Programs & Projects
The Fox Valley Music Foundation leads and supports a wide range of music programs, projects, and events held at The Venue and throughout the Fox Valley River area. In addition to organizing, promoting, and sponsoring cornerstone events like Blues on Water Street and hosting Songwriter Workshops across the region, the Foundation proudly presents ongoing initiatives such as Rhythms For All, the empowering She Said series, the immersive Delmark Day & Master Class, monthly Jazz Sessions, and the weekly Pete Ellman Big Band Residency. Through these diverse offerings, the Foundation continues to deliver on its mission: to Preserve, Promote, Protect, and Educate.
"She Said...": Celebrating Women in Music
The "She Said" series uplifts and amplifies the voices of women in music: the performers, the songwriters, and the creators shaping today's sound and stories. From blues to rock to jazz and beyond, "She Said..." showcases the power of the artistry, collaboration, and representation for women working in an industry that has been traditionally male-dominated and focused.
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"She Said" is curated and hosted by blues/rock/roots fiddle player and singer-songwriter Anne Harris. In her role as host, Harris brings her unique understanding of music’s transcendent power to bypass all superficial differences, universally uniting us in its mystery and joy to every conversation and performance with special artists like Susan Voelz (Poi Dog Pondering); Cathy Richardson (Jefferson Starship, Cathy Richardson Band); virtuoso blues guitarist Joanna Connor; and Lynne Jordan (Lynne Jordan & The Shivers). This series in funded in part by the Aurora Women's Empowerment Foundation.
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Empowering women. Elevating artistry. Expanding the stage.
Delmark Day & Masterclass Series: Honoring the Blues
Through a Music In Action grant from Live Music Society, FVMF partnered with Delmark Records, one of the oldest and most well-respected independent blues/jazz recording labels in the country. Each Delmark Day and Masterclass event brings together world-class artists, rising stars, and devoted fans to celebrate the living tradition of blues music, which is at the core of Fox Valley Music Foundation's musical identity and origins. Past events have included masterclass instruction from Sheryl Youngblood, Bob Stroger, and Billy Flynn, with performances by veteran artists Demetria Taylor, Bob Stroger & Friends, and up-and-coming groups Patch of Blues and Knott Us Band.​
​Delmark Day reminds us where the music came from - and why it still matters.
Rhythms For All: Inclusive Music for Neurodivergent Communities
Funded by a grant from the Dunham Foundation, Rhythms For All is an innovative and inclusive program designed to ensure that individuals with special needs have access to the joy and connection of live music. With accessibility and inclusivity at its core, the program provides a sensory-friendly environment tailored to meet the unique needs of attendees while fostering community, creativity, and connection. More than 300 patrons from a variety of organizations, including Fox Valley Special Recreation Association, Western DuPage Special Recreation Association, Blackhawk Academy, and Association for Individual Development have taken part in these events.
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Rhythms For All: a space where accessibility, creativity, and community come together through the power of music.
Pete Ellman Big Band Residency: Inspiring the Next Generation
Each week throughout the school year, The Venue hosts the Pete Ellman Big Band residency. Student jazz groups featuring musicians ranging from middle school to college-age gain real-world experience on stage, while audiences experience the joy of discovering the next wave of local jazz talent.​
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Where mentorship meets music - and the future takes the stage.
Songwriters Workshops
And Performance Series
The Fox Valley Music Foundation teamed up with two local libraries to offer insight into what makes a songwriter create a song. The 2016 Summer Songwriter Workshop and Performance Series featured six local professional songwriters who described their craft and performed before an audience at the local library. Each show in this free series featured a one-hour songwriting workshop led by the artist and was directly followed by a sixty-minute live performance. The West Branch of the Aurora Public Library and The Batavia Public Library are co-sponsoring the events with the Fox Valley Music Foundation. Learn more about the biographies of the artists.
The Leland Bluebird
Recording Sessions
The Leland Bluebird Sessionsis a recording project instigated and brought about by Waterloo Sunset Records and inspired by the work of the Fox Valley Blues Society, Blues on The Fox Festival Committee and the Fox Valley Music Foundation. This project was sponsored in part by a National Endowment of the Arts grant awarded to the FVMF, with assistance from the City of Aurora. It is a tribute to the records that were produced on the top floor of the Leland Hotel in Aurora, Illinois during a period in time beginning on May 4, 1937, and ending on December 19,1938.
The Leland Bluebird Sessions
Record Release Show
On February 19, 2017, top Chicago area musical artists gathered to perform the Leland Bluebird songs that are part of a new take on historic Blues recordings made in Aurora’s Leland Tower in the late 1930’s. The strong musical cast for this performance featured bandleader Scott Tipping and core band members Scott Stevenson, Matt Thompson, Chuck Lacy and Rick Sherry. Artists Robbie Fulks, Nora O’Connor, Mae Koen, Mick Ducker, Mary Lou O’Brien, Dave Nelson and Chicago Farmer were also featured throughout the evening’s performance.
Blues on the Fox
Workshops & Performances
A sincere and abiding love of blues music was the common denominator and impetus for the formation of what is now known as the Fox Valley Music Foundation and the Foundation’s live performance room, The Venue. The Blues On The Fox Festival was truly the cornerstone of the Fox Valley’s blues music scene.
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The festival has grown from its origins as a downtown intimate closed street festival of years gone by, to becoming a premier national Blues festival rivaling larger city fests in existence before Blues on the Fox was even born.
