About Us
Erik Schiller
Groom
Erik Schiller was born on Nov. 2, 1989 in Salt Lake City, UT. He grew up in Clarksville, TN where his Mom and Dad taught in the Biology Department at Austin Peay State University. He studied English and Anthropology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (go Vols) with a sideline in acting. After working in Tennessee as a jobbing actor, taking roles in film productions, tv shows, and theatre, he made the move to Chicago in search of his big break. Erik is an enthusiastic student of literature, cinema, and comedy. He got his early education in foreign and independent film at the Belcourt in Nashville, which he was introduced to by family friend Dr. James Thompson. His Aunt Marie fostered a love of literature, giving him his first copies of Shakespeare's Hamlet and A Midsummer Night's Dream, as well as the Hobbit, Harry Potter, and the horror and fantasy writings of Phillip Pullman. In college he was trained in classical theatre by the director Kate Buckley, who encouraged him to pursue his studies in Chicago. In addition to going to plays and movies, he continues his creative pursuits in acting, writing, and directing, as well as political activism. In Chicago, at a Shakespeare acting class taught by veteran Shakespeareans Susan Hart and the late Jeffrey Carlson, met an enchanting singer and educator named Kate. The rest you know...
Kate McDuffie
Bride
Kate grew up in Tampa, Florida. Her maternal grandmother Judy Levitt put her in piano lessons when she was 4 years old, and while she didn't keep at it (one her deepest regrets - yes, Bubbie, you were right) she developed a lifelong love of music and the performing arts. She spent many hours of her middle and high school days singing in choirs where she had the incredible opportunity to travel across the country and the world. Two such international choral trips were while she was enrolled as a Music Education major at the University of South Florida. After completing her Bachelors, she moved to Chicago to pursue a Masters of Music in Vocal Performance at DePaul University. Upon graduation she returned to her roots in music education at Wolcott School, where she spent 6 years as a music and theatre educator, and began her career in arts administration at the Grant Park Music Festival before making it her full-time career in 2021 at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Outside her work at the CSO she sings every Sunday as an alto section leader at the First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple, serves on the Board of Directors at Remy Bumppo Theatre Company and volunteers with A.B.L.E. Ensemble, where she combines her passions for Shakespeare and accessibility in the performing arts.