“When you accomplish your goals and you speak things into existence with your hard work, the relief and the way your heart feels after that—that makes it worth it.” - Isis, Voice of Chicago singer
Each year, Paint the Town Red is the culmination of a year’s work for 3,000+ singers in our program. For our seniors, it is the culmination of their entire time with Uniting Voices Chicago, with some dedicating an entire decade of their life to learning music and creating community.
Isis is one of those seniors. When she participated in Paint the Town Red as a member of the Austin Neighborhood Choir Program, she set a goal to join the premier ensemble - Voice of Chicago - on stage. And despite setbacks, she continued to work hard, became a member of the renowned ensemble, and performed on the world's biggest stages. During her six years with Uniting Voices, she toured with Voice of Chicago to Egypt and sang with Karol G at Lollapalooza and on Saturday Night Live.
“As I’ve gone on this journey, I’ve learned it’s not about how hard something is or how much time it takes, but what you are going to do to be your best self.”
After her final Paint the Town Red, Isis plans to attend college and study Musical Theatre and Psychology. She’s a great example of the success our youth achieve: our singers have a 100 percent high school graduation and college acceptance rate.
Join us on Thursday, May 23 at 11am in Pritzker Pavilion for a joyful day of celebrating the hard work of all of our singers. And if you can’t join us in person, please donate to Paint the Town Red Giving Day to ensure all youth have access to these life-changing opportunities that teach them our core values of expression, education and excellence.