From Ramsey to CSO with Joffrey, a busy weekend
This weekend will be rich in jazz and classical possibilities. Among the highlights: RamseyFest. Yes, that would be Ramsey Lewis, who recently turned 84 and mostly has retired from the...
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Jazz reviews: ‘Two Wings’ premiere at Orchestra Hall and Sheila Jordan at 90
There's no way the production that played Friday night in Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center should have worked. Too many musicians, too many songs, too many genres, too complex a...
Ramsey Lewis really retires — sort of — on eve of ‘RamseyFest’ at Ravinia
So is he or isn't he? Last year, Chicago jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis announced he was retiring, then softened that declaration a bit before his performance at the Chicago Jazz...
CSO review: A joyous and all-too-rare evening of Spanish and Latin American music
Music of Spain and Latin America doesn't often dominate Chicago Symphony Orchestra programs. Rarer still is such an evening featuring two works new to the CSO subscription concerts. So anyone...
Singer Sheila Jordan going strong at 90
On Friday and Saturday evenings, an irrepressibly creative 90-year-old musician will take the stage of the Green Mill Jazz Club and invent tones, phrases and lyrics never heard before and...
Roscoe Mitchell, Bobby McFerrin named NEA Jazz Masters
Reedist-composer Roscoe Mitchell, a founding member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago and a prominent figure in the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), has won a National...
Review: ‘Notorious RBG in Song’ illuminates an icon
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's story has been told via films, books and uncounted articles. But the portrait of her that emerged Sunday afternoon at Spertus Institute explored the...
CSO review: Hilary Hahn exceptional in Sibelius Violin Concerto
The most intensely exciting moments of Thursday night's Chicago Symphony Orchestra concert occurred when violinist Hilary Hahn took the stage. For though the Sibelius Violin Concerto ranks among the most...
What’s the real story of the Great Migration? ‘Two Wings’ will explore at Orchestra Hall
In our popular mythology, the Great Migration of African-Americans from the rural South to the industrial North carries a romantic glow. Didn't this massive movement of humanity, after all, nurture...
Reviews: Regina Carter with Chicago Sinfonietta; Evgeny Kissin; Chicago Civic Orchestra
The Chicago Sinfonietta closed its season Monday evening at the Auditorium Theatre with a Chicago premiere of real consequence. Violinist and MacArthur Fellow Regina Carter had performed David Schiff's "4...