From annual standbys to intriguing one-offs, Chicago’s cup overfloweth with summer concerts worth your while. A baker’s dozen, and then some, for your perusal:
Changings of the guard: The ongoing Muti-to-Mäkelä transition is a big deal, but it’s not the only coming and going at the CSO. Composer-in-residence Jessie Montgomery concludes her tenure with a percussion concerto, played by Cynthia Yeh, and a movement she contributed to “The Elements,” an exquisite corpse-style concerto performed by Joshua Bell. Artists-in-residence present and future also perform in June: Hilary Hahn, in a chamber recital featuring live choreography (plus an encore of another Montgomery work, “Musings”), and Daniil Trifonov, with the CSO and guest conductor Lahav Shani. All at Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Ave.:
SPACE is the place … for jazz this June. (Thought this was a Sun Ra fakeout? Keep reading!) The Evanston venue has a formidable lineup this June alone, hosting the Bill Frisell Trio, pianist Fred Hersch, saxophonist Miguel Zenón, vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant and Chinchano, led by local drum dynamo Juan Pastor. All at SPACE, 1245 Chicago Ave., Evanston:
A Tuesday tradition turns 25: As its name promises, Rush Hour Concerts are short — a tight 45 minutes of music, just long enough to wait out the commuter crush. But the series itself is long, presenting a dozen concerts throughout the summer. This year, a harp quartet, Austrian children’s choir (also participating in Grant Park’s Mahler 8 season finale) and Mozart’s chamber epic Gran Partita stick out among the spread. Rush Hour Concerts, 5:45 to 6:30 p.m. every Tuesday from June 4 to Aug. 20 at St. James Cathedral, 65 E. Huron St.; free.
From pubs to parks: For a decade now, Constellation Men’s Ensemble — no relation to the North Center venue of the same name — has championed living composers in offbeat settings. (Earlier this season, it hosted a Eurovision sing in neighborhood bars.) For one weekend this summer, the choir takes up residence in three Chicago parks with a program that features a parks-inspired commission by hometown composer Eric Malmquist. The 25-minute piece is framed by nine new miniatures from other composers. Constellation Men’s Ensemble, “NOVA VII: in bloom,” 5 p.m. June 8 at Battle of Fort Dearborn Park, 1801 S. Calumet Ave., and 3 p.m. June 9 at Lincoln Park Conservatory, 2391 N. Stockton Drive; open rehearsal 6:30 p.m. June 7 at Indian Boundary Park, 2500 W. Lunt Ave.; all free.
Star becomes subject: The brainchild of librettist Lasana D. Kazembe and composer Ernest Dawkins, “Paul Robeson: Man of the People” recounts the life of this towering actor, singer, athlete and activist. The multimedia jazz opera premieres in Indianapolis, Kazembe’s home base, just a week before this Chicago show. Singer Dee Alexander stars alongside an all-star chamber ensemble including Dawkins, trumpeter Corey Wilkes and violinist Caitlin Edwards. “Paul Robeson: Man of the People,” 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. June 7 at Hamilton Park Fieldhouse, 513 W. 72nd St.; free.
Avant-garden parties: The Experimental Sound Studio’s free OPTION series invites artists and audiences onto ESS’s cozy back patio. Among those on this year’s lineup: Dorothy Carlos, an experimental cellist and electronic musician who was ESS’s 2023 artist-in-residence (June 23); solo bass stands by Nick Dunston (June 30) and Brittany Karlson (Aug. 4); plus a new trio from sound artist Fay Victor, flutist Nicole Mitchell and bassist-vocalist Devon Gates (July 7).
Not around Edgewater? The Museum of Contemporary Art’s Tuesdays on the Terrace series, also free, picks up again in late June. Expect an Alice Coltrane tribute by harpist Brandee Younger (July 23, prefaced by a July 21 performance/conversation with Coltrane’s daughter Michelle in the MCA’s Edlis Neeson Theater), previews of forthcoming albums by keyboardists Julian Davis Reid (Aug. 6) and Alexis Lombre (Aug. 27), and organist/pianist Justin Dillard’s series debut as a bandleader (Aug. 13).
OPTION, 3 p.m. every Sunday June 9 to Aug. 25 at Experimental Sound Studio, 5925 N. Ravenswood Ave.; free with RSVPs at ess.org
Tuesdays on the Terrace, 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. June 25-Aug. 27, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, 220 E. Chicago Ave.; free.
A Krono-logy worth celebrating: The Kronos Quartet, who notch a half-century of championing the new in classical music this year, sees off two founding members this summer: violinist John Sherba and violist Hank Dutt. They bid farewell to Chicago fans in a program generous with local touchstones. Stacy Garrop’s “Glorious Mahalia” incorporates the prerecorded voices of Mahalia Jackson and Studs Terkel. The quartet also plays “Little Black Book” by Jlin—the ubiquitous Gary, Indiana-based composer/producer whose Rolodex of collaborators includes Philip Glass, Third Coast Percussion and Björk—and a sample from its mind-bending upcoming album of Sun Ra compositions. “Kronos Quartet: Five Decades,” 7:30 p.m. June 13 at the Martin Theatre, 201 Ravinia Park Road, Highland Park; tickets $40-$60 inside, $15 lawn.
Want the real thing?: Its founder-frontman may be no more, but Sun Ra’s Arkestra, founded here in the 1950s, plays on. Marshall Allen, who succeeded Ra as the group’s bandleader, just turned 100; alas, he recently limited gigs to those within driving distance of his home in Philadelphia. Like Ra, he’ll be there in spirit if not in body. Sun Ra Arkestra, 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. June 28 at Constellation, 3111 N. Western Ave.; tickets $40.
A once-in-a-lifetime one-act: The Opera Festival of Chicago joins practically every company on the planet in recognizing the centenary of Puccini’s death, with a staged production of “Manon Lescaut” and aria recital. But that all might be upstaged by “Il prigioniero” (“The Prisoner”), originally written for radio broadcast by its composer Luigi Dallapiccola. The significant serialist is rarely heard ’round these parts; catch his hour-long opus in a double bill with Gian Carlo Menotti’s “The Medium.” Opera Festival of Chicago, June 21-July 14, at various venues, listed below; tickets $25-$125, with $15 day-of student rush tickets:
- “Puccini Forever,” 7:30 p.m. June 21 at Jarvis Opera Hall, DePaul University School of Music, 800 W. Belden Ave.
- “Manon Lescaut,” 7:30 p.m. June 27 and 29, 2 p.m. June 30, Cahn Auditorium, 600 Emerson St., Evanston
- “Il Prigioniero & The Medium,” 7:30 p.m. July 11, 2 p.m. July 14, Athenaeum Center for Thought and Culture, 2936 N. Southport Ave.
World premieres at Grant Park: This season is Carlos Kalmar’s last as music director of Chicago’s most egalitarian summer classical festival. Retirement won’t be quiet for Kalmar: he’s currently suing his former employer, the Cleveland Institute of Music, in excess of $5 million for breach of contract and illegally disclosing him as the subject of a since-closed Title IX investigation. His successor at Grant Park has not yet been publicly named, but strong contenders lead the season’s world premieres — all by composers either currently or recently based in Chicago — and multi-week stays. Ludovic Morlot, formerly of the Seattle Symphony, leads three programs, including Clarice Assad’s “Water Nymphs” (June 26-July 5); Nashville Symphony music director Giancarlo Guerrero takes on two, the second featuring a new work by Jim Stephenson (July 10-13); and the Knights artistic director and co-founder Eric Jacobsen also leads three programs, including the premiere of an untitled piece by flutist/composer Nathalie Joachim (July 17-27). Grant Park Music Festival, June 12 to Aug. 17 at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park, 201 E. Randolph St.; free.
Blacknificent 7, assemble: This composer supergroup, formally unveiled at a CSO concert earlier this year, reunites for a Ravinia-commissioned song cycle. Jasmine Barnes, Damien Geter, Jessie Montgomery, Shawn Okpebholo, Dave Ragland, Carlos Simon and Joel Thompson each contribute one song about historical African queens — such as Nandi of the Zulus, Amanirenas of Kush and the biblical Queen of Sheba. Soprano Karen Slack, a Ravinia Steans Music Institute alumna, and pianist Kevin Miller perform. “African Queens,” 7:30 p.m. Aug. 1 at the Martin Theatre, 201 Ravinia Park Road, Highland Park; tickets $40-$60 inside, $15 lawn.
Storied saxes at Jazz Showcase: With Charles McPherson and Gary Bartz both taking the stand within a few weeks of one another, it’s shaping up to be a very august August at this destination venue. Though McPherson and Bartz’s collaborations cover practically all of jazz’s biggest names of the last 60 years, they’re as current as ever: McPherson recently released a new album, “Reverence,” and Bartz, fresh off an NEA Jazz Master nod, just played an NPR Tiny Desk Concert. Charles McPherson Quartet, Aug 1-4, tickets $20-$40; Gary Bartz, Aug. 22-25, tickets $25-$45; both at Jazz Showcase, 806 S. Plymouth Ct.
Who’s on for the Chicago Jazz Fest?: While bookings for the rest of the festival remain TBA, DCASE has pinned down some headliners, hot off the presses: Amina Claudine Myers at Preston Bradley Hall (Aug. 29), and Catherine Russell (Aug. 30), Kenny Garrett with Sounds from the Ancestors (Aug. 31) and the Spanish Harlem Orchestra (Sept. 1) at Jay Pritzker Pavilion. Chicago Jazz Festival, Aug. 29-Sept. 1, various locations in and around Jay Pritzker Pavilion, 201 E. Randolph St., and the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St.; free.
Hannah Edgar is a freelance critic.
The Rubin Institute for Music Criticism helps fund our classical music coverage. The Chicago Tribune maintains editorial control over assignments and content.
