PROGRAMS
2025 Schedule
April 1-4, 2025
Opening Night
Tuesday, April 1 at 7 PM
HPHS Auditorium
Student Workshops
Wednesday & Thursday, April 2 & 3
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Art Night
Thursday, April 3 from 6:30 - 8:30 PM
HPHS Cafeteria
Dance Night
Friday, April 4 at 7 PM
HPHS Auditorium​​
Community Programs
Not only does our community generously fund the majority of our programming, but they are also invited to our creative and engaging evening programs - Opening Night, Art Night and Dance Night. After nearly 60 years, Focus has become a renowned tradition for those who live here.
Opening Night
Focus on the Arts Opening Night generates excitement for the week with a uniquely programmed showcase of music and theatre artists for the community.
Focus 2025 kicked off with a spectacular evening of song and theater exploring the journey of the artist, featuring the work of some of our greatest American playwrights and composers. Opening Night showcased Broadway stars and professional musicians performing side by side with over 80 Highland Park High School students.
Tickets are required for Opening Night.
Art Night
Art Night features a diverse group of over 40 local professional artists and our HPHS Advanced Placement visual art students. Guests engage in community art-making and observe creative works in progress.
This free, biannual family-friendly event offered a unique hands-on opportunity to get creative for all ages.
Dance Night
Focus on the Arts Dance Night is not to be missed! Chicago's premier dance companies perform together on the same bill. In 2025 our own HPHS Collage dance company debuted a piece created through a professional choreographer's artist residency.
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Past companies participating in Dance Night include: Cerqua Rivera, Chicago Repertory Ballet, Giordano, Hubbard Street, Visceral Dance Chicago, Deeply Rooted, Grainger Academy of The Joffrey Ballet, and more!
​Tickets are required for Dance Night.
ARCHITECTURE
Past Workshop Include:
Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, Green Architecture, Designing Schools, Walking Tours, Tiny Houses, and more!
DRAMA
Past Workshop Include:
Accents & Dialogues, Improv, Voice Over, Storytelling, Stage Combat, Directing, Animation, Costume Design, Auditions, Commercials, and more!
ART
Past Workshop Include:
Mosaics, Screen Printing, Ceramics, Cartooning, Bonsai, Woodturning, Weaving, Origami, Puppetry, Photography, Graphic Novels, and more!
MEDIA
Past Workshops Include:
Sports Media, Photography, Documentaries, Directing, Casting, Radio & TV, Social Media, Movies, Video Game Design, Journalism, News, and more!
CREATIVE WRITING
Past Workshop Include:
Poetry, Spoken Word, Storytelling, Podcasting, Screenwriting, Comedy Sketch Writing, Documentary Journalism, and more!
MUSIC
Past Workshop Include:
Jazz, Indo/African/Caribbean, Opera, Strings, Guitar, Cabaret, Conducting, A Capella, Percussion, Folk, Beat Making, DJ’ing, and more!
DANCE
Past Workshops Include:
Swing, Israeli, Hip Hop, Jazz, Modern, Improv, Irish, Ballet, Salsa, Musical Theater, Aerial, Flamenco, and more!
SOCIAL JUSTICE
Past Workshop Include:
Arts Activism, Dance as Resistance, Mental Health &Theater, Making a Movement, Anti-Semitism, Art for Social Justice, Music & Healing, and more!
Student Workshops
Students at Focus have the unique opportunity to take two days off of school and register for over 300 workshops, performances, and masterclasses across a wide variety of topics! Students work alongside professional artists learning not only their craft but also the qualities of those who pursue their dreams with a sense of purpose.