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The schedule for the Harris Theater fall 2009 season includes a variety of acclaimed Chicago favorites, Chicago premieres and performances by individuals and organizations that are seldom seen in Chicago. Joining such popular and acclaimed Chicago institutions as Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Music of the Baroque, Luna Negra Dance Theater, Fulcrum Point New Music Project and Chicago Jazz Ensemble is highly anticipated return of ballet legend Mikhail Baryshnikov, performing the Chicago premiere of Three solos and a duet with his long-time dance partner and collaborator Ana Laguna; a distinctive holiday engagement with the great American soprano Kathleen Battle and the Chicago Children's Choir; and an exciting new program by the acclaimed all-male ballet company Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo. Additionally, the Harris recently announced an exciting new lunchtime performance series, Eat to the Beat, which will feature midday dance performances by DanceWorks Chicago and tickets priced at just $5.00 each.
This fall the Harris Theater will introduce Tix @ Six, a new discounted ticket program for audience members. As part of the program, a set number of $10.00 Tix @ 6 performance tickets will be available to the public while supplies last 90 minutes prior to the start of a performance at the Harris; tickets must be purchased with cash and in person only. Tix @ 6 tickets will be applicable for all performances at the Harris _ both Harris Theater Presents events as well as performances by the resident companies.
Subscriptions to the Harris Theater Presents performances are on sale now; single tickets to Harris Theater Presents performances will go on sale August 1, 2009 at 10:00 a.m.; and tickets to all Harris Theater performances will be on sale by August 15, 2009 at noon.
Tickets are available at the Harris Theater box office located in Millennium Park at 205 E. Randolph Dr., by calling 312-334-7777 or by visiting www.harristheaterchicago.org.
PROGRAM
CLASSICAL MUSIC
Roosevelt University's CCPA Symphony Orchestra
Tuesday, October 6, 2009, 7:30 pm
Tickets: FREE
Alexander Platt, guest conductor
Featuring Student Solo Competition Winner Yuki Hashimori, violin
Orquestra de Sê£o Paulo
Kazem Abdullah, conductor
Evelyn Glennie, Percussion soloist
Wednesday, October 14, 2009, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $45, $55, $75
The Harris Theater is thrilled to present the Chicago premiere of the most outstanding orchestra in Latin America, Orquestra de Sê£o Paulo (OSESP), with world-renowned percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie, under the baton of young rising star conductor twenty-nine year old Kazem Abdullah, also making his Chicago debut. The exciting, Latin-themed program at the Harris will feature the Chicago premiere of a new percussion concerto by Brazilian composer Marlos Nobre, commissioned by OSESP for Dame Glennie, as well as significant works by renowned Brazilian classical composers including Heitor Villa-Lobos and B_la Bart‹k.
Music of the Baroque
Acis and Galatea
Friday, October 16, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $30-$75
Jane Glover, conductor
Music of the Baroque Chorus and Orchestra
Elizabeth Futral, Galatea
Thomas Cooley, Acis
Benjamin Butterfield, Damon
Christ‹pheren Nomura, Polyphemus
The season opens with one of Handel's most lyrical and enduring works. Jane Glover conducts and Lyric Opera favorite Elizabeth Futral sings the title role.
Music of the Baroque
"Earth, Wind and Fire"
Monday, November 16, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $30-$75
Nicholas Kraemer, conductor
Music of the Baroque Orchestra
Elizabeth Wallfisch, violin
Dazzling violinist Elizabeth Wallfisch returns to play Vivaldi's The Four Seasons as you've never heard it played before.
Roosevelt University's CCPA Symphony Orchestra
Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 7:30 pm
Tickets: FREE
Stephen Squires, conductor
Faculty soloists Chris Martin, trumpet; Jay Friedman, trombone
JAZZ, WORLD AND NEW MUSIC
MusicNOW
Rzewski and Kurtšg
Monday, October 5, 2009, 8:00 pm
Tickets: Adults $20; Students $10
Musicians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Cliff Colnot, conductor
Tony Arnold, soprano
The 2009/10 MusicNOW season begins with an eclectic sampling of works by American composer Frederic Rzewski and Romanian composer Gy‹rgy Kurtšg.
Fulcrum Point New Music Project
Movies: Inner Torments
Thursday, November 12, 2009, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $30; $15 for students and seniors
Stephen Burns Artistic Director
Randall Woolf, Meet the Composer "Music Alive" Composer in Residence
The Puerto Rican Arts Alliance
11th Annual Cuatro Festival
Saturday, November 14, 2009, 7:00 pm
Tickets: $20 - $25
The Puerto Rican Arts Alliance proudly presents the 11th Annual Cuatro Festival _ the largest indoor Puerto Rican cultural event in the Midwest. The Festival, named for the island's ten-string guitar-like instrument, celebrates traditional Puerto Rican Cuatro music and features cuatristas from the Midwest and Puerto Rico.
MusicNOW
Twice Through the Heart
Monday, November 23, 2009, 8:00 pm
Tickets: Adults $20; Students $10
Musicians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Cliff Colnot, conductor
Mark-Anthony Turnage's Twice Through the Heart tells the painful story of an abused woman imprisoned for the murder of her husband.
eighth blackbird with Lucy Shelton
Pierrot Lunaire
Tuesday, December 08, 2009, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $30
Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire has everything: feverish intensity, gallows humor and touching pathos. In this new production, director Mark DeChiazza uses movement and gesture to connect to the human core of this remarkable work. Dancer Elyssa Dole and legendary soprano Lucy Shelton join eighth blackbird.
The Chicago Jazz Ensemble with Artistic Director Jon Faddis
50th Anniversary Celebration honoring Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Ornette Coleman
Thursday, December 10, 2009, 8:00 pm
Tickets: $15-$45
Special guests David Sanchez, tenor saxophone and Steve Wilson, alto saxophone
In 1959, three extraordinary innovators _ John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, and Miles Davis _ released three of the most adventurous, influential, and ground-breaking recordings in the history of Jazz. Join Artistic Director Jon Faddis and the Chicago Jazz Ensemble in celebrating the 50th anniversary of John Coltrane's, "Giant Steps;" Ornette Coleman's, "The Shape of Jazz to Come;" and Miles Davis,' "Kind of Blue."
The Chicago Jazz Ensemble with Artistic Director Jon Faddis
Celebrating "The Great Summit": The Music of Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington
Friday, January 15, 2010, 8:00 pm
Tickets: $15-$45
The Chicago Jazz Ensemble pays tribute to Jazz greats, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington in what is sure to be an evening of fabulous music. Highlights of the performance include big band arrangements of Armstrong classics, such as "What a Wonderful World," "Swing that Music," and "Stardust," as well as Ellington favorites pulled from the CJE's own library.
Harris Theater and Contempo present
Double-Bill: Where Jazz and Contemporary Music Intersect
Saturday, January 16, 2010, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $40, $25
Cliff Colnot, conductor
Susanne Mentzer, mezzo soprano
eighth blackbird
Chris Potter, saxophones
Kenny Werner, piano
This exciting co-presentation of Contempo's Double-Bill: Where Jazz and Contemporary Music Intersect features important Chicago premieres and combines the best of living composers, cutting-edge performances by contemporary artists, and memorable appearances by jazz musicians. Featuring Grammy Award-winning sextet eighth blackbird and renowned mezzo soprano Susanne Mentzer, who performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus this past October and wowed both critics and audiences with her portrayal of Dido in Dido and Aeneas with Chicago Opera Theater in 2006, as well as jazz musicians Chris Potter and Kenny Warner, Double-Bill will include the Chicago premiere of Pulitzer Prize and Grammy Award-winning composer Bernard Rands' work, now again _ fragments from Sappho for ten-piece ensemble, along with Kurt Weill's September Song. The performance will also feature the Chicago premiere of Taiwanese composer Yu-Hui Chang's Binge Delirium for solo percussion and conclude with a jam session with jazz musicians saxophonist Chris Potter and pianist Kenny Werner.
HOLIDAY CONCERTS
Holiday Pops
Wednesday, December 9, 2009, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $20-$50
The Holiday Pops Chorus and the Southport Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Maestro Scott Arkenberg, perform the best-loved holiday music and songs of the season. The Holiday Pops Concert has become a local tradition and is a much loved part of the holiday music scene in Chicago since 2001. Truly a labor of love, a diverse group of hearts, hands and voices come together to present this magical evening of song and joy, laughter and warmth. The beautiful music that comes from this collaboration is exhilarating and the enthusiasm and spirit is contagious!
Chicago Children's Choir
Songs of the Season
Sunday, December 13, 2009, 3:00pm
Tickets: $15 - $55; Subscription discount: $13 - $50
Josephine Lee, Artistic Director
Celebrate the season with Chicago Children's Choir! Under the direction of Josephine Lee, the Emmy Award-winning Concert Choir will inspire you and your family with songs from around the world.
The Lakeside Singers
In the Frosty Air
Thursday, December 17, 2009, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $10 - $40
Robert Bowker, conductor
A holiday choral concert unlike any other! Enjoy the 24 extraordinary voices of The Lakeside Singers in their joyous holiday concert: "In The Frosty Air." The concert will include carols medieval to modern in the first half, and then, in a completely different second half, the singers will step forward in front of a live band and "let loose" with unique stylizations of holiday favorites in pop, vocal jazz, gospel and Broadway arrangements. Count on a fun-filled audience sing-along, and a darn good time.
Harris Theater presents
Kathleen Battle, soprano
Chicago Children's Choir
Classic Spirituals to Illuminate the Holiday Season
Friday, December 18, 2009, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $60, $75, $85
Celebrate the holiday season with the Harris Theater debut of five-time Grammy Award-winning soprano Kathleen Battle, whose soaring voice is "without qualification, one of the very few most beautiful in the world" (The Washington Post). In this extraordinary and unique holiday program of inspired seasonal spirituals with Chicago Children's Choir, the legendary Ms. Battle will perform her first-ever all spirituals program in Chicago. This music, "has been an important part of my musical life for as long as I can remember," Kathleen Battle says. In April 2009, she premiered a solo recital program of spirituals at Carnegie Hall. You won't want to miss this special evening of celebration, inspiration and hope.
Midwest Young Artists
Holiday Concert
Saturday, December 19, 2009, 1:00 and 3:00 pm
Tickets: $17-$32 for adults; $7-$22 for students and seniors
Celebrate the holidays with the traditional classic "Snowman" and other holiday favorites! A perfect holiday outing for the whole family!
The Apollo Chorus of Chicago
Messiah by George Frideric Handel
Sunday, December 20th 2009, 3:00 pm
Tickets: $30 - $52
Stephen Alltop, Music Director
The holidays wouldn't be the same without Apollo's powerful performance of Messiah. Dance
Harris Theater presents Eat to the Beat:
DanceWorks Chicago featuring Sons of the Never Wrong
My Witness
Tuesday, September 15, 2009, noon
Tickets: $5 for each performance; $10 for a subscription to all three performances
Created for DanceWorks Chicago by choreographer Gina Patterson, My Witness is Patterson's moving tribute to "those who have walked beside us as our witness through life." The piece features live music by Chicago-based Sons of the Never Wrong, considered one of Folk music's most distinctive trios. Following the dance performance there will be a brief set by Sons of the Never Wrong.
Harris Theater presents
Mikhail Baryshnikov
Chicago Premiere of "Three solos and a duet"
Friday, September 25, 2009 and Saturday, September 26, 2009, 7:30 pm; Sunday, September 27, 2009, 3:00 pm
Tickets: $55, $65, $75
Hailed by The New York Times as "one of the greatest dancers in history," ballet legend Mikhail Baryshnikov will perform the Chicago premiere of "Three solos and a duet" with dance partner and collaborator Ana Laguna. Baryshnikov toured Three solos and a duet throughout Europe this summer. Marking his first appearance in Chicago since he thrilled audiences with his performance with Hell's Kitchen Dance at the Harris in 2007, Three solos and a duet will give Chicago audiences a rare opportunity to see Baryshnikov dance solo. The program features Valse-Fantasie, a new work by Russian choreographer Alexei Ratmansky; Solo for Two and Place by Swedish choreographer Mats Ek; and a radically reworked version of Years Later by Benjamin Millepied of France, which Baryshnikov premiered at the spring gala fundraiser for his Baryshnikov Arts Center on April 14.
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
FALL SERIES: October 1-4, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 7:30 pm; Friday, October 2, 8:00 pm; Saturday, October 3, 8:00 pm; Sunday, October 4, 3:00 pm
Tickets: $25-$90
Critically acclaimed for its exuberant, athletic and innovative repertoire by world-renowned choreographers, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's ensemble of dancers displays unparalleled versatility and virtuosity. The company's Fall program features a wide range of works that will inspire, awe and amaze, including a return of audience favorite Jardi Tancat by Nacho Duato, the "slinky-meets-sensual" Lickety Split by HSDC Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo, Lucas Crandall's whimsical and entertaining The Set, and a world premiere by esteemed choreographer Jorma Elo. Under the leadership of newly announced Artistic Director Glenn Edgerton, HSDC is bringing new strength and energy to Chicago's own world-renown contemporary dance company.
Luna Negra Dance Theater - Celebrating 10 Years
Noche De Luna
Friday, October 9, 6:30 pm*
Tickets: $250-$500 for gala tickets (includes performance); $25 to $55 for performance only
Luna Negra celebrates its 10th Anniversary with Noche de Luna, a tribute to founder Eduardo Vilaro. The evening will begin with a memorable performance featuring a retrospective of company favorites with special guest Welz Kauffman of Ravinia Festival and the World Premiere of Eduardo Vilaro's Danz‹n, with Latin jazz legend Paquito D'Rivera and Turtle Island Quartet performing live. The program will then be followed by a gala reception in The Modern Wing of The Art Institute of Chicago.
*A gala reception in the new Modern Wing of the Art Institute will follow the performance. For more information, please contact Luna Negra at 312-337-6882.
Luna Negra Dance Theater
Saturday, October 10 at 8:00 pm
Tickets: $25-$55
Enjoy an extraordinary evening of Latino contemporary dance infused with flamenco, mambo and tango movements, featuring Eduardo Vilaro's new Danz‹n with live accompaniment by Paquito D'Rivera and Turtle Island Quartet; Annabelle Lopez Ochoa's reflective and comical Nube Blanco (White Cloud); and Alejandro Cervera's Tango Vitrola, a sizzling work that blends the distinctive qualities of the Tango with ballet and contemporary movement.
LADO
National Folk Dance Ensemble of Croatia
October 21, 2009, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $55 - $115
Celebrating its 60th Anniversary, LADO will present Croatia's rich music and dance tradition.
Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago
Move!
October 23 and 24, 2009, 8:00 pm
Tickets: $20 - $60
Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago presents two signature evenings of athletic dance virtuosity featuring world premieres by legendary American choreographer Rennie Harris and the emerging Chicago choreographer Autumn Eckman!
Dance Africa
Saturday, October 30, 2009, 8:00 pm
Tickets: $25 - $54
Southern Africa comes to life through a blend of contemporary and traditional dance with live song and percussion. Experience the fabric that is life and dance, DanceAfrica 2009!
River North Chicago Dance Company
Saturday, November 7, 2009, 8:00 pm
Tickets: $30-$65
The 20th anniversary season opens with a world premiere by Artistic Director, Frank Chaves, and, a new twist on the Company's classic signature piece, Reality of a Dreamer, re-envisioned by Co-Artistic Director Emerita, Sherry Zunker. Last season's hit Uhuru by Company member Monique Haley will return to the stage, along with other repertoire favorites including the colorful full ensemble piece Habaneras, the Music of Cuba.
Chicago Human Rhythm Project
Global Rhythms featuring Step Afrika!
Thursday, November 19* Opening night "JUBALEE" Gala, 7:30 pm; Friday, November 20, 8:00 pm; Saturday, November 21, 8:00 pm
Tickets: $15 - $55 (general public; available all three nights); JUBALEE benefit tickets $150 - $500
Chicago Human Rhythm Project's 20th Anniversary Season bursts onto the stage with the Chicago debut of Washington D.C.'s celebrated Step Afrika! featuring stepping, gumboot, African and contemporary percussive arts!
Harris Theater Presents Eat to the Beat:
DanceWorks Chicago featuring Yuri Lane
Beat in the Box
Tuesday, November 17, 2009, noon
Tickets: $5 for each performance; $10 for a subscription to all three performances
A quirky, full company piece, Beat in the Box blends contemporary dance, improvisation and everyday movement with the exciting sounds of beatbox music to create an energetic dance with a hip, urban feel. Beat in the Box, featuring Chicago actor, musician and beatboxer Yuri Lane, was created for DanceWorks Chicago by choreographer Brian Enos.
Thodos Dance Chicago featuring "Fosse Trilogy"
Saturday, November 28, 2009, 8:00 pm
Tickets: $40 regular; $25 seniors & students; $15 children & groups of 10 or more
A highly-charged evening of contemporary dance by established American choreographers including Artistic Director Melissa Thodos and featuring a very special repertory addition, "Fosse Trilogy."
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
WINTER SERIES: December 3-6, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 7:30pm; Friday, December 4, 8:00 pm; Saturday, December 5, 8:00 pm; Sunday, December 6, 3:00 pm
Tickets: $25-$90
Critically acclaimed for its exuberant, athletic and innovative repertoire by world-renowned choreographers, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's ensemble of dancers displays unparalleled versatility and virtuosity. The company's Winter program features the tender and oddly beautiful Tabula Rasa, set to the haunting music of Arvo P‹rt by Ohad Naharin, the must-see hit Off Screen by HSDC's Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo, and Johan Inger's Walking Mad, propelled by the rhythmic _ãÄBol_ro' by Maurice Ravel.
The Dance Center of Columbia College presents
Cloud Gate Dance Theater of Taiwan
Moon Water
Friday, January 22 and Saturday, January 23, 2010, 8:00 pm
Tickets: $30 Balcony; $45 Lower Level; $65 Orchestra
Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, Asia 's leading contemporary dance company, returns to Chicago blending Eastern and Western dance styles with Lin Hwai-min's internationally renowned signature work, Moon Water. Lauded worldwide for its innovation, grace and extreme physical fluidity, Moon Water is a contemporary exploration of the Tai Chi Tao Yin movement, set to JS Bach's exquisite Six Suites for Solo Cello. During this breathtaking performance, water sweeps across the entire stage and is reflected by a wall of mirror suspended midair, creating a stunning on-stage work of art. The company, made up of two dozen dancers with training in Tai Chi Tao Yin, meditation, martial arts, Chinese Opera movement, modern dance, ballet and calligraphy, execute Lin Hwai-min's choreography beautifully _ varying from the weighty stillness of a stone sculpture, to floating lyricism, to fierce martial-art like attacks. "Mr. Lin has accomplished what creative artists rarely succeed in doing today: challenging the audience with a work unlike any other," says The New York Times. "Moon Water is not about meditation but is a meditation in itself."
Harris Theater presents
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo
Wednesday, January 27, 2010, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $45, $55, $75
Following an appearance in the UK, including a performance in celebration of the 80th Anniversary of the Royal Variety Performance which Their Royal Highnesses, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall attended, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo promise to delight Chicago audiences with an exciting new program demonstrating their playful, entertaining view of classical ballet in parody form and en travesti. Hailed as "wholly spectacular" and "stunning" by The New York Times, the Trocks, as they are affectionately known, will amuse and inspire Chicagoans with their blend of their loving knowledge of dance, their comic approach, and the astounding fact that men can, indeed, dance en pointe without falling flat on their faces! The fact that men dance all the parts--heavy bodies delicately balancing on toes as swans, sylphs, water sprites, romantic princesses, angst-ridden Victorian ladies--enhances rather than mocks the spirit of dance as an art form, delighting and amusing the most knowledgeable, as well as novices, in the audience. This Harris Theater presentation of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo is back by popular demand after a sold-out engagement at the Harris in 2007.
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Additional programming includes springtime engagements with Lang Lang, Stephen Sondheim, Christine Ebersole, Bella Voce Chamber Choir, Sharon Isbin and Mark O'Connor. Tickets go on sale August 1 at 10 a.m.
Subscriptions and single tickets will be available at the Harris Theater box office located in Millennium Park at 205 E. Randolph Dr., by calling 312-334-7777 or by visiting www.harristheaterchicago.org.
