Festival History, Founders and Chamber Ensemble

The Kishwaukee River Music and Movement Festival was founded in 2026 with a simple idea: Music, like a river, is meant to flow.

Inspired by the natural beauty and community spirit of the Kishwaukee River in DeKalb County, this festival was created to offer young musicians something deeper than a traditional summer program.

Why the Kishwaukee River?

The Kishwaukee River has long been a place of gathering, reflection, and movement. This festival honors that spirit by rooting every rehearsal, workshop, and reflection in connection: to place, to sound, and to one another.

Looking Forward

As our inaugural year unfolds, we envision this festival becoming a meaningful annual tradition for Northern Illinois families, cultivating confident, thoughtful, and inspired young musicians for years to come.

A smiling young woman with long, wavy blonde hair poses outdoors holding a clarinet, with greenery and trees in the background.

Founder, Faculty

Katelyn Ackland

Katelyn has a passion for sharing her love of music with others and is dedicated to educational success. Currently, she is pursuing a double major for her Bachelor's Degree in music education and clarinet performance at NIU and has been accepted there in the Master's Degree program in Clarinet Performance.

While completing her associate's degree at Kishwaukee College, she was a part of the Performing Arts Club and studied keyboard, voice and guitar during her time there. Previously she studied piano with Professor Choi and Jeong Soo Kim, violin with Marie Wang, guitar with Eric Schroeder and voice with Professor Rakes. Currently she is studying clarinet with Dr. Zachary Good, having studied also with Dr. Gregory Barrett, both at NIU. She is a highly motivated individual, eager to contribute to team success through hard work. Over the years in education she has received recognition in honors and excellence along with receiving the following scholarships: the Wilbur A. and Dorothy S. Smith Clarinet Scholarship, Delta Kappa Gamma Women’s Teacher Scholarship, Huskie Marching Band Scholarship, Maude Nicholson Music Scholarship, Ruth Ashelford Pollock NIU Athletics Bands Endowed Scholarship and the Schoon Educational Scholarship.

Katelyn has numerous experiences in performance settings including the Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra, NIU Sinfonia, NIU Huskie Marching Band, NIU Wind Ensemble, Kishwaukee Concert Band, DeKalb, Dixon and Rochelle Municipal Summer Bandshell and was principal clarinetist and substitute for the Illinois Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra.

She is currently employed as the Esmond and Lighthouse United Methodist Church pianist and has been a music provider for the Rochelle United Methodist Church in their handbell choir, singing choir and played violin and clarinet in small ensembles during church services. She is a previous teacher's assistant for band, choir and strings classes in the Greater Rochelle Area Christian Education School and served as the camp counselor and clarinet sectional leader in the Maranatha Baptist College Band Camp. During the summer she loves to mentor students at the OPUS Chamber Music Camp in Naperville. Mentoring music students brings her so much joy!

A smiling man wearing glasses, a dark suit, a white shirt, and a tie, holding a violin. The background features blurred warm lights.

Founder, Faculty

William Cernota

William Cernota, violoncello, has been a member of the Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra since 1982. He has also been Principal Cellist of the Chicago Chamber Orchestra, Concertante di Chicago, Chicago Opera Theater, Peninsula Music Festival, and is currently Principal Cellist of the Southern Illinois Music Festival. He has performed annual recitals since 2011 on international broadcasts from WFMT Chicago with pianist Eric Weimer. He was a soloist on two European tours of the Chicago Chamber Orchestra and is a member of the music faculties at Loyola University Chicago and Southern Illinois University Carbondale School of Music.

More about William Cernota

Impressionist painting of a garden scene, featuring an archway covered with pink and white flowers, with a stone pathway leading through greenery and a brick wall on the right, under a blue sky.

A landscape painting depicting a sunrise or sunset over mountains, with purple and pink clouds, a flowing river, and a hand holding a paintbrush in the foreground. There is also a heron flying above the river and a line of trees and flowers along the riverbank.

A colorful painting of a sunset over the ocean, with waves in the foreground, and pink, yellow, blue, and purple hues in the sky.

A winter landscape painting showing a snow-covered river flowing through a forest of leafless trees on both sides, with hills or mountains in the background under a pale sky.

A selection of works by Katelyn Ackland, inspired by the Kishwaukee River.

Kishwaukee River Festival Ensemble

Katelyn Ackland, Clarinet

Soo-Yon Choi, Piano

Kate Carter, Violin

Nina Saito, Violin

Bruno Vaz da Silva, Viola

Willian Cernota, Cello

Kit Polen, Contrabass

Board of Directors

Katelyn Ackland, William Cernota, Soo-Yon Choi

Creative Consultant

Erin Judd

Contact me: ejudd815@gmail.com