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Classical Mon Jul 08 2013
Pulling Strings: For classical music in Chicago, you got a guy - July 2013
By Elliot Mandel
Some of Chicago's longest running concert series are also the least expensive. Save your money this month and check out these free concerts in some architecturally and acoustically beautiful spaces.
Rush Hour Concerts - Summer Concert Series
The fourteenth season of Rush Hour Concerts continues with four performances that appeal to a variety of tastes. The Euclid Quartet and The Poetry Foundation team up for a performance of Béla Bartók's String Quartet No. 1, interspersed with a variety of poems from the composer's era and the 21st Century (July 9). Renowned pianists Joan DeVee Dixon and Alice Fiedlerová perform Antonín Dvořák's spirited Slovanic Dances in its original orchestration for piano duo (July 16). CSO trombonist Michael Mulcahy is joined by acclaimed trombone colleagues in music for trombone quartet that includes works by Gabrieli, Beethoven, and Shostakovich (July 23). To close the month, singers from Lyric Opera's Ryan Opera Center perform highlights from Rossini's The Barber of Seville (July 30). All concerts are 30 minutes in length and take place in St. James Cathedral, a building that still shows charring from the Chicago Fire of 1871. Refreshments at 5:15pm, concerts at 5:45pm. Tuesdays through August 27. Admission is free. St. James Cathedral, 65 E. Huron.
Listen to Bartók's String Quartet No. 1:
Grant Park Music Festival
The Grant Park Orchestra embraces bold music and remains a consistently adventurous organization. In July, guest conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya leads a multimedia exploration of the Inca Trail in a program that includes music by Lena Frank, Osvaldo Golijov, and Daniel Robles' "El condor pasa," which was popularized by Simon and Garfunkel. Other large-scale works throughout the month include Camille Saint-Saëns' Organ Symphony, Jean Sibelius' Violin Concerto, Dmitri Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony, and Anton Bruckner's Second Symphony. Hear them all under the Pritzker Pavilion's superb sound system that never fails to impress. Admission is free. Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park.
Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts
Spend your lunch hour on Wednesdays under the stunning Tiffany dome of Preston Bradley Hall in the Chicago Cultural Center while listening to 45-minute recitals by a lineup of young soloists from Chicago and around the world. Named after Myra Hess, who set aside an international career during World War II to give free piano recitals for the people of London, the Hess Memorial Concerts in July feature music by Jennifer Higdon and Bedřich Smetana (July 10), Robert Schumann (July 17), and Dmitri Shostakovich and Sergei Prokofiev (July 24). Wednesdays, 12:15 pm. Admission is free. Preston Bradley Hall, Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington.
Programs, artists, and prices subject to change. Tickets subject to availability.
About the author: Elliot Mandel plays cello, attends lots of concerts, writes reviews, and takes pictures. He doesn't understand why people fight about classical music in YouTube comments.