.”

Shulamit celebrates an event with her husband and two sons.

The family is active in the Northern Illinois Jewish Community Center-Congregation Beth Shalom, in DeKalb. Among her cherished experiences was the chance to compose two songs for her sons on the occasion of their respective Bar Mitzvahs, an important rite of passage for Jewish boys at age 13.

“David’s was first and I knew I would be too emotional to speak, as parents have the opportunity to do. My husband encouraged me to focus my emotions by composing celebratory songs to be sung by “Koleynu,” the congregation’s enthusiastic amateur choir. I wanted to surprise David, but I didn’t want to spring it on him at the last minute. One day I was playing one of his songs at the piano when he came in. He said, ‘Mom, that’s so beautiful, what is it?’ I was able to tell him it was just for him. He was very thrilled.

“Of course, there was no question that I would write a pair of songs for Yaron when his turn came. It’s something uniquely special I could share with both of them; something we all treasure,” Ran said.

Although she considers herself a “city person,” having lived in Tel Aviv, New York City and Chicago, Ran is delighted to be in Sycamore.

“I’m very impressed with the community. Our kids are safe here, and they have wonderful opportunities in the school system. I am very happy to have them grow up here and think we are very lucky to have such wonderful teachers and a school system that values the arts.”

While Ran’s talents are in demand to enhance the world’s performances, she takes utmost pleasure in watching those closer to home—featuring her talented sons. Both David and Yaron have been involved in local theater productions from a very early age. Between them, they have acted in plays at Stage Coach Players, Children’s Community Theatre, and the Egyptian Theatre, and both have played leading roles at Sycamore Middle School and Sycamore High School. Both perform in Madrigals at Sycamore High School, where David is a sophomore and Yaron is a freshman. Yaron also performs with the SHS Jazz Choir. Both Lotan sons also will appear this summer in The Diary of Anne Frank, performed by Dreamers Theatre Group (formerly Dee’s Dreamers).

Ran said both of her parents also were very musical: “My mother was born in Russia and my father in Germany. They came to Israel at young ages. As a very young child, I can remember my mother singing Russian songs that I learned to sing intuitively, although I had no clue what I was singing. She also played the guitar. My father grew up playing the piano and violin in his youth, and he also sang. They both loved music,” said Ran.

“Whether or not I was born with a gift for composing, I believe having one’s gifts nurtured and developed is of critical importance. We start with something that is there, that we are born with, but it’s up to one to nurture it andgo somewhere with it.”

She cites among recent professional highlights the piece called “Credo/Ani Ma’amin,” part of And on Earth, Peace: A Chanticleer Mass, commissioned and widely performed by Chanticleer, a noted 12-man vocal ensemble. It made its premiere in New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in April, 2007.

Ran, the Artistic Director of Contempo, shares the night with talented musicians at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.

“The piece is a good example of how to maintain your individuality, heritage and vision when you are working with others as part of a larger project. My part of this Mass is typically interpreted from a Catholic perspective. But when I was commissioned to write this piece, I made it clear that my Jewish heritage would need to play a role, if I was to write this work,” she said.

In 1990, she was chosen by Maestro Daniel Barenboim to be composer-in-residence with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She held that position for seven seasons as part of the Meet the Composer Orchestra Residencies Program. Ran said her task involved advocacy for contemporary composers, acting as a “guardian angel” for today’s music.

“A concert hall should not be a museum to only house past great works,” Ran contends.

“Sometimes, people need to be convinced to give new music a try. Remember, all of the great composers throughout history were criticized as breaking the boundaries of what was thought acceptable at one time
or another.”

During her last three years with the Chicago Symphony, Ran was also composer-in-residence with the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

“That was three years of intense work writing a very complex opera called ‘Between Two Worlds (The Dybbuk)’ adapted from S. Anski’s classic 1920 drama The Dybbuk. It is a great play inspired by an Eastern European Jewish folk tale about a woman possessed by the spirit of her lover who has died,” she explained.

“I saw the play as a youngster in Israel, and it haunted me even then. It is filled with passion and ecstasy. Writing an opera was a whole new experience. When you work with words it adds a whole new layer to the process, making sure the sound enhances, illuminates, the deeper meaning of the text, among other things.”

Being invited to the premiere of her works is always a thrill, she added.

“This is the birth of my piece. This is where musicians make what I hear in my head real. The performance is where the creator, the listener, and the musician come together. You need all three components. It is always an indescribable thrill.”

In addition to composing for the world’s most respected and established artists, Ran said she is honored to work with and teach up-and-coming composers and musicians in her position at the University of Chicago.

“It’s a great privilege to work with these students. I try to help them develop the tools that will allow their own voices to come through. They come to us from all over the world, and mostly I work with them one-on-one, encouraging them to think deeper, developing their artistic vision and their own sense of individuality,” she added.

Ran embraces the future and all its possibilities even as her life continues at a whirlwind pace.

“While it was incredibly exciting and an extraordinary recognition by my peers to earn the Pulitzer Prize, it is not those types of things that validate who I am or what I do. Despite the awards, I wake up facing the same challenges and the same blank piece of paper urging me to fill it with notes..."

"It’s a passion and my life.”