Kirkland Burke holds a photo of himself as a child with his brother Reginald “Sonny” Burke as they play a piano. (Karen Torme Olson/H-F Chronicle)
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History-making music: How the Burke Brothers made beautiful music

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Kirkland Burke and his brother Sonny were each other’s best friend throughout their lives. Kirkland says he misses Sonny every day. (Karen Torme Olson/H-F Chronicle)
Kirkland Burke and his brother Sonny were each other’s best friend throughout their lives. Kirkland says he misses Sonny every day. (Karen Torme Olson/H-F Chronicle)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart began playing the clavier at age 4 and was composing at 5.

Michael Jackson started his singing career at 6 when he first took the stage with the Jackson Five, his family’s singing group.

And the late Reginald Waymond “Sonny” Burke, who spent the last 18 years…

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Karen Torme Olson is an award-winning journalist, author, teacher, and recently retired secondary school counselor. For the last four decades, she has crafted stories and photos for numerous publishing outlets, including the Chicago Tribune, Google, Stars and Stripes, Frommer’s Travel Guides, and most recently the Homewood-Flossmoor Chronicle. She received her doctoral degree in Administration and Supervision from Loyola University Chicago in 2006 and subsequently discovered that her most rewarding writing assignments involved crafting letters of recommendation for the hundreds of talented students who sought her counsel at Homewood Flossmoor High School over the last 19 years. She is mom to three sons and grandma to one grandson. She lives in Olympia Fields with her husband Randy Weissman, two spoiled rescue dogs, and two imperious cats.

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