From the Vietnam War, to the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, and the violence around the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, 1968 was one of the most turbulent years in American history. It was also a banner year in American music, with artists like Nina Simone, Simon & Garfunkel, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Laura Nyro, James Taylor, Marvin Gaye, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young producing some of their most vibrant work. Join CHF favorites Rob Lindley and Doug Peck (Four Women, A Night At The Oscars, Assassins, Follies) along with an incredible line-up of performers,including E. Faye Butler, Mark J. Hood (of NBC’s The Voice), and Bethany Thomas. Fifty years on, they'll explore the incredible music of this transformative year, paired with the ground-breaking “graphics” of the sixties era Chicago underground newspaper The Seed.

This program is generously underwritten by a gift from Greta Wiley Flory, in memory of her late husband Bill, a longtime friend and supporter of the Festival.