New Music Chicago announces a free, monthly concert series titled New Music Chicago Presents that showcases the diversity and creativity of its members. In partnership with the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), New Music Chicago will take place from 12:00 to 12:45 pm on the third Thursday of each month in the Claudia Cassidy Theater of the Chicago Cultural Center. Admission is free. All lead performers are members of New Music Chicago.
Curated by flutist and New Music Chicago member Jennie Oh Brown, the New Music Chicago Presents series will bring a new body of repertoire and innovative performances to the Chicago Cultural Center while also exposing new audiences to the world-class new music being created among Chicago musicians.
Of the opportunity, Brown says, “The musicians of New Music Chicago are thrilled to partner with the Chicago Cultural Center to present this ongoing monthly concert series of contemporary classical music. The success of Ear Taxi Festival 2016 showed that Chicago audiences are interested in hearing what’s new. New Music Chicago Presents will feature repertoire written since 2000 by living composers.”
Read a preview article in the Chicago Tribune here.
February 21, 2019
12:00pm
Music of Marc Mellits
Marc Mellits, composer
Composer Marc Mellits is one of the leading American composers of his generation, enjoying hundreds of performances throughout the world every year, making him one of the most performed living composers in the United States. From Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, to prestigious music festivals in Europe and the US, Mellits’ music is a constant mainstay on programs throughout the world.
March 21, 2019
12:00pm
The L+M Duo
Marianne Parker, piano
Laurel Black, marimba
The L+M Duo presents a newly commissioned work by composer Jay Derderian.
April 18, 2019
12:00pm
Art and Music
Picosa
Picosa presents “Art and Music” presenting contemporary works by Florent Ghys, Tanner Cassidy, Seth Boustead, Jonathon Kirk, and Shulamit Ran.
May 16, 2019
12:00pm
Love Wounds
Chicago Fringe Opera
Love Wounds is an immersive collaborative experience with guests Latitude 49. It is a theatrical rendering of music for voice and chamber ensemble by composer Christopher Cerrone.
June 20, 2019
12:00pm
Blackbird Creative Lab Alumni Present a Sneak Peak at Make (New) Music Chicago
~Nois Saxophone Quartet founding member and Executive Director Brandon Quarles, Make Music Chicago Artistic Director Kuang-Hao Huang, and members of Eighth Blackbird will host a concert of new music that will later be featured during the city wide festival, Make Music Chicago.
July 18, 2019
12:00pm
Divine Epigrams
Steven Rice, composer
Composer Steven Rice created a cantata from Richard Crashaw’s poetry and will perform songs from this collection with guest Heike Burghart Rice, piano.
August 15, 2019
12:00pm
New Music for Old Instruments
Leighann Daihl Ragusa, traverso
Chicago based musicians Leighann Daihl Ragusa (baroque flute d’amour) and guests Charles Metz (harpsichord) and Josefien Stoppelenburg (soprano) present contemporary music for period instruments commonly found in the baroque era by Chicago composer, Eric Malmquist (b. 1985).
September 5, 2019*
12:00pm
Gaudete Brass
*THIS IS NOT A THIRD THURSDAY
Gaudete Brass presents a collection of works written for brass quintet with ties to Chicago, including a world premiere.
October 31, 2019*
12:00pm
Spooktacular!
Lakeshore Rush
*THIS IS NOT A THIRD THURSDAY
Join Lakeshore Rush in the magnificent Chicago Cultural Center’s Claudia Cassidy Theater!
Program:
Marcos Balter – Ignis Fatuus
Seth Boustead – Three for Zhou
Amos Gillespie – Musics and Of Nature’s Palette
Pierre Jalbert – Triple Set
Bill Ryan – Blurred
November 21, 2019
12:00pm
American Cello Music
Wurtz-Berger Duo
Solo and duo works for cello and piano by contemporary American composers.
December 19, 2019
12:00pm
Contemporary Music for Flutes and Piano
James Donahue, flute
Young-Hee Park, piano
Committed to the commissioning of new works, James Donahue presents a program with guest Young-Hee Park, piano.
- Timothy McCormack: Hammara Pilvi
- Toshio Hosokawa: Lied
- Ata Ghavidel: The Shadow
- Xingzimin Pan: Kaidan
- Kevin Clark: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
- Amanda Harberg: Court Dances