The Old Town School of Folk Music is a Chicago teaching and performing institution that launched the careers of many notable folk music artists. Chicago (officially named the City of Chicago) is the third largest city in the United States (after New York City and Los Angeles), with an official population of 2,896,016, as of the 2000 census. ... Folk music, in the original sense of the term, is music by and of the people. ...

Founded by folk musicians Frank Hamilton and Win Stracke, the school opened in 1957 offering guitar and banjo lessons and hosting performances by well-known folk musicians. The formation and growth of the school coincided with the folk music boom of the 1960s and early 1970s. Throughout its existence the school has focused on offering both instruction and performance with many performing musicians also acting as teachers and mentors. The school also proved a rich ground for collaboration. 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A guitar is a stringed musical instrument. ... Old 6-string zither banjo 4-string banjos The banjo is a stringed instrument of African-American origin, sometimes called the gourd banjo. Its name is commonly thought to be derived from the Kimbundu term mbanza. ...

The late 1960s were a peak of success as several musicians associated with the school rose to national prominence, including Roger McGuinn of The Byrds, John Prine, Steve Goodman, Bonnie Koloc and Bob Gibson. James Roger McGuinn (born July 13, 1942) is an American singer-songwriter, who was born as James Joseph McGuinn III in Chicago, Illinois. ... The Byrds (formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964) were an American rock group. ... Prine performing at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco, CA October 3, 2004. ... Steve Goodman (July 25, 1948–September 20, 1984) was an American folk music singer and songwriter. ... Bob Gibson about 1960 Samuel Robert (Bob) Gibson (November 16, 1931 - September 28, 1996) was a folk singer who led a folk music revival in the late 1950s and early 1960s. ...

As the folk revival declined in the mid-1970s so did the fortunes of the school; although it continued to provide music lessons to hundreds of students the school suffered financial difficulties and filed for bankruptcy in 1981. A new group of directors took over shortly afterwards, increased fundraising efforts and slowly brought the school back into profitability. Notice of closure stuck on the door of a computer store the day after its parent company, Granville Technology Group Ltd, declared bankruptcy (strictly, administration - see text) in the UK. Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay their creditors. ...

After occupying a building at 909 W. Armitage Ave. in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood for several decades, the Old Town School in 1998 opened a new and larger main branch in a former branch library at 4544 N. Lincoln Ave., with a 400-seat concert hall.

The Old Town School continues to offer music, dance, art and theatre classes and performances for adults and children at both locations and some suburban branch locations.

External link

• The Old Town School of Folk Music