  We show the results of low-energy chiral quark models for soft matrix
elements involving pions and photons. Such soft elements, upon convolution with
the hard matrix elements, are relevant in various high-energy processes. We
focus on quantities related to the generalized parton distributions of the
pion: the parton distribution functions, the parton distribution amplitudes,
and the generalized form factors. Wherever possible, the model predictions are
confronted with the data or lattice simulations, where surprisingly good
agreement is achieved. The QCD evolution from the low quark model scale up to
the scale of the data is crucial for this agreement.
