“Program highlights of the Chicago Sinfonietta’s 2016-17 season include rare silent films from Chicago Film Archives, the ‘Ode to Joy’ finale of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony … and concerts honoring LGBTQ artists and composers,” writes John von Rhein in Tuesday’s (5/3) Chicago Tribune. “The annual ‘Dia de los Muertes’ concert … will include Mussorgsky’s ‘Night on Bald Mountain’ and Saint-Saëns’ ‘Danse Macabre,’ accompanied by 1920s silent films…. The Roosevelt University Conservatory Choir and young musicians from Chicago-area music schools and ensembles will join [Music Director Mei-Ann] Chen for the orchestra’s annual tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Jan. 14-16. The choral finale to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 will share the program with Vaughan Williams’ ‘Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis’ and a Vivaldi concerto for four violins and cello…. March 25 and 27 concerts … shine a light on LGBTQ composers and musicians. Soloists Sara Davis Buechner, piano, and the Allegrezza Singers will perform music by [Leonard] Bernstein, Jennifer Higdon, David Conte and others. Chen will lead the all-American season finale, May 12 and 15, which will set a suite from Scott Joplin’s ‘Treemonisha’ alongside Gershwin’s ‘An American in Paris’ and the Marcus Roberts Trio’s jazzy spin on ‘Rhapsody in Blue.’ ”
Posted May 9, 2016