Music and Mentorship

Elmhurst resident leads Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras

BY ANNA HUGHES

When Jennie Oh Brown first picked up a flute in eighth grade, something clicked.

“I never really thought about talent,” Brown said. “I just thought about the fact that I really loved it, and it was really fun.”

Brown had tried other instruments before — piano, violin, string bass, and even singing in her school choir — but her relationship with the flute quickly grew serious. She left her public high school to attend the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, where she honed in on her craft and decided she was going to be a musician.

“I remember sitting at the dinner table with my parents when I was a sophomore, and I basically just announced that I was going to be a professional flutist,” Brown recalled.

Today, the Elmhurst resident is a seasoned professional flutist whose decades-long career has taken her from the Lyric Opera Orchestra and the Milwaukee Symphony to stages across the country and around the world.

But her impact in the Chicagoland area expands far beyond performance: Brown spent 22 years on faculty at Wheaton College and 10 years at Elmhurst University. She ran a contemporary music festival, launched a concert series, served as artistic director at Epiphany Center for the Arts, and co-founded and performs with the chamber ensemble Picosa, which performs throughout Chicago.

In 2023, she became the Executive Director of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras (CYSO).

Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras during their 2025 Symphony Orchestra International Tour at Centro Cultural Miguel Delibes in Valladolid, Spain.

“CYSO is an organization that I’ve known about forever because I grew up in Chicago, and it’s an organization that I’ve respected deeply,” Brown said.

Her oldest son, a bassoonist, was a CYSO student and performer, and Brown had a firsthand look at how formative the experience was for him as a musician. When the job became available, and friends excitedly encouraged her to apply, she decided to take the chance.

“It didn’t occur to me at first to apply for it, but I’m obviously glad I did because it’s just been a really wonderful experience and opportunity for me,” Brown said.

As executive director, Brown’s job is to oversee the entire organization: 60 staff members, whom she describes as a wonderful, professional team; 13 large music ensembles; and more than two dozen smaller groups and programs. At first, she questioned whether she was prepared to lead such a prominent organization within Chicago’s music community. She soon realized that her diverse career and expansive experience prepared her for the role.

“Can we talk about just the value of creating beauty and creating art and creating music, and what that does for the soul and how healing that is to the spirit?”

— Jennie Oh Brown, CYSO Executive Director

“Because I’ve been in leadership positions pretty much my entire career, the opportunity to lead an organization like this is truly a privilege and an honor, but it also feels like a very logical progression in my career,” Brown said. “What would have been described as a portfolio career is actually remarkably well-suited to an organization that’s as diverse and broad as CYSO.”

As a professional musician, parent, former private teacher, and a leader of an organization like CYSO, Brown is uniquely equipped to offer any advice or guidance to CYSO students and families.

“For those parents who are nervous… come to an organization like CYSO, and we will help you, and we will support you throughout the entire journey,” Brown said. “That’s what I’m here for. That’s my job, and that’s what I love. That is actually probably what I love the most.”

For those unsure of where to start, Brown assured that there’s an entry spot for anyone.

“Some of the ensembles are audition ensembles. But then we have our steel pan orchestras, where you need zero musical experience to be in our steel pan orchestras… those also start at age eight and go all the way up through the end of high school as well,” Brown said. “It really runs the gamut, and there’s space for everyone in some way.”

Brown is proud of the work that CYSO is doing to strengthen the Chicago music community and expand its reach. Not only do they partner with local public schools to support students throughout the city, but they also teach aspiring musicians from over 150 zip codes.

“CYSO needs to be reflective of the city of Chicago and of the broader Midwest, and so that’s something that’s really critically important to us, and it’s that access is very much a key part of our identity,” Brown said. “We’ve had students coming in from Iowa, from Indiana. They might live in a more rural part of the state, they might be homeschooled or something like that, and they drive into CYSO to be a part of this community, which is really, truly incredible.”

Since its founding in 1946, CYSO has emphasized inclusion — a principle that continues to guide the organization today. The music itself serves as the bridge between countries and cultures, connecting students to each other.

“[Music] is this ultimate form of teamwork because you’re all engaging in the same activity, creating the same aesthetic sound, and the same emotions, the same emotional connections. As you’re working together, you’re problem-solving, and you’re facing challenges, and you’re resilient, and you’re learning how to communicate with someone,” Brown said. “In all of these ways, kids are learning how to be a really remarkable human being.”

Because of this, Brown encourages all parents to promote music education within their households. She is thankful to her parents for encouraging it in their household, for allowing her to try different things, and for supporting her dream of doing it professionally. (They still attend all her concerts.) She hopes to instill this same love and appreciation of music in all students who walk through CYSO’s doors.

“Music activates the entire brain. And from what I understand, it’s actually the only activity that activates the entire brain as you’re engaging with it, and when you think about what that does, especially for young minds, this opportunity to engage with creating beauty,” Brown said. “Can we talk about just the value of creating beauty and creating art and creating music, and what that does for the soul and how healing that is to the spirit?”

Regardless of where students go after CYSO — whether it’s to an elite collegiate music program, as many do, or otherwise — Brown is proud that they’ve all shared in something special, developing as both musicians and people.

“This is really, truly world-class training in every possible description of the word,” she said. “I’m very, very proud to be part of that landscape in every way.”

For more information about the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras, visit cyso.org.