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Classical Wed Aug 06 2014
Pulling Strings: For classical music in Chicago, you got a guy - August 2014
By Elliot Mandel
Before the main classical season kicks into gear in the next month or two, take advantage of these local artists and ensembles playing throughout the city.
Chicago Q Ensemble: Living Loop Festival
Loop workers: get out of the office and go hear Chicago Q Ensemble play Mozart in one of the Loop's few open-air respites. The trio — whose recent performance at Constellation was nothing short of magnetic and intense — plugs in and performs the E-flat major Divertimento. You don't need to be Einstein to enjoy Mozart, but Einstein himself really loved Mozart. Of this particular Divertimento, he wrote, "Every note is significant, every note is a contribution to spiritual and sensuous fulfillment in sound...the finest, most perfect trio ever heard." Admission is free. Friday, August 8, noon. 1 South Dearborn, Chicago.
Grant Park Music Festival: Northern Lights
In the final month of its 80th season, GPMF will present the world premiere of Grammy-nominated composer Christopher Theofanidis's The Legend of the Northern Lights. The music will be accompanied by images from the artic by astronomer Dr. Jose Francisco Salgado. Also on the program is the emotionally vast Symphony No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff, with its serpentine solo melodies and rich orchestral writing. Admission is free. Friday, August 8, 7:30pm. Saturday, August 9, 7:30pm. Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park.
Fifth House Ensemble: Five Elements Project
No one does collaboration quite like 5HE. The ensemble's musical adventures continue when it presents "Fire and Metal" as part of the Chinese Fine Arts Society's Five Elements Project. 5HE will give the world premiere of a work by Pulitzer Prize winner Zhou Long. Among the artists joining 5HE are pipa virtuoso and Silk Road Ensemble member Yang Wei, and Chicago Symphony Orchestra violinist Qing Hou. Admission is free. Sunday, August 10, 6pm. Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park.
Frequency Series: James Falzone and Michael Hall
New music lovers will want to catch clarinetist James Falzone and violist Michael Hall at the end of the month. Multiple influences of modern classical, jazz, and electronic elements abound in their program featuring György Ligeti's Sonata for Solo Viola, Steve Reich's New York Counterpoint, and the Chicago premiere of Malaysian composer Kee Yong Chong's Temple Bell Still Ringing My Heart. Falzone's own In a World of One Color...The Sound of Wind. Ages 18+. Tickets are $15. Sunday, August 31, 8:30 p.m. Constellation, 3111 N. Western Ave.
Programs, artists, and prices subject to change. Tickets subject to availability.
About the author: Elliot Mandel photographs classical concerts and you should hire him for your next show. He also writes reviews and plays cello.
