For Immediate Release:
February 27, 2017
Press Contacts:
Eileen Chambers, 312-294-3092
Photos Available By Request
[email protected]
May 2017 Calendar of Events
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Thursday, May 4, 2017, 8:00 p.m.
Friday, May 5, 2017, 1:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 6, 2017, 8:00 p.m.
Tuesday, May 9, 2017, 7:30 p.m.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Riccardo Muti, conductor
BRAHMS
BRAHMS
Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68
Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73
Tickets: $45-$265
In the first of two programs devoted to Brahms' symphonies, Riccardo Muti presents the first and second
of the cycle. The First Symphony, its opening one of the most arresting in symphonic literature, shows
Brahms triumphantly meeting the daunting challenge posed by Beethoven's mighty symphonic cycle.
The Second Symphony, composed just months later, reflects Brahms' summer in an idyllic lakeside
town.
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Symphony Center Presents
Jazz
Friday, May 5 at 8:00 p.m.
SFJAZZ Collective
The Music of Miles Davis & Original Compositions
Miguel Zenón, alto saxophone and flute
David Sánchez, tenor saxophone
Sean Jones, trumpet
Robin Eubanks, trombone
Warren Wolf, Jr., vibraphone
Edward Simon, piano
Matt Penman, bass
Obed Calvaire, drums
-Regina Carter Simply Ella
Regina Carter, violin
Tickets: $28-$89
“A superbrain for what serious jazz sounds like” (The New York Times), the SFJAZZ Collective is an allstar ensemble of exceptional talent. For this concert, the group embraces one of the greatest legends of
them all, Miles Davis, in a program of fresh arrangements of popular Davis works and new commissions
inspired by the “Prince of Darkness.” Jazz violin virtuoso Regina Carter returns to Symphony Center with
a celebration of her biggest musical inspiration, the incomparable Ella Fitzgerald. “Carter creates music
that is wonderfully listenable, probingly intelligent and, at times, breathtakingly daring…taking the listener
into the future of jazz” (Time).
Symphony Center Presents
Piano
Sunday, May 7, 2017, 3:00 p.m.
Murray Perahia, piano
BACH
SCHUBERT
BEETHOVEN
French Suite No. 6 in E Major, MWV 817
Four Impromptus, D. 935
Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat Major, Op. 106
(Hammerklavier)
Tickets: $35-$103
Few keyboardists can match Murray Perahia’s scrupulous musicianship and elegance. Don’t miss a
breathtaking afternoon with one of America’s most beloved pianists. “Perahia’s virtuosity, never fussy,
narcissistic or quirky, generates a heightened sense of drama in whatever he plays” (Los Angeles Times).
Civic Orchestra of Chicago
Monday, May 8, 2017, 8:00 p.m.
Civic Orchestra of Chicago
Ken-David Masur, conductor
BEETHOVEN
Overture to Egmont, Op. 84
BRAHMS
Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op. 56a
MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 5 in D Major, Op. 107.
(Reformation)
Free and open to the public; tickets are required.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Thursday, May 11, 2017, 8:00 p.m.
Friday, May 12, 2017, 1:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 13, 2017, 8:00 p.m.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Riccardo Muti, conductor
BRAHMS
BRAHMS
Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90
Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98
Tickets: $45-$265
Riccardo Muti completes his exploration of Brahms’ symphonies with Symphony Nos. 3 and 4,
cornerstones of the symphonic repertoire. The Third Symphony, the shortest of the cycle, is Brahms at his
most personal and introspective. The Fourth Symphony ends with an exquisitely crafted theme and
variations that culminate in an earth-shattering minor chord.
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SCP Special Concert
Friday, May 12, 2017, 8:00 p.m.
Béla Fleck, banjo
Abigail Washburn, banjo
The Del McCoury Band
Tickets: $25-$85
Husband and wife duo Béla Fleck, a sixteen-time Grammy Award winner, and singer-songwriter Abigail
Washburn, is a picking partnership unlike any other. Performing music from their Grammy Award-winning
first album together, the duo blends gospel, bluegrass, and classical chamber music styles with
breathtaking vocals and virtuosic instrumental playing. The Del McCoury Band begins the evening’s
program with his authentic bluegrass sound that has attracted multiple generations of fans.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Once Upon a Symphony
Saturday, May 13, 2017, 10:00 a.m.
Saturday, May 13, 2017, 11:45 a.m.
Members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Bremen Town Musicians
Tickets: $17
When four farm animals are told they are no longer needed to work on the farm, they set off for the town
of Bremen, where they dream of becoming musicians. Along the way they come upon a house full of
robbers! The four friends quickly decide to work together to scare away the robbers, discovering that they
each have courage that they didn't know they possessed.
Preconcert activities begin 45 minutes before the performance!
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Thursday, May 18, 2017, 8:00 p.m.
Friday, May 19, 2017, 1:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 20, 2017, 8:00 p.m.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Jakub Hrůša, conductor
SMETANA
SMETANA
SMETANA
SMETANA
SMETANA
SMETANA
Vysehrad, No. 1 from Má vlast
The Moldau, No. 2 from Má vlast
Sárka, No. 3 from Má vlast
From Bohemia’s Fields and Groves, No. 4
from Má vlast
Tábor, No. 5 from Má vlast
Blanik, No. 6 from Má vlast
Tickets: $34-$222
The Moldau, Smetana’s much-loved portrayal of Bohemia’s mighty river, is one of six tone poems in the
composer’s musical portrait of his homeland. Rarely performed in its entirety, Má vlast (My Fatherland) is
an extraordinary cycle that traces the history of the Czech people and evokes the rich natural beauties of
the countryside.
There will be a Classic Encounter preconcert lecture on Thursday, May 18.
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Symphony Center Presents
Jazz
Friday, May 19 at 8:00 p.m.
Nicholas Payton & Afro-Caribbean Mixtape
Nicholas Payton, trumpet, fender rhodes, and clavinet
Braylon Lacy, bass
Joe Dyson, drums
Daniel Sadownick, percussion
DJ Lady Fingaz, turntable
-Steve Wilson - Lewis Nash Duo
Steve Wilson, saxophones
Lewis Nash, drums
Tickets: $24-$76
One of jazz's boldest performers, Terence Blanchard has been called “a trumpeter of expressive urgency
and a composer of expansive vision" (The New York Times). His stylistically adventurous compositions
include scores to several Spike Lee films, including Malcolm X, Inside Man and the Hurricane Katrina
documentary When the Levees Broke. Blanchard journeys into another jazz realm with his new quintet,
The E-Collective—an exciting zone of grooved fusion teeming with funk, R&B and blues. Opening this
electrifying evening is two of the most versatile and distinguished jazz musicians: Steve Wilson and Lewis
Nash.
CSO All-Access Chamber
Logan Center
University of Chicago
915 E 60th St.
Chicago, IL 60637
Sunday, May 21, 2017, 3:00 p.m.
Mallarmé Quartet and Friends
Rong-Yan Tang, violin
Melanie Kupchynsky, violin
Max Raimi, viola (Group Leader)
Loren Brown, cello
Stephen Williamson, clarinet
Patrice Michaels, soprano
DVOŘÁK
RAIMI
BEETHOVEN
String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat Major, Op. 51
Story of the Pennies and At My Wedding,
Songs for Soprano
String Quartet in E Minor, Op. 59, No. 2
(Rasumovsky)
FREE and no tickets required.
In the 2016/17 All-Access season, experience unparalleled artistry and exceptional, personally curated
chamber music performed by members of the CSO in four relaxed settings. This season, the CSO AllAccess Chamber Music series travels to three beautiful locations on Chicago’s South Shore in addition to
performing three concerts at Symphony Center’s Buntrock Hall.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
MusicNOW
Harris Theater for Music and Dance
205 E. Randolph Drive
Monday, May 22, 2017, 7:00 p.m.
Musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Samuel Adams, Mead composer-in-residence
Elizabeth Ogonek, Mead composer-in-residence
Elim Chan, conductor
Benjamin Beilman, violin
On The Edge of Silence
ŽIVKOVIĆ
OGONEK
On the Guarding of the Heart
In Silence
[MusicNOW Commission, World Premiere]
Tickets: $27
The final concert of the 2016/17 MusicNOW season is an exploration of the 21st-century concerto.
Closing the program will be a new work by Mead Composer-in-Residence Elizabeth Ogonek. The piece
draws on Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber’s Mystery Sonatas as source material for a concerto for solo violin
and ensemble.
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Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Thursday, May 25, 2017, 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 27, 2017, 8:00 p.m.
Tuesday, May 30, 2017, 7:30 p.m.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Jesús López-Cobos, conductor
Inon Barnatan, piano
TURINA
GERSHWIN
DVOŘÁK
Danzas fantásticas, Op. 22
Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra
Symphony No. 6 in D Major, Op. 60
Tickets: $34-$222
Spanish composer Joaquín Turina’s Danzas fantásticas makes a suitable companion to George
Gershwin’s lively Piano Concerto, played by Inon Barnatan. Jesús López-Cobos closes the program with
Dvořák’s Sixth Symphony, an homage to the composer’s friend and mentor, Johannes Brahms.
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Chicago Symphony Orchestra
CSO at the Movies
Friday, May 26, 2017, 8:00 p.m.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Richard Kaufman, conductor
HERRMANN North by Northwest
Tickets: $75-$199
Mistaken identities, thrilling chase scenes and daring escapes—master of suspense Alfred
Hitchcock’s North by Northwest is one of the most popular spy thrillers of all time. Starring Cary Grant and
Eva Marie Saint, it follows the ill-fated journey of an advertising executive as he is pursued across
America by a group of mysterious agents. Be swept away as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra brings
frequent Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Herrmann’s exhilarating, pulsating score to life alongside this
classic suspense film.
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Symphony Center Presents
Piano
Sunday, May 28, 2017, 3:00 p.m.
Maurizio Pollini, piano
CHOPIN
DEBUSSY
Selected Works
Preludes, Book 2
Tickets: $35-$103
Piano legend Maurizio Pollini has been praised for his “consummate musicianship” (The New York
Times) and “superbly finished technique and intellectual rigor” (Classics Today).More than a half-century
into his career, this paragon of musical excellence continues to thrill audiences around the world. Don't
miss a glorious afternoon of works by Chopin and Debussy.
All concerts take place at Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60604 unless otherwise
indicated
TICKETS for all 2016/17 Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Center Presents and Civic
Orchestra of Chicago concerts can be purchased by calling CSO ticketing services at 312-294-3000 or
800-223-7114, online at cso.org, or by visiting the Symphony Center box office at 220 S. Michigan Ave.,
Chicago, IL 60604. Discounted student tickets can be purchased, subject to availability, online in advance
or at the box office on the day of the concert. For group rates, please call 312-294-3040. Artists, programs
and ticket prices are subject to change.
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Press Contact: [email protected]
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