Meet The Creators

Louis Bergonzi

Producer, Dramaturg, Editor

Louis Bergonzi is a Professor (emeriti) at the University of Illinois-Chicago, where he was Head of Music. He has held faculty positions at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and the Eastman School of Music. He was co-director of three symposia focusing on how LGBTQ issues operate within music education research, curriculum, and teacher preparation. Bergonzi has served as a guest conductor for numerous all-state and regional honors youth orchestras throughout Asia, Australia, and North America. His Rounds and Canons for Strings: Shaping Musical Independence and prized arrangements for youth and school orchestras are published by Kjos Publishers and Alfred Music Publishing. In 2024, he was given the Paul Rolland Lifetime Achievement Award by the American String Teachers Association.

David Hernandez

Librettist

David Hernandez is the Head Theatre Director at Argo Community High School (Summitt, IL).. Within his first three years at the Argo, he produced 16 shows and has brought the program back to life in the post-covid era. David also produces plays, music albums, photography collections, and short films. David’s mission as an artist is to produce art that is as interesting and relevant and the people working on it. David’s mission as an educator is to help students grow to be better people through artistic expression and catharsis.

Logan Rutledge

Composer

Logan Rutledge is a contemporary classical composer, hailing from Gainesville, Florida. With a focus on connectivity with performers and audiences alike, Rutledge seeks to write music that has an underlying narrative, peering into their own experiences in an attempt to express themselves with complete vulnerability. Rutledge has been fortunate to have commissions from The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Percussion Studio, Nomad Sax Quartet, Ryan Reynolds and the Miami University Bassoon Quartet, SmaX Duo, Grand Valley State University’s New Music Ensemble, fivebyfive, the GVSU New Music Initiative, Kontra Duo, bassoonist Joseph Swift, pianist Francesco Granata, among others. Rutledge’s primary teachers include Marc Mellits, Charles Norman Mason, Don Freund, P.Q. Phan, and Han Lash. Rutledge currently resides in Williston, North Dakota where he is a Professor of Music at Williston State College..

All three creators are proud of their ties to the University of Illinois Chicago School of Theatre and Music. Bergonzi was the Head of Music Studies; Hernandez holds a BA in Theatre and Performance; and Rutledge earned the BA in Music, focusing on music composition. The creators are grateful for the support UIC's School of Theatre and Music of this project.

In 2024, UIC launched its fifth degree program. The Bachelor of Music in Music Education at the University of Illinois Chicago prepares students for rewarding careers as culturally responsive music teachers in large urban school districts.