Special Events

From the glamorous and boisterous A Night At The Pops! to the more intimate and familiar student recitals, VanderCook provides its friends and community ample opportunites to attend special events and see—and hear!—what VanderCook is all about. Although our focus is to train VanderCook students as excellent future music teachers, they are often excellent performers as well with endless amounts of talent and creativity.

On this page, you can learn about some of our most significant annual events and concert series. We hope you'll join us sometime.

A Night at the Pops!

Fondly referred to as "Pops," this is VanderCook's annual fundraising event, featuring food, drinks, desserts, performances and a wealth of silent auction items. Pops celebrates the VanderCook community as a whole: the faculty, staff, and students for their hard work in upholding VanderCook's legacy, and its donors for helping them in that enterprise.

Learn more about the A Night at the Pops!

Symphonic Band at the

Midwest Clinic

The Symphonic Band's performance at the Midwest Clinic is the last event of the fall semester and serves as a beautiful send-off to the students before winter break. VanderCook's Symphonic Band is the only ensemble that has performed at every Midwest, making the performance not only an impressive show of musicianship, but long-loved tradition of the college.

Learn more about the Symphonic Band at the Midwest Clinic

George A. Quinlan, Senior Concert Series

Named in honor of the late George A. Quinlan, Sr., this concert series features both education and performance in pure VanderCook fashion. Sponsored by Yamaha, these concerts bring in world-renown Yamaha Performing Artists to VanderCook for master classes, private lessons, and evening concerts. They give VanderCook students a chance to work with masters of their craft, and the community a night of wonderful music.

VanderCook College of Music - (312) 225-6288