A performance by classical guitarist Marcin Dylla and a vocal master class led by mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard will open two year-long concert series as part of a busy November events calendar from Northwestern University’s Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music.
Victor Goines – the Bienen School’s director of jazz studies and a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the Wynton Marsalis Septet – will also lead two concerts in November.
A multitude of performances featuring talented Northwestern students and faculty will be held in various locations on Northwestern’s Evanston campus throughout the month. All events are open to the public. See the full calendar below.
For more information, call the Bienen School of Music Concert Management Office at 847-491-5441 or visit the Bienen concerts website. To order tickets, call the Bienen School Ticket Office at 847-467-4000 or visit the website. To receive a monthly events newsletter about Bienen concerts and events, as well as special discount offers, email events.music@northwestern.edu.
NOVEMBER 2016 MUSIC EVENTS
Northwestern University Jazz Orchestra: The Music of the Master, Duke Ellington
Tuesday, Nov. 1, 7:30 p.m.
Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall (inside Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Center for the Musical Arts), 70 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
From the first quarter of the 20th century until his death in 1974, Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington was considered one of the most innovative pianists, arrangers, composers and bandleaders in jazz. With his orchestra as his instrument, he arranged and composed masterpieces that used the unique voice of each member, while exhibiting the highest level of ensemble performance. In this concert, led by Professor Victor Goines and Jarrard Harris, jazz students interpret and perform Ellington masterpieces, including “Mood Indigo,” “Isfahan” and the album “Such Sweet Thunder.” Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid ID.
Percussion Ensemble
Thursday, Nov. 3, 7:30 p.m.
Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
Bienen School percussion students present an evening of eclectic rhythms, led by Associate Professor She-e Wu. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid ID.
Marcin Dylla
Saturday, Nov. 5, 7:30 p.m.
Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall (inside Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Center for the Musical Arts), 70 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
Polish artist Marcin Dylla opens the 2016-17 Segovia Classical Guitar Series. One of the world’s elite classical guitarists, Dylla is a winner of 19 first prizes at the most prestigious international music competitions, including the Gold Medal at the 2007 Guitar Foundation of America International Competition in Los Angeles. His program features Mauro Giuliani’s Sonata in C Major, Op. 15; Heitor Villa-Lobos’s Five Preludes; Roberto Sierra’s “Sonata para Guitarra;” Manuel Maria Ponce’s Theme, Variations and Fugue on “Folia de España;” and Benjamin Britten’s Nocturnal, Op. 70. Tickets are $30 for the general public and $10 for students with a valid ID. Subscribers to the series can save up to 30 percent off single ticket prices and enjoy additional exclusive benefits.
Baroque Music Ensemble: Baroque Brilliance!
Sunday, Nov. 6, 7:30 p.m.
Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall (inside Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Center for the Musical Arts), 70 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
Stephen Alltop conducts the Baroque Music Ensemble with violinist David Douglass in an exciting array of works by German baroque composers. The program includes Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Symphony in D Major and Harpsichord Concerto in G Minor; G.P. Telemann’s Overture in D Major; and J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G Major. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid ID.
Victor Goines and Jeremy Kahn
Monday, Nov. 7, 7:30 p.m.
Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall (inside Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Center for the Musical Arts), 70 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
Clarinetist, saxophonist and Bienen School Director of Jazz Studies Victor Goines has been a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the Wynton Marsalis Septet since 1993. With these ensembles, he has toured worldwide and performed on more than 20 releases, including Marsalis’ Pulitzer Prize-winning “Blood on the Fields,” Jazz at Lincoln Center’s “Congo Square” and the soundtracks for the Ken Burns documentaries, “JAZZ,” “Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise of Jack Johnson” and “The War.” Pianist Jeremy Kahn has performed with such legendary artists as Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, Joni Mitchell and Aretha Franklin, and he has played for numerous Chicago productions of Broadway. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students with valid ID.
Isabel Leonard Vocal Master Class
Tuesday, Nov. 8, 7 p.m.
Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall (inside Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Center for the Musical Arts), 70 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
Mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard will lead Bienen School voice and opera students in this Robert M. and Maya L. Tichio Vocal Master Class. In repertoire ranging from Vivaldi to Mozart to Thomas Adès, Leonard has graced the stages of such celebrated venues as the Paris Opera, Salzburg Festival, Lyric Opera of Chicago and San Francisco Opera. A recipient of the Richard Tucker Award, she is featured on the Grammy-winning recording of Adès’s “The Tempest.” This season she appears as Rosina in “Il barbiere di Siviglia” at the Vienna State Opera and as Charlotte in “Werther” at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna and the Metropolitan Opera, where she will also be seen as Zerlina in “Don Giovanni.” Tickets are $10 for the general public and $5 for students with valid ID.
Spektral Quartet
Wednesday, Nov. 9, 7:30 p.m.
Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall (inside Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Center for the Musical Arts), 70 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
Since its inception, the Spektral Quartet has sought connections between traditional classical works and those written in the 20th and 21st centuries. The ensemble’s endeavors have included the Mobile Miniatures project, which commissioned more than 40 composers from across the country to write ringtone-length pieces for mobile devices. Collaborations also include bandoneón-accordion virtuoso Julien Labro, Grammy-winning pianist Billy Childs and saxophonist Miguel Zenón, a Guggenheim and MacArthur fellow. The quartet’s upcoming Bienen School program includes Mikel Kuehn’s String Quartet No. 1: "If on a winter's night..."; George Lewis’ String Quartet 1.5: “Experiments in Living”; Samuel Adams’ Movement for String Quartet; and Tomeka Reid’s “Prospective Dwellers.” Tickets are $25 for the general public and $10 for students with valid ID (20% discount for Winter Chamber Music Festival subscribers).
Symphonic Wind Ensemble
Friday, Nov. 11, 7:30 p.m.
Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
Mallory Thompson will conduct the Symphonic Wind Ensemble in “Don Giovanni’s Dream” by Ivana Loudová, “Picture Studies” by Adam Schoenberg (trans. Donald Patterson) and “Pictures at an Exhibition” by Modest Mussorgsky (arr. Maurice Ravel/ Erik Saras). Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students with valid ID.
Concert Band
Sunday, Nov. 13, 3 p.m.
Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
Students from across Northwestern will present a concert of band standards, led by Daniel J. Farris. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid ID.
Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra: From the Shadows
Sunday, Nov. 13, 7:30 p.m.
Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
Victor Yampolsky conducts a program of Karl Goldmark’s “Im Frühling”; Carl Nielsen’s Concerto for Flute, featuring Jilene VanOpdorp; and Alexander Zemlinsky’s “Lyric Symphony” with soprano Katherine Werbiansky and baritone Keven Keys. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students with valid ID.
University Chorale
Sunday, Nov. 13, 6:00 p.m. (with pre-concert Q&A at 5:00 p.m.)
Alice Millar Chapel, 1870 Sheridan Road, Evanston
James MacMillan’s monumental “Cantos Sagrados” is the centerpiece of this program of works for choir and organ, featuring Alice Millar Chapel organist Eric Budzynski. Inspired by the composer’s interest in liberation theology, the work is based on three poems about political repression in Latin America, coupled with traditional religious texts to emphasize solidarity with that subcontinent’s poor. The program also includes the Midwest premiere of David T. Little's “dress in magic amulets, dark from My feet.” Donald Nally conducts, along with graduate assistant conductor Victor de la Cruz. A pre-concert Q&A session with composer David T. Little will be held at 6:30 p.m. in Vail Chapel. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid ID.
Evening of Brass
Monday, Nov. 14, 7:30 p.m.
Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
Gail Williams directs a program of music written and arranged for brass ensemble. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid ID.
Jazz Small Ensembles: Composition 901 -- Student Originals
Monday, Nov. 14, 7:30 p.m.
David and Carol McClintock Choral and Recital Room (inside Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Center for the Musical Arts), 70 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
New works composed by Bienen School students will be performed by jazz small ensembles, conducted by Jarrard Harris and Joe Clark. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid ID.
James Giles, piano and Ilya Kaler, violin
Thursday, Nov. 17, 7:30 p.m.
Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall (inside Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Center for the Musical Arts), 70 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
Pianist and Bienen School faculty member James Giles and violinist Ilya Kaler will present works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Sergei Prokofiev, Franz Schubert and George Gershwin. Giles’ recent tours have taken him to the Nancy Music Festival in France, the Accademia Cristofori in Florence and the Beijing International Music Festival. He has taught at Pianofest in the Hamptons, Interlochen, the Colburn Academy Festival, the Amalfi Coast Music Festival and the Gijon Piano Festival. Violinist Ilya Kaler has appeared with such distinguished ensembles as the Leningrad, Moscow and Dresden Philharmonic Orchestras, the Montreal Symphony, the Danish and Berlin Radio Orchestras and the Moscow and Zurich Chamber Orchestras. He has taught at the Eastman School of Music, Indiana University and DePaul University. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students.
Later the Same Evening
Thursday, Nov. 17, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 18, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 19, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 20, 3 p.m.
Shirley Welsh Ryan Opera Theater (inside Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Center for the Musical Arts), 70 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
Northwestern University Opera Theater presents “Later the Same Evening,” directed by Michael M. Ehrman and featuring the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Alexandra Dee. Composed by John Musto with libretto by Mark Campbell, this one-act opera is set in 1932 in New York City, where five Edward Hopper paintings come to life. A young wife and husband face an encroaching sense of estrangement in their marriage; a widow nervously awaits her date; and a young woman prepares to tell her boyfriend she is leaving New York after the failure of her dancing career. The lives of these women soon intersect with those of other characters as they find themselves together in the audience of a Broadway musical. Tickets are $18 for the general public and $8 for students with valid ID.
Contemporary Music Ensemble
Saturday, Nov. 19, 7:30 p.m.
Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall (inside Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Center for the Musical Arts), 70 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
This program of new works features “Try” by Andrew Norman; “Chamber Concerto” by Bienen School faculty member Alex Mincek; “Mouvement” by Helmut Lachenmann; and “Proverb” by Steve Reich, 2016 winners of the Bienen School’s Michael Ludwig Nemmers Prize in Music Composition. Alan Pierson and Ben Bolter conduct the Contemporary Music Ensemble. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid ID.
Philharmonia
Sunday, Nov. 20, 3 p.m.
Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
Led by Robert G. Hasty, Philharmonia presents Louis Joseph F. Hérold’s Overture to “Zampa”; Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 in B Minor (“Unfinished”); Johann Strauss Jr.’s Overture to “Die Fledermaus”; and Georges Bizet’s “Carmen” Suite No. 1. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid ID.
University Singers
Sunday, Nov. 20, 7:30 p.m.
Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall (inside Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Center for the Musical Arts), 70 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
The University Singers’ fall concert welcomes many new singers into the Bienen School choral family with the Bach motet “Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden” and repertoire from the renaissance, romantic and contemporary eras. Albert Pinsonneault will conduct, along with graduate assistant conductor Hannah McConnell. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid ID.
Women’s Chorus
Monday, Nov. 21, 7:30 p.m.
Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall (inside Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Center for the Musical Arts), 70 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
The Women’s Chorus presents a variety of repertoire for treble chorus, drawing from many styles and time periods. A.J. Keller will conduct. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid ID.
Chicago Jazz Orchestra: Not So Silent Night
Tuesday, Nov. 29, 7:30 p.m.
Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
This special program of holiday classics features the Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker Suite,” edited and transcribed by Jeff Lindberg, artistic director and conductor of Chicago Jazz Orchestra (CJO). For over 35 years the CJO – hailed by “Chicago Tribune” critic Howard Reich as “one of the best big bands in the country” – has been at the forefront of performing classic American jazz-orchestra repertoire at venues and institutions throughout the Chicago area. The orchestra has collaborated with such artists as Clark Terry, Buddy DeFranco, Dizzy Gillespie, Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones and Kurt Elling. Artistic director Jeff Lindberg will conduct. Tickets are $25 for the general public and $10 for students with valid ID.
Symphonic Band
Wednesday, Nov. 30, 7:30 p.m.
Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
The Symphonic Band, led by Shawn Vondran, presents Steve Rouse’s “Blaze,” David Del Tredici’s “Acrostic Song” from “Final Alice” (arr. Mark Spede), Joaquín Turina’s “Five Miniatures” from “Miniaturas” (arr. John Krance), David Maslanka’s “California” and Frank Ticheli’s “Angels in the Architecture.” Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid ID.
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