Overview
This scholar is fully booked through 2023. This scholar will be available in 2024 for booking.
You may also book them outside of any Illinois Humanities affiliation using the contact information provided in the “Book This Road Scholar” section below.
Chris Vallillo has been a Road Scholar since 1999. His body of humanities-based programs and edutainment style serves the mission of our Road Scholars Speakers Bureau program well. A very accomplished rural artist and humanities performer, Chris has made many connections and edutained diverse audiences throughout Illinois, especially in smaller, rural communities that wouldn’t have access to him otherwise.
Chris Vallillo’s Presentations:
Learn More about Chris Vallillo
Chris briefly describes himself and his programs…
Presentation 1
Forgottonia, An Intimate Portrait of Rural Illinois
In this presentation, Chris Vallillo performs his new one man show, “Forgottonia” featuring music he wrote over the last 35 years about Western Illinois based on his experiences as a folklorist and songwriter in rural Illinois. Vallillo has spent the past 35 years documenting and preserving the heritage of Western Illinois: the land lovingly called Forgottonia.
The show combines music, storytelling, and historically accurate narratives in a solo performance. Along with the performance, Vallillo will speak to the history and backstories of songs that document, reflect, and validate rural lives, reinforcing these communities’ sense of commitment and worth.
Program Topics
- Live Music
- History
- Illinois
Program Logistics
The presentation takes approximately 60 minutes, including a Q and A with the audience. No equipment is required, since the speaker will bring his own sound equipment.
Presentation 2
Oh Freedom! Songs of the Civil Rights Movement
The Civil Rights Movement has been described as one of the greatest singing movements that this country has experienced. From “We Shall Overcome” to “This Little Light of Mine,” music played a vital role in as an inspirational rallying point and as a way to spread the message of equality and justice.
From the Freedom Riders to the jails of Montgomery Alabama and Parchman Prison all the way to Washington, DC, old and new songs of the era spoke of the yearning for equal rights: the struggle and the determination to win freedom. Music engaged and energized the movement locally and nationally, becoming the backbone of the nonviolent civil disobedience movement led by Dr King and others.
In a show created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the civil rights movement, award winning Illinois folksinger Chris Vallillo performs pivotal songs from the music that inspired and sustained this landmark movement. Intermixed with the music, Vallillo presents first-hand accounts of the historic struggle and discusses the impact of music to one of our nation’s most important social causes.
The show is performed on multiple instruments (acoustic and electric guitars, dobro, steel guitar and Mandolin plus vocals) and includes historically accurate first-person accounts of the music and how it impacted the Civil Rights Movement.
Program Topics
- Live Music
- History
- Activism
Program Logistics
The presentation takes approximately 60 minutes, including a Q and A with the audience. No equipment is required, since the speaker will bring his own sound equipment. However, if a projector and screen are available, speaker shares images.
About the Road Scholar
Chris Vallillo is an award-winning rural singer/songwriter, folk musician and folklorist with a natural affinity for American roots music. A master of bottleneck slide guitar, he weaves original, contemporary, and traditional songs into a compelling and entertaining portrait of the history and lifestyle of the Midwest. In the mid 1980s he was involved in documenting the last of the “pre-radio” generation of rural musicians in Illinois.
Vallillo’s songwriting has often been compared to the poems of Edgar Lee Masters, who’s famous “Spoon River Anthology” depicted the complex struggles of Midwestern life in simple verse. Perhaps the archaeology degree Vallillo earned at Beloit College helped him see the important little details of life which imbue his songs with a sense of history.
Learn More and Follow Chris
- Acclaimed singer/songwriter Vallillo to honor state bicentennial at Grayslake concert
- ‘Oh Freedom!’ Showcases Civil Rights-Era Music And History On Juneteenth
- VOICES OF Illinois Country – Chris Vallillo
- Website
Back to the 2023 – 2024 Road Scholar Rosterre their expertise and enthusiasm with people throughout our state. It also supports local nonprofit organizations – including libraries, museums, arts councils, historical societies, civic groups, and many others – in presenting free-admission cultural programs of high quality to their communities for a modest application fee, which can be waived if your organization is experiencing financial hardship.
Our Road Scholars Speakers Bureau roster features speakers hailing from many different communities across Illinois who offer presentations on topics in history, archaeology, philosophy, literature, theater, film, music, politics, and other subjects that are thought-provoking and engaging. The breadth of these offerings reflects our conviction that the humanities can help us to examine the world in all its varied shades and discover in it the remarkable, the strange, the fantastic, the tragic, the humorous, and the beautiful.
Quick Links
Book this Road Scholar
Follow the steps below to book a presentation.
Step 1
Contact Chris to schedule a date and time via email at vallillo@macomb.com or phone at (309) 224-8210.
Step 2
Once you and Chris have agreed upon a date and time, complete the Road Scholars Host Organization application.