The Hyde Park Jazz Festival and the Pickens Family Announce the Dedication of the Willie Pickens Stage on the Midway Plaisance

The Hyde Park Jazz Festival and the family of Willie Pickens are pleased to announce the dedication of the Willie Pickens Stage on the Midway Plaisance at S. Ellis. The stage naming honors one of the most significant voices in Chicago jazz and a founding contributor to the development and launch of the Hyde Park Jazz Festival, which celebrates its 20th Anniversary this September. The dedication ceremony will take place on the first day of the 2026 Festival, Saturday, September 26th at 12:30pm. The first performance on the newly dedicated stage will be by Pickens's daughter Bethany Pickens and her Soulful Coalition. Bethany Pickens notes, “I am excited to perform on a stage bearing my Dad’s name.”

Born in 1931, Willie Pickens moved to Hyde Park from Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1958. In 1959, he married Chicagoan Irma Burrell, his wife of 56 years. His contributions to the world of jazz and music education are immeasurable. The list of musicians with whom Pickens performed is a veritable who’s who of the culture: Elvin Jones, James Moody, Clark Terry, Max Roach, Wynton Marsalis, Eddie Harris, Marian McPartland, Roy Hargrove, Quincy Jones, Bobby Hutcherson, and his daughter Bethany Pickens, to name a few. Pickens taught music in Chicago Public schools for 25 years; he was the first instrumental music teacher at Kenwood High School. Pickens was Professor of Jazz Improvisation for 17 years at the American Conservatory of Music. He was the Founding Director of the Ravinia Jazz Scholars Program and Professor of Jazz Piano at Northern Illinois University for 18 years. When Pickens moved to Chicago, his plan was to spend a brief time here and move to New York but he quickly established himself as a “first-call” pianist and stayed in Chicago. Three years after he married Irma they began their family, including Bethany, David, and Kiron. Hyde Park remained his home until his death in 2017 while in New York for a performance at Lincoln Center.

Willie Pickens was a confidant of one of the Hyde Park Jazz Festival’s key founders, James Wagner, who was also instrumental in creating the Hyde Park Jazz Society. The Festival stage at S. Woodlawn and Midway Plaisance was dedicated to James Wagner in 2008. In dedicating the stage at the west end of the Festival grounds to Willie Pickens, we are pleased to bring two great champions of Chicago jazz and the Hyde Park neighborhood back into conversation. 

The 20th Annual Festival will once again be held in architecturally unique venues across the Hyde Park, Kenwood, and Washington Park neighborhoods. The Festival lineup features 33+ FREE performances and programs on September 26th-27th, 2026. The program includes visiting national artists alongside some of Chicago’s brightest lights. Venues include: Smart Museum, Rockefeller Chapel, Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, Hyde Park Bank, Hyde Park Union Church, The DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center, Augustana Church, and the Midway Plaisance. The 2026 Line Up will be announced in early June. 

The Hyde Park Jazz Festival is FREE, but we ask attendees to consider a $10 per person donation so we can continue to support Jazz on the South Side! Performances on Saturday, September 26th run from 1pm-11pm in multiple venues. Performances on Sunday, September 27th run from 1pm-7pm on the Midway Plaisance. 

For additional information on the Hyde Park Jazz Festival, please visit our website www.hydeparkjazzfestival.org.