Application of chiral quarks to high-energy processes and lattice QCD

Results of the chiral quark models for the soft matrix elements involving pions and photons, relevant for high-energy processes, are reviewed. We discuss quantities related to the generalized parton distributions of the pion: the parton distribution functions, the parton distribution amplitudes, and the generalized form factors. The model predictions are compared to the data or lattice simulations, with good agreement. The QCD evolution from the low quark model scale up to the experimental scales is a crucial ingredient of the approach.