Jonathan Bailey Holland
www.jonathanbaileyholland.com/newsite
www.jonathanbaileyholland.com/newsite
Sunday, June 9 at 3pm
City-Scapes
Symphony Center, Chicago, IL
Shards of Serenity
(part of ChiScape) (world premiere)
(part of ChiScape) (world premiere)
Chicago Sinfonietta, Mei-Ann Chen, conductor
Saturday, June 8 at 8pm
City-Scapes
Wentz Concert Hall, Naperville, IL
Shards of Serenity
(part of ChiScape) (world premiere)
(part of ChiScape) (world premiere)
Chicago Sinfonietta, Mei-Ann Chen, conductor
***
The “Sound” of a City…
City-Scapes
Wentz Concert Hall, Naperville , June 8
CHICAGO (May 1, 2013) – The Chicago Sinfonietta, led by Music Director Mei-Ann Chen, partners with the Chicago Architecture Foundation for City-Scapes, the final concert of the 25th Anniversary Season, celebrating the character of American cities through music. The centerpiece of the City-Scapes program is the World Premiere of ChiScape, a salute to the intern ational influence of Chicago ’s architecture. The Sinfonietta presents City-Scapes in two performances only at Wentz Concert Hall of North Central College, 171 E. Chicago Avenue in Naperville , Saturday, June 8 at 8 p.m. and at Orchestra Hall of Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago , Sunday, June 9 at 3 p.m.
The City-Scapes program begins by taking a step outside the city with a salute to the countryside in Johann Strauss II’s Tales from the Vienna Wood, a charming work that recalls the folk music that led to the popularity of the Viennese Waltz.
In the new piece ChiScape, next on the bill, noted composer Jennifer Higdon
curates a four-movement work where each movement has been inspired by a
different iconic Chicago building. Four different composers each contribute
one of the movements, creating a multi-textured rendering of Chicago’s
diverse skyline through sound. Each composer has been mesmerized by
these contemporary buildings that defy the traditional idea of “the
box.” They are structures that convey a sense of motion, either by
their design or their reflection of the surrounding environment, and in ChiScape
they are rendered from three-dimensional landmarks into temporal,
emotional pieces of rhythm and harmony. The composers and their
architectural muses include:
- Armando Bayolo: the Modern Wing of the Art Institute Chicago, designed by Renzo Piano
- Vivian Fung (winner of the 2013 Juno® Award for “Classical Composition of the Year”): the Aqua building designed by Jeanne Gang
- Jonathan Bailey Holland: S. R. Crown Hall, designed by Ludwig Mies van de Rohe
- Chris Rogerson: Jay Pritzker Pavilion of Millennium Park, designed by Frank Gehry
“The
Chicago Architecture Foundation is really excited about this
partnership, as it allows us to see architecture expressed in the beauty
of music. We look at Chicago's architecture every day through our
tours and programs, but this gives everyone a chance to see how
composers are inspired by the spaces in a different way – different then
maybe even the architects intended us to see them,” said Barbara Gordon,
Vice President of Program Operations at the Chicago Architecture
Foundation. “Our choice of buildings gives a sampling of Chicago's
current modern architectural story – Crown Hall, Pritzker Pavilion, the Aqua Building and the Modern Wing of the Art Institute.”
The concert continues with the darkly humorous Red Cape Tango, the final movement of Grammy® Award-winner Michael Daugherty’s Superman-inspired Metropolis Symphony. Next comes Higdon’s own composition, river sings a song to trees, the second movement of her piece City Scape, an ode to the city park as a respite from the sometimes harsh landscape of urban life.
Closing the concert, and the Sinfonietta’s 25th season, is Duke Ellington’s jazzy, energetic and uniquely American Harlem . This 1950 composition, full of swing and blues rhythms, is a tour of the friendly, hip and vibrant New York City neighborhood where Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington rose to stardom.
Audiences at both concerts are invited to attend a pre-concert moderated discussion with the artists. The four composers of ChiScape
will discuss the inspiration and creative process behind their
respective works. The pre-concert discussion at Wentz Concert Hall
begins at 7 p.m. on stage and the discussion at Symphony Center begins
at 1:45 p.m. in Grainger Hall.
Tickets
Single tickets range from $40-$50 for concerts at Wentz Concert Hall and $26-$50 for concerts at Symphony Center ,
with special $10 pricing available for students. Tickets can be
purchased by calling the Chicago Sinfonietta at 312-236-3681 ext. 2 or
online at www.chicagosinfonietta.org.
About the Chicago Sinfonietta
For
25 years, the Chicago Sinfonietta has pushed artistic and social
boundaries to provide an alternative way of hearing, seeing and thinking
about a symphony orchestra. Each concert experience fuses inventive
new works from a diverse array of voices with classical masterworks to
entertain, transform and inspire.
The Chicago Sinfonietta has a proud history of having enriched the cultural, educational and social quality of life in Chicago . Under the guidance of Founding Music
Director Paul Freeman, the orchestra has performed at the highest
artistic level since 1987. Mei-Ann Chen succeeded Paul Freeman as the
Chicago Sinfonietta’s Music Director beginning with the 2011-12 season.
The Chicago Sinfonietta musicians truly represent the city’s rich
cultural landscape and continue to fulfill the orchestra’s mission of Musical Excellence through Diversity™.
The
Sinfonietta was recently honored with two national awards for
excellence from the League of American Orchestras, one for adventurous
programming and one recognizing Maestro Chen with the Helen M. Thompson
Award for an Emerging Music Director.
City-Scapes
is a co-presentation of the Chicago Sinfonietta and the Chicago
Architecture Foundation. The Chicago Sinfonietta also thanks Season
Sponsor Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, Lead West Suburban Sponsor
BP, and Lead Media Sponsor Chicago Sun-Times Media. Support for Wentz
Concert Hall performances provided Naperville ’s
Special Events and Cultural Amenities Fund. Additional media support
provided by Chicago Magazine, ABC-7 Chicago, WBEZ, WDCB, Arte y Vida
Chicago, Today’s Chicago Woman, Naperville Sun and Naperville Magazine.
Southwest Airlines is the Official Airline of the Chicago Sinfonietta. Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park and Hotel Arista in Naperville are the Official Hotels of the Chicago Sinfonietta.
Complete Program Information
Saturday, June 8 at 8 p.m., Wentz Concert Hall, Naperville
Sunday, June 9 at 3 p.m., Symphony Center , Chicago
Mei-Ann Chen, conductor
Jennifer Higdon, ChiScape curator
STRAUSS Tales from the Vienna Woods
Various ChiScape (World Premiere)
DAUGHERTY Metropolis Symphony (final movement)
HIGDON City Scape (second movement)
ELLINGTON Harlem
(arr. Maurice Peress)
Tickets: $40–$50 (Wentz Concert Hall); $26–$50 (Symphony Center )
For more information on the Chicago Sinfonietta, please visit www.chicagosinfonietta.org.
[Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington is featured at AfriClassical.com]
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