ShowBiz Chicago » Dance News

Joffrey Announces 2010-2011 Season

Alissa Norby — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:55:16 +0000

Ashley C. Wheater, Artistic Director of The Joffrey Ballet, is proud to announce the Company’s 2010-2011 season, which will launch with a mixed repertory program of Company Premieres by iconic New York choreographers George Balanchine and Christopher Wheeldon, October 13-24, 2010, followed by the timeless holiday classic, Robert Joffrey’s The Nutcracker, December 11-26, 2010. In the new year, The Joffrey revives a Chicago favorite, John Cranko’s romantic comedy ballet The Taming of the Shrew, February 16-27, 2011, and culminates the season with a second mixed repertory program showcasing two World Premieres, by Edwaard Liang and Yuri Possokhov, May 4-15, 2011.

Continuing in The Joffrey Ballet’s mission to provide the highest level of performance quality, the season will feature live orchestral accompaniment by the Chicago Sinfonietta, the official orchestra of The Joffrey Ballet. All performances will take place in The Joffrey’s home venue, the historic Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, in downtown Chicago at 50 East Congress Parkway.

“The Joffrey’s next season promises to be an intriguing array of dance,” noted Wheater. “We’ll salute the contributions of 20th century, New York masters in the fall, and introduce works by the next generation in the spring, with two full-length story ballets in between. Throughout the season we balance established and rising talent, mixed rep and evening-length ballets, contemporary and traditional. There’s something for both the dance aficionado and the dance novice, and everyone in between.”

The Joffrey Ballet’s 2010-2011 Season opens with a mixed repertory program of Company Premieres, highlighting 20th century New York icons. The program will include Christopher Wheeldon’s emotionally resonant After the Rain (2005). Set to the minimalist, classical music of Arvo Pärt, After the Rain is in two sections that are strikingly different in tone, with the first section marked by steel gray costumes and backdrop with three couples creating bold lines and intricate lifts. The second section shifts to a warmer palette as dancers embody an emotional relationship, at times becoming tender and connected while at other times pulling away or struggling to find each other. The bill will also offer George Balanchine’s Stravinsky Violin Concerto, which was revised in 1972 from a previous choreographic endeavor titled Balustrade that premiered in 1941. Using the opening “Toccata,” two central “Arias” and the final “Capriccio” from Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto in D, Balanchine forms contrasting pas de deux for two different couples. Dancers resemble musical notes floating over the stage in Balanchine’s sensual and saucy homage to the genius of Igor Stravinksy. The fall program will include a third piece, to be announced at a later date. This program will be presented October 13 – 24, 2010.

America’s #1 Nutcracker and Chicagoland’s most popular holiday tradition, Robert Joffrey’s production of The Nutcracker will again transform the Auditorium Theatre into a winter wonderland, complete with magical toys, dancing snowflakes and exotic sweets. The Tchaikovsky masterpiece, featuring the full Joffrey Company, local children’s choruses and more than 120 young dancers, will be presented in seventeen performances, December 11 – 26, 2010.

In February 2011, The Joffrey Ballet revisits the popular The Taming of the Shrew, last performed by The Joffrey in 2002. John Cranko’s world-renowned ballet adaptation of William Shakespeare’s classic story is a romantic comedy about the trials of finding balance in love. With music by Kurt-Heinz Stolze and Domenico Scarletti, The Taming of the Shrew depicts the boastful Petruchio as he attempts to tame the strong-willed Katherine. When it originally premiered at the Stuttgart Ballet in 1969, Cranko’s translation re-defined narrative ballet through witty and subtle choreography that brought the characters and their foils vividly to life. The Joffrey will revive this two-act ballet February 16 – 27, 2011.

The 2010-2011 Season concludes with a mixed repertory program featuring two World Premieres, by Edwaard Liang and Yuri Possokhov. A former soloist for New York City Ballet, Liang’s first work for The Joffrey, The Age of Innocence, premiered in the fall of 2008 and was met with critical and audience acclaim. His theatrical work paired 19th century romanticism with athletic prowess and a contemporary sensibility. Possokhov, a former dancer for the Bolshoi Ballet, the Royal Danish Ballet, and a principal dancer and choreographer for the San Francisco Ballet, has made a name for himself as an austere and charismatic dancer and a bold, innovative choreographer. The Joffrey Ballet is proud to commission these new works, being performed May 4 – 15, 2011.

For more information about The Joffrey Ballet and current productions please call 312-739-0120 or visit joffrey.org.

Pop the Champagne: DANCE KALEIDOSCOPE Joins ISO for a Special New Year’s Eve in Vienna Concert

Alissa Norby — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 21:01:25 +0000

The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra will be joined by Associate Conductor Sean Newhouse, soprano Jacqueline Brecheen and Dance Kaleidoscope to ring in the New Year with an exciting program featuring many familiar and popular Viennese Strauss family waltzes, polkas, and arias in one concert only Thursday, December 31, at 9 p.m. at the Hilbert Circle Theatre.

Tickets may be purchased by calling (317) 639-4300 or toll free (800) 366-8457, going online at www.IndianapolisSymphony.org or in person at the Hilbert Circle Theatre Box Office.

This colorful program, performed in the long-time Viennese New Year’s tradition, Will feature many of the Strauss family waltzes, polkas and arias, including the Tales from the Vienna Woods, Emperor, Sphärenklänge, and On the Beautiful Blue Danube Waltzes, plus the Thunder and Lightning and Tritsch Tratsch Polkas. The superb artistry of Dance Kaleidoscope, under the artistic direction of David Hochoy, will be showcased n the Sphärenklänge and Emperor Waltzes and the Tritsch Tratsch Polka. Also featured will be arias such as “Vilia” from Franz Lehar’s The Merry Widow, plus “Adele’s Laughing Song” and the “Audition Song” from Die Fledermaus that will be performed by soprano Jacqueline Brecheen, plus the popular Radetzky March and the traditional “Auld Lang Syne” to ring in the New Year.

Following the performance, the audience is invited to attend a party in the Hilbert Circle Theatre lobby that will include a champagne toast, cash bar, light hors d’oeuvres and dancing to the music of the Paul Berns Band.

WELCOME THE NEW YEAR WITH MUSIC AND DANCE AT THE HARRIS THEATER THIS JANUARY 2010

Alissa Norby — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:01:44 +0000

The Harris Theater for Music and Dance will open the second decade of the Twenty-first Century with a month full of exciting and eclectic music and dance performances this January 2010. Highlights include the highly anticipated returns of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo and Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan; the annual Contempo Double-Bill engagement featuring Grammy Award-winning Harris Theater resident company eighth blackbird along with jazz musicians Kenny Werner and Chris Potter, and a performance by The Chicago Jazz Ensemble, celebrating Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. Rounding out the month is the Harris Theater Family Series “DJ Beethoven” engagement featuring a brand-new program by the New Millennium Orchestra!

Tickets for these performances are on-sale and 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 information for the month of January at the Harris Theater is as follows:

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: $25, $40

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.

Shawn Brogan Allison Towards the Flame

Bernard Rands now again – fragments from Sappho

Kurt Weill September Song

Yu-Hui Chang Binge Delirium for solo percussion

Set with Chris Potter, saxophone, and Kenny Werner, piano

The Dance Center of Columbia College presents

Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan

Moon Water

Friday, January 22 and Saturday, January 23, 2010, 8:00 pm

Tickets: $30 – $65

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.”

UIC Department of Surgery presents

Barbara Frittoli
Sunday, January 24, 2010, 3:00 pm

Tickets: $50 – $500; Student and UIC Staff discounts available

Barbara Frittoli will join Members of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, led by conductor Mattia Rondelli for this exciting fundraising event for the University of Illinois at Chicago Department of Surgery. The program includes Beethoven Seventh Symphony and Berlioz Les Nuiz d’Ete for soprano and orchestra. This special event will use the fine art of music to raise funds for the special art of robotic surgery under the direction of Dr. Pier Cristoforo Giulianotti. Originally from Italy, Dr. Giulianotti moved to Chicago two years ago to advance the art of robotic surgery, and now is the director of robotic surgery at UIC. Dr. Giulianotti has performed over 2,100 minimally invasive surgeries with over 1,000 robotic procedures.

As a classical pianist and the world’s premiere robotic surgeon, Dr. Giulianotti has sought to unite these two worlds by creating a new organization,” The Art of Healing, The Art of Music”. He emphasizes “Surgery helps the body while opera soothes the soul”.

Platinum $500 Tickets: A portion of the proceeds of this purchase will fund the Robotic Surgery Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Your donation is tax deductible to the full extent of the law. Platinum ticket holders are invited to a private pre and post concert reception, meet and greet with Barbara Frittoli, and will hold premiere seating.

Gold $250 Tickets: A portion of the proceeds of this purchase will fund the Robotic Surgery Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Your donation is tax deductible to the full extent of the law. Gold ticket holders are invited to a private pre concert reception and will hold preferred seating.

Harris Theater presents

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo

Wednesday, January 27, 2010, 7:30 pm

Tickets: $45 – $75

Following an appearance in the UK, including a performance in celebration of the 80^th 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.

Judith Neisser is the Presenting Sponsor of the Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo engagement.

Swan Lake- Act II (Le Lac Des Cygnes)
Patterns in Space
La Vivandiere
Majisimas

Old Town School of Folk Music presents

Rosanne Cash

January 29 2010 at 8:00 PM

Tickets: $42, $45

Johnny Cash’s daughter has held her own since she ventured into the country music scene in the late ’70s. With what Rolling Stone calls “a voice that floats like smoke,” plus an ability to “belt it out,” the Grammy Award-winning Rosanne Cash has topped Billboard’s charts and earned acclaim for both country and crossover songs. With the recent release of “The List,” a celebrated new album of 12 covers culled from a list of 100 essential country songs her father gave her in 1973, Cash collaborates with Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Rufus Wainwright and Wilco. New country fans and traditionalists alike tip their hats to this star in her own right. Radio sponsor for Rosanne Cash is WXRT.

Harris Theater Family Series presents

New Millennium Orchestra

DJ Beethoven

Saturday, January 30, 2010 at 1 pm

Tickets: $10

Join Francesco Milioto and the New Millennium Orchestra on a fresh, urban electronic musical journey to the opera house and cinema, then on to a jazz club and underground lounge and discover a brand new way to look at music and musicians! In its inaugural presentation, DJ Beethoven will enlighten audiences as to how the orchestra and its musicians have burst out of the concert hall and now can be found in everyday places – including a DJ’s turntable! – influencing every genre of music.

The Slusar-Goldman Family is the Lead Sponsor of the DJ Beethoven family series performance.

* * *

All programs, prices and dates are subject to change.

* * *

Opened in 2003, the Harris Theater’s mission is to partner and collaborate with an array of Chicago’s emerging and mid-sized performing arts organizations to help them build the resources and infrastructure necessary to achieve artistic growth and long-term organizational sustainability. The Harris Theater for Music and Dance was the first multi-use performing arts venue to be built in the Chicago downtown area since 1929 and today the Theater continues to host the most diverse offerings of any venue in Chicago, featuring the city’s world-renowned music and dance institutions and the Harris Theater Presents series of acclaimed national and international companies. To learn more about the season at the Harris Theater, visit www.harristheaterchicago.org or call the box office at 312-334-7777 to request a brochure.

For additional information about the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, Chicago’s state-of-the art 1,470 seat performance venue, please visit www.harristheaterchicago.org.

For high-res images please contact Betsy Shea, Harris Theater for Music and Dance at 312.334.2459 or bshea@harristheaterchicago.org.

The Harris Theater is pleased to announce that UBS is serving as the 2009-2010 Season Sponsor.

The Harris Theater gratefully acknowledges the Irving Harris Foundation for its leadership support of the Presenting Fund.

United Airlines is the Official Airline of the Harris Theater.

Judith Neisser is the Presenting Sponsor of the Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo engagement.

The Slusar-Goldman Family is the Lead Sponsor of the DJ Beethoven family series performance.

Windy City Media Group is the Media Partner for the Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo engagement.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is the Lead Underwriter of the Harris Theater’s Rental Subsidy Program.

The Harris Theater gratefully acknowledges The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s support of the theater’s collaborative partnerships.

The Harris Theater is partially supported by the CityArts Program 4 grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Comes To Center For Performing Arts at Governors State University Jan. 23rd

Alissa Norby — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 21:54:27 +0000

The Center for Performing Arts at Governors State University (1 University Parkway, University Park, IL 60484) proudly presents the triumphant return to its stage, for the first time since 2001, of Chicago’s celebrated international dance company Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC) for one night only, Saturday, Jan. 23 at 8 p.m. Tickets are now on sale. Following the performance, HSDC artistic staff will be available for a free post-show question and answer session with the audience in Governors State University’s Engbretson Hall.

Founded by Lou Conte in 1977 and currently under the artistic direction of Glenn Edgerton, HSDC’s ensemble of dancers from around the world displays unparalleled versatility and virtuosity. HSDC has achieved a reputation that has allowed it to expand its eclectic repertoire with works by master American and international choreographers.

HSDC is critically acclaimed for its exuberant, athletic and innovative repertoire, and for performances that inspire, challenge and engage audiences worldwide. In a review of the company’s Fall 2009 engagement at the Harris Theater, Hedy Weiss of the Chicago Sun-Times raved that HSDC “is dancing at the very peak of its powers at the moment. And its superbly paced mixed bill…is thrilling.” For their performance at The Center, HSDC will perform the HSDC debut of 27’52” by Nederlands Dans Theater Resident Choreographer Jiøí Kylián; a preview of a new piece (as yet untitled) choreographed by HSDC Dancer Terence Marling; and “Walking Mad” by Johan Inger.

Jirí Kylián was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1947, and started his dance training at the ballet school of the Prague National Theatre at the age of nine. In 1973, he created his first work for the Nederlands Dans Theater, where he became artistic director in 1975 until 1999 and is currently resident choreographer and artistic advisor. Kylián has choreographed 66 works for NDT including Sinfonietta, Sechs Tänze, Kaguyahime and Arcimboldo. His works have been staged by more than 40 companies around the world, such as American Ballet Theater, Royal Danish Ballet, Tokyo Ballet, The Australian Ballet and National Ballet of Canada.

Terence Marling began his ballet training in 1982 at the Ruth Page School of Dance in Chicago, under the direction of Larry Long. In 1994, he joined the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater directed by Patricia Wilde, where he performed leading roles in “Don Quixote,” Balanchine’s “Rubies,” Ohad Naharin’s “Tabula Rasa,” and Jirí Kylián’s “Return to the Strange Land,” among others. In 2003, Marling joined the Nationaltheater Mannheim in Germany, where he participated in the creation of 10 works. He joined HSDC in April 2006 and continues to choreograph and teach in his spare time.

Johan Inger was born in Stockholm and educated at the Royal Swedish Ballet School and at the National Ballet School in Canada. In 1985 he joined the Royal Swedish Ballet, where in 1989 he became a soloist. In 1990 Inger joined Nederlands Dans Theater, where he was a high-profile dancer until 2002. His official breakthrough as a choreographer came with “Mellantid” (Swedish for “In Between Time”), his first commissioned work for Nederlands Dans Theater II, as part of the 1995 Holland Dance Festival. “Mellantid” was followed by several creations for Nederlands Dans Theater I, II and III. In July 2003, Inger took over the artistic management of the Cullberg Ballet and directed the company for five years. He is currently focused exclusively on his choreography.

Single Ticket and Subscription Information

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago comes to The Center for Performing Arts at Governors State University Saturday, Jan. 23 at 8 p.m. Single tickets and subscriptions for the Center’s 15^th Anniversary 2009-2010 Season are currently on sale. Single tickets range in price from $33 – $53. For subscription and single ticket information call The Center’s friendly Box Office staff at (708) 235-2222 or visit www.centertickets.net. Buy one, get one free tickets are available at the box office two hours prior to curtain for one hour only, based upon availability. For group ticket (parties of 20 or more) information, call (800) 386-6321. The Center is located at 1 University Parkway (Governors Highway and University Parkway), 45 minutes south of the Loop, off I-57 at Sauk Trail. Parking is free.

About The Center for Performing Arts at Governors State University

The Center for Performing Arts at Governors State University, located at 1 University Parkway, University Park, IL 60484, is celebrating 15 years of enhancing the cultural landscape of the Chicago Southland. The Center’s mission is to present the finest in world-class performing arts entertainment to the citizens of the Chicago Southland at affordable prices. The Center also offers an extensive Arts in Education program for area schools, that during the 2008-2009 season reached more than 40,000 children.

The Center is the result of the vision of community leaders and philanthropists who saw a need for cultural enrichment in a community where there was none. These leaders understand that culture and the arts serve to inspire members of the community, educate youth and bring a diverse community together under one roof to share artistic experiences. It is in this world that artists connect to the audiences and audiences to each other, as they all share the same experience.

For more information about programming, volunteer, donor and sponsorship opportunities, call The Center at

(708) 235-2222 or visit centertickets.net

about Hubbard Street Dance Chicago

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC), under the artistic leadership of newly announced artistic director Glenn Edgerton, celebrates over 30 years as one of the most original forces in contemporary dance. Critically acclaimed for its exuberant, athletic and innovative repertoire, HSDC presents performances that inspire, challenge and engage audiences worldwide. The company’s ensemble of dancers displays unparalleled versatility and virtuosity, allowing HSDC to expand its eclectic repertoire with works by master American and international choreographers. HSDC also contributes to dance’s evolution by developing new choreographic talent and collaborating with artists in music, visual art and theatre. Since Lou Conte founded the company in 1977, HSDC has expanded beyond its main company to include Hubbard Street 2, which cultivates young professional dancers and choreographers, serves as the foundation of HSDC’s education initiatives and performs nationally and internationally with a diverse and engaging repertoire; extensive Education & Community Programs which offer city- and state-accredited professional development for teachers to incorporate movement into curriculums and expose young people to dance; and the Lou Conte Dance Studio, which offers a wide variety of classes weekly in jazz, ballet, modern, tap, African, hip-hop and Pilates at levels from basic to professional, as well as workshops and master classes.

All programming is subject to change. For information, visit hubbardstreetdance.com.

Homer Bryant’s Biopic “Raising The Barre-The Homer Bryant Story” Airs Tonight On WTTW At 10pm

Alissa Norby — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:22:31 +0000

A profile of Homer Hans Bryant, founder

and artistic director of the Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center. Bryant, a choreographer and onetime Dance Theatre of Harlem principal dancer, is a firm—but not stern—taskmaster to the youth he teaches. “The fun is in the discipline,” he frequently says, “and the discipline is in the fun.”

ShowBiz Chicago Podcast with Homer

Bryant.

The Harris Theater Presents The Winter/Spring 2010 Season

Alissa Norby — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:20:43 +0000

Continuing the momentum and building on the critical success of its fall 2009 season, the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park will present a winter/spring 2010 season of impressive and diverse performances by the city’s most acclaimed music and dance institutions as well as world-renowned national and International Artists and ensembles through its Harris Theater Presents series.

The schedule for the Harris Theater winter/spring 2010 season includes a variety of acclaimed Chicago favorites, Chicago premieres and engagements with individuals and organizations that are seldom seen in Chicago. Joining such popular and acclaimed Chicago institutions as River North Chicago Dance Company, Music of the Baroque, eighth blackbird, Fulcrum Point New Music Project, Chicago Opera Theater and Chicago Jazz Ensemble is highly anticipated return of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan; the introduction of the Harris Theater’s Broadway Luminaries series, including engagements with composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheimand Chicago area native Christine Ebersole; the annual Contempo Double-Bill, featuring eighth blackbird and jazz musicians Kenny Werner and Chris Potter; classical guitarist Sharon Isbin and violinist Mark O’Connor; The Magnetic Fields; and the conclusion of the Harris’ new Eat to the Beat $5.00 lunchtime dance series.

The Harris Theater is pleased to share that UBS is serving as the 2009-2010 Season Sponsor. The Harris Theater’s 2009-2010 season has been made possible with support from United Airlines, the Harris Theater’s Official Airline. Judith Neisser is the Presenting Sponsor of the Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo engagement; the Irving Harris Foundation is the Presenting Sponsor of the Sharon Isbin and Mark O’Connor engagement; the Feitler Family Fund is the Presenting Sponsor of the Stephen Sondheim engagement; BlueCross Blue Shield of Illinois is the Lead Corporate Sponsor of the Christine Ebersole engagement; Lori Gray Faversham and Family is the Lead Sponsor of the Cross that River family series performance; The Slusar-Goldman Family is the Lead Sponsor of the DJ Beethoven family series performance. Windy City Media Group is the Media Partner for the Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, Sharon Isbin and Mark O’Connor, Stephen Sondheim and Christine Ebersole engagements. The Harris Theater gratefully acknowledges the Irving Harris Foundation for its leadership support of the Presenting Fund. Rental subsidies for select user groups have been provided by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Lead Underwriter of the Harris Theater’s Rental Subsidy Program. Additionally, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has provided support for collaborative partnerships with the Harris Theater to the following arts and cultural organizations: Alianza de las Artes Puertorriquenas, Chicago Opera Theater, eighth blackbird, Fulcrum Point New Music Project, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Luna Negra Dance Theater, Music of the Baroque and Urban Gateways. All performances are on The Elizabeth Morse Genius Stage.

Tickets to all Harris Theater performances 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 information for the Harris Theater’s 2010 winter/spring season is as follows:

Classical Music

Music of the Baroque
“Glover Conducts Mozart-The Requiem”
Friday, February 5, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $30 – $75

Jane Glover, conductor
Music of the Baroque Chorus and Orchestra
Arianna Zukerman, soprano
Phyllis Pancella, mezzo-soprano
Scott Ramsay, tenor
Stephen Morscheck, bass

Mozart’s great Requiem Mass under Jane Glover’s baton is an extraordinary musical experience. Mozart’s Symphony No. 29 is also on the program.

W. A. MOZART Symphony No. 29 in A Major
Requiem

Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts Symphony Orchestra
Tuesday, February 9, 7:30 pm
Tickets: FREE

Stephen Squires, conductor
Featuring Student Solo Competition Winners Katie Ventura, harp; Leila Bowie, soprano; Marta Botelho-Vieira, violin

Ravel Introduction and Allegro
Respighi Dieta silvane
Sarasate Zigeunerweisen
Bartók Concerto for Orchestra

Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts Symphony Orchestra presents its annual series of free concerts featuring some of the school’s most gifted performers and world-renowned faculty.

Music of the Baroque
“Handel and the Royals”
Monday, March 1, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $30 – $75

Jane Glover, conductor
Music of the Baroque Chorus and Orchestra
Christine Brandes, soprano
Daniel Taylor, countertenor
Nicholas Phan, tenor
Neal Davies, bass-baritone

The superb Music of the Baroque chorus shines in brilliant, rarely heard works
written for important occasions at court.

HANDEL Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline,
“The ways of Zion do Mourn”
Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne, “Eternal source of light divine”
Anthem for the Wedding of Prince Frederick and Princess Augusta of
Saxe-Coburg, “Sing unto God”

Harris Theater Presents
Sharon Isbin and Mark O’Connor
Saturday, March 6, 2010, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $45 – $75

Grammy Award-winning classical guitarist Sharon Isbin and virtuoso violinist Mark O’Connor will make their Chicago premiere performing together as duo recitalists in a program highlighting Sharon’s new release on Sony Classical, Journey to the New World, a voyage in song from the British Isles to the New World. The disc features the world premiere of O’Connor’s folk-inspired Strings & Threads Suite for violin and guitar and the Joan Baez Suite by John Duarte for solo guitar, both of which will be performed as part of Sharon and Mark’s debut at the Harris.

Acclaimed for her lyricism and technique, Sharon Isbin is considered “the preeminent guitarist of our time.” Her catalogue of more than 25 recordings – spanning Baroque, Spanish/Latin to jazz-fusion – reflect her versatility and ability to expand the guitar repertoire with some of the finest new works of the century. Sharon last performed in Chicago with the Grant Park Music Festival in 2006. Fresh off the release of the critically acclaimed world premiere recording of his most ambitious work yet, the six-movement “Americana Symphony” (performed by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under conductor Marin Alsop), Mark O’Connor is on the rise and considered one of the most talented and imaginative artists working in music today. A product of America’s rich aural folk tradition as well as classical and flamenco music, O’Connor has melded and shaped these influences into a new American Classical music, and a vision of an entirely American school of string playing.

The Irving Harris Foundation is the Presenting Sponsor of the Sharon Isbin and Mark O’Connor engagement.

Asturias Isaac Albeniz
(transcribed by Andrés Segovia) (1860-1909)

Recuerdos de la Alhambra Francisco Tárrega
(1852-1909)

Andecy Andrew York (b.1958)

Waltz Opus 8, #4 Agustin Barrios Mangoré
(1885-1944)
Sharon Isbin, guitar

Selections to be announced from the stage
Mark O’Connor, violin

Joan Baez Suite, Opus 144 (2002) John Duarte (b. 1919)
(written for Sharon Isbin — Commissioned by the Augustine Foundation)
Sharon Isbin, guitar

Selections to be announced from the stage
Mark O’Connor, violin

Strings & Threads Suite Mark O’Connor (b. 1961)
Violin & Guitar adaptation written for Sharon Isbin 2006
Mark O’Connor, violin/Sharon Isbin, guitar

Harris Theater and Bella Voce Chamber Choir Present
Monteverdi Vespers of 1610 – The 400th Anniversary
Monday, March 29, 2010, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $35

Hear one of Western music’s most celebrated masterworks when Bella Voce Chamber Choir performs the Monteverdi Vespers of 1610 with Rachel Barton Pine. A collection of sacred pieces demonstrating Monteverdi’s mastery of composition and religion, the Vespers of 1610 elegantly and seamlessly combines the prevalent compositional styles of the day into one of the most intricate and beautiful tapestries of celestial sound. Join Bella Voce Chamber Choir as they celebrate the 400th anniversary of this joyous and majestic work.

Claudio Monteverdi Vespro della Beata Virgine (1610)

Music of the Baroque
“Double Play-Bach, Mozart, Haydn”
Wednesday, March 31, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $30 – $75

Jane Glover, conductor
Music of the Baroque Orchestra
Robert Waters, violin
Robert Morgan, oboe
Mary Stolper, flute
Alison Attar, harp

Virtuoso principal players take center stage for a program that includes Bach’s concerto for violin and oboe, and Mozart’s concerto for flute and harp.

J. S. Bach Concerto for violin and oboe
W. A. MOZART Concerto for flute and harp
HAYDN Symphony No. 6 in D Major (Le Matin)
Symphony No. 87 in A Major

Harris Theater Presents
Lang Lang, piano
Christoph Eschenbach, conductor
Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra
Sunday, April 11, 2010, 3:00 pm
Tickets: $45 – $95

Hailed by The New York Times as “the hottest artist on the classical music planet,” Lang Lang will perform an impressive two concerto program at the Harris under the baton of his mentor Maestro Christoph Eschenbach with the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra (SHFO), one of the finest youth orchestras in the world. The challenging program for Lang Lang’s debut at the Harris and the Chicago premiere of SHFO includes Mozart’s Piano concerto No. 17 and Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1 and Piano Concerto No. 3.

Beethoven “Leonora No. 3″ Overture, Op. 72a

Mozart Piano concerto No. 17 in G Major, K. 453

Prokofiev Symphony No. 1 (Classique) in D Major, Op. 25

Prokofiev Piano concerto No. 3 in C Major, Op. 26

Music of the Baroque
“Gloriously Baroque-Telemann and Bach”
Friday, May 7, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $30 – $75

Nicholas Kraemer, conductor
Music of the Baroque Orchestra and Chorus
Suzie LeBlanc, soprano
Colin Ainsworth, tenor
Sanford Sylvan, bass-baritone

The concert season concludes with dramatic cantatas by J. S. Bach, plus the Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 and music by Telemann.

J. S. Bach Cantata No. 50, “Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft”
Cantata No. 130, “Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir”
Cantata No. 19, “Es erhub sich ein streit”
Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F major
TELEMANN Suite in D Minor for three oboes, bassoon, and strings

Jazz

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, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $15 – $45

The Chicago Jazz Ensemble performs Duke Ellington favorites from The CJE’s library and special Jon Faddis Jazz Orchestra of New York arrangements of Armstrong classics, including “What A Wonderful World,” “Swing that Music,” and “Stardust.” This concert officially kicks off the third annual Louis Armstrong Legacy Program and Celebration (LALPC), The CJE’s educational initiative for students in Chicago Public Schools.

Double-Bill: Where Jazz and Contemporary Music Intersect
Presented by Harris Theater and Contempo
featuring
Cliff Colnot, conductor
Susanne Mentzer, mezzo soprano
eighth blackbird
Chris Potter, saxophones
Kenny Werner, piano
Saturday, January 16, 2010, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $25 for students, $40

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.

Shawn Brogan Allison Towards the Flame

Bernard Rands now again – fragments from Sappho

Kurt Weill September Song

Yu-Hui Chang Binge Delirium for solo percussion

Set with Chris Potter, saxophone, and Kenny Werner, piano

The Chicago Jazz Ensemble with Artistic Director Jon Faddis
“The Chicago Jazz Ensemble Past, Present, and Future”
with special guests Alioune Faye on sabor and Baba Faye on djembe
Wednesday, March 5, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $15 – $45

Join The Chicago Jazz Ensemble for an exploration of Jazz: Past, Present and Future, the American premier of Jon Faddis’ “Teranga” compositions (from his critically-acclaimed album) arranged for big band by Michael Philip Mossman. The concert also features Slide Hampton’s “Africa” (music commissioned in 2004-2005 by The CJE for Mr. Faddis’ first season as Artistic Director) and arrangements by The CJE’s founder, William Russo. Special guests on “Teranga” and “Africa” include Alioune Faye on djembe and Baba Faye on sabar. Dana Hall, The CJE’s Music Director and drummer, also will be featured.

New/Popular/Country Music

The Old Town School of Folk Music Presents
Rosanne Cash
Friday, January 29, 8:00 pm
Tickets: $42, $45

Public on-sale is Wednesday, December 16 at 12:00 pm.

The Old Town School of Folk Music Presents
The Magnetic Fields
Sunday, March 7, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $30, $35

The Magnetic Fields are the music and brainchild of New York songwriter-producer-instrumentalistStephin Merritt, whose dramatic musical tales are often compared to those of Irving Berlin andCole Porter. SPIN gives him 10 out of 10; Rolling Stone described his songwriting as “gorgeous;” and The New York Times hailed his work as “genius.”

MusicNOW
Musicians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Monday, March 15, 8:00 pm
Tickets: $20, $10 for students

J. Lawrie Bloom, clarinet
Michael Ward-Bergeman, hyper-accordion

JOHN LUTHER ADAMS Qilyaun
OSVALDO GOLIJOV Postlude from The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind
JOHN LUTHER ADAMS for Jim (rising)
Michael Ward-BERGEMAN/Golijov Patagonia
JOHN LUTHER ADAMS …and bells remembered…
OSVALDO GOLIJOV Tekyah

The 2009-2010 MusicNOW season concludes with music by CSO Mead Composer-in-Residence Osvaldo Golijov, John Luther Adams and Michael Ward-Bergeman. John Luther Adams has been deeply influenced by the Alaskan geography and culture-his music reflects the musical traditions of indigenous peoples and evokes images of the northern landscape. Adams’ experience as a percussionist is manifest by the rhythmic complexity of his compositions and their use of Inuit drumming techniques. Featured on this concert are Adams’ “Qilyaun,” for four bass drums; “for Jim (rising),” for trumpet-trombone sextet; and “…and bells remembered…,” for five percussionists. Sharing the bill are Golijov’s “Tekyah,” for klezmer clarinet, hyper-accordion, horns, trumpets, trombones and shofars; the Postlude from Golijov’s klezmer string quartet with solo clarinet, “The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind”; and “Patagonia,” written for hyper-accordion by Michael Ward-Bergeman, who also appears as soloist, and arranged by Golijov to include string quartet.

Fulcrum Point New Music Project
Myths: Heroes and Demons: Legends of Urban, Latin and Native America
Tuesday, March 23, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $30; $15 for students and seniors

Myths grow stronger-and more meaningful-as cultures overlap, cross borders, dance together. Each of these pieces evokes the ancient power of storytelling through new, surprising juxtapositions. Indigenous Mexican tales are set in motion anew as Luna Negra Dance Theatre debuts a work to Paredes score. The spellbinding power of myths-the layers, the loss, the loves-provides The Common bond for four rappers’ reinvention of urban myths transformed in Woolf’s multimedia world premiere.

Evan Ziporyn Sulvasutra (2006)
Midwest premiere

David Dzubay Wintu Dream Song (2008)

David Dzubay Kukulkan II (2008)

Hilda Paredes óox;él ik’il t’aan (2007)
Stephen Burns, trumpet
American Premiere with World Premiere choreography by Luna Negra
Dance Theater

Randall Woolf Urban Legends – World Premiere
Based on the artistry of Rappers Tongo Eisen-Martin, Wordisbon, and Liza Jesse Peterson; Commissioned by Music Alive

eighth blackbird with Rinde Eckert and Steven Mackey
Slide
Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $30

Slide is both a poignant tale of human frailty and a work about the seduction and manipulation of the American psyche. This multi-media, multi-art form production features renowned collaboratorsRinde Eckert (director/actor) and Steve Mackey (composer/guitar) alongside eighth blackbird in a Chicago premiere.

Steven Mackey & Rinde Eckert Slide

Fulcrum Point New Music Project
Machines: Computers Come Alive!
Wednesday, May 19, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $30; $15 for students and seniors

Featuring turntable music by Music Alive composer-in-residence Randall Woolf, computer-driven Interactive Audiovisual Improvisation Environment and Performance Art by the Chicago Fluxus Ensemble led by Simon Anderson.

Tomi Räisänen Elevator Music on Mars (2003)
American Premiere

Christopher Burns Fabrications (2000) and Sawtooth (2009)
Chicago Premiere

Luciano Chessa Cinque Quadri da una città fantasma (2003)
For piano, slate board, and 3 turntables
Midwest Premiere

George Brecht For a drummer (Fluxversions 2,4,6,7) (1966)

Randall Woolf Blues for Black Hoodies (2008) for DJ turntablist and strings
Midwest Premiere

Broadway Luminaries

Harris Theater Presents
Stephen Sondheim
A Life In The Theater
Thursday, March 4, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $35 – $65

Marking a first-ever Harris Theater Presents dialogue and what promises to be an important moment of the 2009-2010 theater season in Chicago, composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheimwill offer a personal and engaging view of his life in the theatre and present a rare look into the mind of the most important artist to work in the American musical theater over the past half century. Sondheim, who will celebrate his 80th birthday on March 22, 2010, has not only collaborated on more than a dozen landmark shows and written countless standard songs but has also been the single most influential force in bringing the Broadway musical into the modern age.

During the live, unscripted conversation at the Harris, Stephen Sondheim and moderator Gary Griffin, Associate Artistic Director at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, will reminisce about his career including his collaborations with Leonard Bernstein, Jerome Robbins and Tim Burton; predecessors, including his mentor Oscar Hammerstein II; the state of American musical theater; the differences between film and theater; and, in a very personal series of reflections, his own creative process, speaking specifically on works ranging from his early shows Gypsy and West Side Story to such later classics as Company, Follies and Sweeney Todd. Following the conversation, Sondheim will conduct a Q&A with audience members.

This intimate dialogue program may be repeated with other noteworthy speakers in future seasons at the Harris.

The Feitler Family Fund is the Presenting Sponsor of the Stephen Sondheim engagement.

Harris Theater Presents
Christine Ebersole
An Evening with Christine Ebersole
Thursday, March 25, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $45 – $75

Having received virtually every Off-Broadway award and her second Tony Award for Leading Actress in a Musical for her “dual role of a lifetime” as Edie Beale and Little Edie Beale in Grey Gardens, and following a critically acclaimed cabaret engagement at New York’s Café Carlyle,Christine Ebersole will make her Harris Theater debut and present a unique line-up of Broadway show tunes and standards for this special performance at the Harris.

Noted by The New York Times as having “the voice of a nightingale,” Chicago native Christine Ebersole has enchanted audiences throughout her performing career, from the Broadway stage to cabaret performances, television series and specials, films, concert appearances, and recordings. Ms. Ebersole is currently starring in the Broadway revival of Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit as Elvira and this past fall she delighted audiences by participating in the Opening Night Gala of Carnegie Hall’s 118th Season. After making her debut with the Boston Pops two years ago, she returned to Boston’s Symphony Hall and Tanglewood last season to star as Desiree Armfeldt in a concert version of A Little Night Music with the Boston Pops.

BlueCross Blue Shield of Illinois is the Lead Corporate Sponsor of the Christine Ebersoleengagement.

Opera

Chicago Opera Theater
Gioacchino Rossini

MOSÈ IN EGITTO

April 17, 21, 23, 7:30pm; April 25,3pm

Tickets: Subscriptions (available now): $90 – $345; $45 – $105 student and youth (in sections B-D);
Single Tickets (available March 1, 2010): $30 – $120; $15 – $40 student and youth (in sections B-D)

Conductor: Leonardo Vordoni

Director: Andrew Eggert

THE BUZZ:
Opera lovers of Chicago were invited to choose an opera for performance by COT in 2010. Mosè in Egitto garnered the most votes-making it the People’s Opera Winner!

THE HISTORY:
There has only been one performance of Mosè in Egitto in Chicago – in 1863 at the McVicker’s Theatre on Madison and State. Be part of this historic second performance in Chicago, when COT presents the U.S. premiere of top Rossini scholar Philip Gossett’s new edition of the opera.

THE HIGHLIGHT:
Yes, you’ll see Moses part the Red Sea. But you’ll also hear what some consider Rossini’s most beautiful music in “Dal tuo stellato soglio” (“From Thy starry throne”) sung by Andrea Concetti as Mosè, Manuela Bisceglie as Elcia, and supported by a chorus of 20 young singers playing the Hebrews and Egyptians.

(Sung in Italian with English supertitles).

Chicago Opera Theater
Francesco Cavalli

GIASONE

April 24, 28, 30, 7:30pm; May 2, 3pm

Conductor: Christian Curnyn

Director: Justin Way

THE CHARM:
Cavalli cleverly mixed the myth of Jason and the Argonauts with bawdy humor, breaking all the operatic rules of the day. The result: Giasone became the most popular opera of the 17th century!

THE CHOICE:
Despite its stature in the operatic repertoire, this is the first time Giasone will be performed in Chicago by a professional opera company. Chicago Opera Theater continues its mission of bringing never-performed-here works to this city. Giasone also anchors the City of Chicago’s first annual Early Music Festival.

THE CONDUCTOR:
Christian Curnyn is one of the most heralded young opera conductors of today. The Guardian called his 2008 performance of Giasone one of “great panache,” and credited Curnyn with ensuring “that the sheer variety and power of Cavalli’s score comes across.”

(Sung in Italian with English supertitles).

Chicago Opera Theater

Jake Heggie

THREE DECEMBERS

May 8, 12, 14, 7:30pm; May16, 3pm

Conductor: Stephen Hargreaves

Production by: Leonard Foglia

THE EVENT:
The legendary Frederica von Stade makes her first appearance with Chicago Opera Theater in this opera written especially for her by Jake Heggie, of Dead Man Walking fame.

THE STORY:
A glamorous stage actress reveals a shocking secret of their family’s past to her two adult children facing dark challenges of their own. Based on a short play by Terrence McNally with a libretto by Gene Scheer.
THE SCORE:
Jake Heggie’s intimate score features just 11 musicians, and will be performed with Heggie himself at the piano. “Jake Heggie has a true gift for soaring and meaningful melody, a great ear for orchestral effects, a talent for picking good source material, and a knack for crafting affecting melodrama (in the best sense of that word) that can move an audience to tears.” -Opera Today

(Sung in English with English supertitles).

Chicago Opera Theater

An Evening with Frederica von Stade

May 10, 7:30pm

Tickets: (Available to subscribers only now; available to the general public on March 1, 2010):$25 – $80; $12.50 – $27.50 (in sections B-D)

In addition to her starring role in Three Decembers, Frederica von Stade presents her final concert in Chicago before retirement. Accompanied by Jake Heggie, she will sing a program of Heggie’s own works, as well as Copland, Hammerstein, Sondheim, Bernstein, and Bizet-just to name a few!

THEATRE LOVERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD SHARE THEIR PASSION FOR SONG, DANCE AND DRAMA AT MUSIC THEATRE INTERNATIONAL’S MTISHOWSPACE.COM

Alissa Norby — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 23:26:51 +0000

Music Theatre International (MTI), the world’s premier theatrical licensor, will play a leading role on the digital stage with the launch of its free online community, MTI ShowSpaceä (www.mtishowspace.com), it was announced by Jason Cocovinis, MTI’s Director of Marketing. Dedicated to people who love and live musical theatre, MTI ShowSpaceä offers thespians and fans a space to connect with anyone and everyone involved in the theatrical process, and serves as a continuously expanding free knowledge database so that members can make their next show their best show. Unlike other social networking outlets, MTI has built an online community that is specific to the practice of putting on a show.

Exclusive interviews with Tony Award-winning composers Stephen Sondheim (WEST SIDE STORY, COMPANY, INTO THE WOODS, SWEENEY TODD), and Jason Robert Brown (THE LAST FIVE YEARS, PARADE, 13), have been posted in celebration of the site’s official launch, and MTI will continue to grow its online library of talks with authors and other leaders in theatre.

“Musicals are a collaborative experience and MTI’s role has always been to connect with and encourage people who are actively creating theatre. MTI ShowSpace™ lets us expand the conversation, giving people another way to communicate with the artists of today and tomorrow, opening up the dialogue to the creative community at large,” says Jason Cocovinis. “We realize the MTI ShowSpace™ audience often uses many different social networks, which is why we designed our site to complement and integrate other media sites.”

Throughout the United States and Canada, 45,000 amateur and professional theatrical organizations involve more than four million households. MTI ShowSpaceä offers each of these organizations — and their over twenty-five million audience members — an organic, multi-leveled way to network.

At a time when the arts are feeling the sting of the economy, the site is specifically designed to help theatre practitioners save time, money and valuable resources with unique relationship-building features. MTI ShowSpaceäprovides a centralized location for community theatres, schools and professional organizations to share, locate or advertise hard-to-build sets, costumes or props. Regardless of their ability, level of involvement in theatre, or geographical location, actors, dancers, composers, authors, producers, educators, students, crewmembers, musicians, administrators, and fans can share their ideas, advice and inspiration in the form of blogs, forums, photos, videos and other dynamic interactive features.

Interactive forums allow educators of all levels to share and receive curriculum enhancement strategies as well as set-building and costume-creation techniques. This peer-to-peer network is further enhanced by a dedicated team of MTI experts who provide immediate assistance to any director who has questions about “putting on a show” in his or her community. The site also provides a stage for the next generation of artists to showcase their talents with photo and video sharing features, while also enabling users to brainstorm about holding auditions, raising funds, securing a venue and producing a great show. The MTI Vault provides an archive of original production photos and other rare media treasures from the past fifty years for reference.

About MTI

Music Theatre International (MTI), www.mtishows.com, is the leading theatrical licensing agency in the world, representing the performance rights to over 350 musicals. MTI issues performance licenses, collects royalties on behalf of the show’s author(s), and provides the scripts and scores to any school or theatre wishing to perform an MTI title. MTI further offers an array of theatrical resources including Study Guides, Reference Recordings, and videos designed to enhance the rehearsal and facilitate the performance experience. Each year, over 15,000 separate productions of MTI musicals take place in the United States and in 68 other countries around the world.

MTI is particularly dedicated to the idea of theatre as education. Whether it’s the 12,000 high schools that regularly perform MTI shows, or the many community and professional theatres whose outreach programs introduce new audiences to new works, MTI shares with these educators the goal of raising the next generation of theatre artists and audiences.

In 1998, as part of its educational initiative, MTI brought classic musical theatre to elementary and middle school-aged students with – The Broadway Junior Collection™. Broadway Junior is a complete package that includes a first-timer’s “How To” guide to producing Broadway’s most beloved and celebrated musicals – custom tailored to the needs of young people and schools. The success of The Broadway Junior Collection™ is perhaps best measured in the self-confidence, discipline, character, cooperation and self-esteem instilled in the children who have participated in Broadway Junior productions, as they master the diverse skills necessary to creating a musical. In essence, MTI is helping to build better citizens through musical theatre.

Kathleen Battle Among Upcoming Events At The Harris Theater

Alissa Norby — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:53:54 +0000

The Harris Theater for Music and Dance will present a month full of exciting and festive music and dance performances this December 2009. Highlights include the Harris Theater presentation of legendary soprano Kathleen Battle in a special holiday spirituals engagement with Chicago Children’s Choir; and holiday engagements with the Lakeside Singers, Midwest Young Artists, The Apollo Chorus, as well as the Bank of America Do-It-Yourself Messiah. Other performances include Chicago’s own Grammy Award-winning new music sextet, eighth blackbird, The Chicago Jazz Ensemble and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.

Program information for the month of December at the Harris Theater is as follows:

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

Ohad Naharin Tabula Rasa

Alejandro Cerrudo Off Screen

Johan Inger Walking Mad

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 Pärt 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 ‘Boléro’ by Maurice Ravel.

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.

Arnold Schoenberg Pierrot Lunaire

Other works to be determined

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!

The Chicago Jazz Ensemble with Artistic Director Jon Faddis

50th Anniversary Celebration honoring Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Ornette Coleman

Thursday, December 10, 2009, 7:30 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 50^th anniversary of John Coltrane’s, “Giant Steps;” Ornette Coleman’s, “The Shape of Jazz to Come;” and Miles Davis,’ “Kind of Blue.”

Chicago Children’s Choir

Songs of the Season

Sunday, December 13, 2009, 3:00pm

Tickets: $15-$55

Josephine Lee, Artistic Director

Judy Hanson, Associate Director/Choreographer

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.

Chicago Sinfonietta

Holiday Celebration
Wednesday, December 16, 2009, 7:30 pm

Tickets: $25

The Chicago Sinfonietta returns to the Harris Theater for its second annual Holiday Concert. Conductor André Raphel Smith leads the orchestra, choirs, and soloists in a Global Holiday Celebration for the whole family. Instruments, voices, and traditions from around the world join together to honor this joyous time of the year.

The Lakeside Singers

In the Frosty Air

Thursday, December 17, 2009, 7:30 pm

Tickets: $35 for general admission; $20 for student and seniors, $10 for children

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: $45, $65, $75

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 with Chicago Children’s Choir, the legendary Ms. Battle will perform inspired seasonal spirituals and traditional holiday favorites. Spirituals “have been an important part of my musical life for as long as I can remember,” Kathleen Battle says. You won’t want to miss this special evening of celebration, inspiration and hope.

Private Bank is the Lead Corporate Underwriter for the Kathleen Battle performance.

Midwest Young Artists

Holiday Concert

Saturday, December 19, 2009, 1:00 and 3:00 pm

Tickets: $10-$25 for adults; $7-$20 for students and seniors
Celebrate the holidays with the traditional classic “Snowman” and other holiday favorites! A perfect holiday outing for the whole family!

Blake Snowman

G. F. Handel Soulful Messiah

Arr. Mervyn Warren, Michael O. Jackson, and Mark Kibble

Randal Allen Buss Twas the Night Before Christmas

Christmas Carol singalongs

The Apollo Chorus of Chicago

Messiah by George Frideric Handel

Sunday, December 20, 2009, 3:00 pm

Tickets: $35-$50

Stephen Alltop, Music Director

The holidays wouldn’t be the same without Apollo’s powerful performance of Messiah.

Don’t miss Chicago’s definitive Messiah offering, a tradition 130 years in the making.

George Frideric Handel Messiah

Bank of America Do-It-Yourself Messiah

December 21 and 22, 7:00pm

Tickets: FREE

Celebrating its 34th annual performances in 2009, the Bank of America Do-It-Yourself Messiah moves to an exciting new venue: the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park. The music of Handel comes to life in Chicago every Christmas with his magnificent Messiah performed by an audience of thousands, featuring world-class soloists and a full orchestra of local amateur musicians.

Tickets for this performance are free and will be available beginning at noon on Monday, November 16 at the Harris Theater box office or over the phone at 312-334-7777. A maximum of two tickets per order may be requested.

* * *

All programs, prices and dates are subject to change.

* * *

For additional information about the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, Chicago’s state-of-the art 1,470 seat performance venue, please visit www.harristheaterchicago.org.

The Harris Theater is pleased to announce that UBS is serving as the 2009-2010 Season Sponsor.

William Blair is the Fall Season Sponsor.

Private Bank is the Lead Corporate Underwriter for the Kathleen Battle performance.

The Harris Theater gratefully acknowledges the Irving Harris Foundation for its leadership support of the Presenting Fund.

United Airlines is the Official Airline of the Harris Theater.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is the Lead Underwriter of the Harris Theater’s Rental Subsidy Program.

The Harris Theater gratefully acknowledges The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s support of the theater’s collaborative partnerships.

The Harris Theater is partially supported by the CityArts Program 4 grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

OXYGEN’S HIT SERIES “DANCE YOUR ASS OFF” KICKS OFF NATIONWIDE AUDITIONS: CHICAGO AUDITIONS Saturday, December 12

Alissa Norby — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:03:34 +0000

Oxygen’s inspiring and popular weight loss/dance competition series, “Dance Your Ass Off,” begins nationwide search for contestants to compete in the upcoming second season. Open calls for men and women interested in taking the stage and the scales in the hit series will begin November 21 in Los Angeles. The November 21 audition marks the first of several open calls in cities across the country including Dallas, Chicago and New York. In attendance at each casting session will be executive producer and judge Lisa Ann Walter, as well as fan favorites from season one.

The show is looking for people who love to dance and are ready to slim down. For anyone who is ready to make a change and bust a move while doing it, this is the chance of a lifetime to turn flab into fab while America cheers on!

“Dance Your Ass Off” open casting call dates and locations are as follows

LOS ANGELES

Saturday, November 21, 2009

10am-4pm

Millennium Dance Complex
5113 Lankershim Blvd
North Hollywood, CA 91601-3718
www.millenniumdancecomplex.com

DALLAS

Saturday, December 5

10am-4pm

Dallas Powerhouse of Dance
12300 Inwood Road #124
Dallas, TX 75244

(In Summertree Shopping Center)

CHICAGO
Saturday, December 12

10am-4pm
218 S. Wabash 3rd Floor
Chicago, IL 60604

(Behind the Symphony Center, on the corner of Adams Street)

NEW YORK

Friday, December 18

1pm – 8pm

Dance Sport
22 West 34th Street
NY, NY 10001

www.dancesport.com

For additional information on how to apply to be on the show, go to http://dyao.oxygen.com/extras-dyao-casting-update.

The critically acclaimed series, and Oxygen’s most watched freshman series in network history, “Dance Your Ass Off” features talented, full-figured contestants who struggle with their weight and dance to unleash their inner thin. Last season, the contestants’ “thinspiration” resulted in more than 500 lbs. lost. The series pairs each contestant with a professional dance partner who trains him or her for their weekly stage performances. Then they burn up the dance floor and the calories in front of a live studio audience and a panel of expert judges. The judges score the routines, and then the contestants weigh in to reveal their weekly weight loss. The dance score and the weight loss are combined for an overall score, which determines who is sent home each week.

“Dance Your Ass Off” is produced by Magical Elves with Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz serving as executive producers. Lisa Ann Walter conceived the original “Dance Your Ass Off” and executive produces along with Kate Rigg.

About Magical Elves

Magical Elves is the production team behind some of the highest quality reality programming on television. Since their partnership began eight years ago, The Elves, Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz, have been nominated for eleven Primetime Emmys. This year Project Runway and Top Chef are both nominated in the Outstanding Reality Competition category for the third year in succession. Magical Elves are the recipients of the first Peabody Award ever presented to a reality television program for Project Runway and they produced 4 of Entertainment Weekly’s 20 Best Reality Shows of all time. Notable credits include “Bands on the Run”, “Project Greenlight” and “Last Comic Standing” and the Elves have several shows in production including “Top Chef”, “Top Chef Masters”, “Top Chef: Just Desserts”, “Work of Art” and “Kell on Earth” for Bravo.

About Oxygen Media

Oxygen Media is a multiplatform lifestyle brand that delivers relevant and entertaining content to young women, wherever they are. Oxygen is rewriting the rulebook for women’s media, with a vast array of unconventional and original content including “Bad Girls Club,” “Dance Your Ass Off” and “Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood.” Popular features online include makeOvermatic, tweetOverse and hormoneOscope. Available in 75 million homes, online at www.oxygen.com, or on mobile devices at wap.oxygen.com, Oxygen Media is a service of NBC Universal.

DARING AND ATHLETIC CEDAR LAKE CONTEMPORARY BALLET THRILLS AT THE AUDITORIUM THEATRE NOVEMBER 14 AND 15

Alissa Norby — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:22:21 +0000

The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University (ATRU, 50 E. Congress Parkway) proudly presents the internationally acclaimed Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet for two shows only, Saturday, Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 15 at 2 p.m. Tickets are now on sale.

Founded in 2003 by Nancy Laurie and currently under the artistic direction of former Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater member Benoit-Swan Pouffer, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet boasts an exceptionally talented ensemble of sixteen dancers from around the world. The company focuses on acquiring and commissioning new works by the world’s most sought-after emerging choreographers.

Through their daring, athletic movement and integration of ballet into contemporary and popular dance forms, the dancers of Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet take audiences on a choreographic journey that explores the infinite possibilities of movement and multimedia. According to The New York Times, “the troupe has drawn a dance-savvy audience and created a team of wonderful performers, adept at picking up different styles and always impressive in their articulation and intensity.” For their exclusive Chicago engagement at the Auditorium Theatre, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet will perform Crystal Pite‘s “Ten Duets on a Theme of Rescue,” Didy Veldman‘s “frame of view” (sic) and Jo Strømgren‘s “Sunday, Again.”

According to choreographer Crystal Pite, “Ten Duets on a Theme of Rescue” (Cedar Lake world premiere 2008) is an act of excavation in which fragments of narrative are rescued from the choreography, and exposed for brief contemplation before dissolving back into dance. By using choreography to extend, distort or suspend these fragments of narrative, ordinary human movements become extraordinary through the framework of the theater and through the virtuosity of the performers.

Choreographer Didy Veldman describes “frame of view” (Cedar Lake world premiere 2009) as an investigation of the physical movement a particular emotion may take, how it manifests itself in the body, how long that physicality may last and the energy that it creates. By creating different interior and exterior scenes, and utilizing a varied musical landscape, Veldman creates an accessible work with a touch of irony and humor. “frame of view” features an eclectic score that includes the music of Nina Simone, Pink Martini, Offenbach, Dean Martin and the Kronos Quartet.

“Sunday, Again,” choreographed by Jo Strømgren (Cedar Lake world premiere 2008), is a piece that reflects the diversity of Johann Sebastian Bach’s music. Abstract movement patterns are woven together in fugal ways, not unlike the baroque way of assembling melodic phrases and ornamentations. On an associative level, “Sunday, Again” thematically treats the domestic jungle of luxury problems and gender frictions. “As the title suggests, there is always the irritating and inevitable Sunday which forces couples to test their coexistence abilities. Leisure time is not good for certain types of relationships,” says Strømgren.

Cedar Lake Artistic Director Benoit-Swan Pouffer joined the company in 2005 following an extensive career as a dancer, teacher and choreographer. He began his dance studies at the prestigious Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique et de Danse, where he performed works by renowned French choreographers such as Claude Brumachon, Daniel Larrieu and Angelin Preljocaj. Pouffer’s distinguished career as a professional dancer includes a seven year tenure with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (from 1997 – 2004) in addition to seasons with Philadanco, Donald Byrd/The Group and Complexions Contemporary Ballet. Pouffer has also offered outreach programs in South Africa and taught master classes throughout Europe and the United States. Pouffer’s role as curator of one of the most ambitious world-class repertoires in America today furthers Cedar Lake’s mission to provide choreographers with a comprehensive environment for creation and presentation.

Vancouver-based choreographer and performer Crystal Pite has created works for Nederlands Dans Theater, Ballett Frankfurt, Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal (including a term as resident choreographer), Ballet British Columbia, the Alberta Ballet, Ballet Jörgen and several independent dance artists. As a member of Ballett Frankfurt, she was involved in the creation of William Forsythe’s CD-ROM “Improvisation Technologies” and participated in Forsythe’s works both as a performer and co-creator. Pite later formed her own company, Kidd Pivot, and continues to create and perform her own work. Kidd Pivot tours nationally and internationally with productions that include “Lost Action,” “Uncollected Work” and “Double Story,” created with Richard Siegal. Pite is the recipient of the Banff Centre’s Clifford E. Lee Award, the Bonnie Bird North American Choreography Award and the Isadora Award.

Dutch choreographer Didy Veldman trained at Amsterdam’s Scapino Academy, and began choreographing in 1987. She co-founded the dance company Alias with Guilherme Botelho in 1992. Its first work, “En Manqué,” was performed to acclaim in London, Glasgow, Zurich and Lausanne, and won the Dance Exchange International and the Prix Romand du Spectacle Indépendant awards. Veldman joined Rambert Dance Company in 1994, where she created three works for its repertory including “7 DS” which won the Lindbury Prize for Stage Design. Since leaving Rambert in 2000, Veldman has created and re-staged works for Rambert, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Ballet Gulbenkian, Cullberg Ballet, Northern Ballet Theatre, New Zealand Ballet, the Komische Oper Berlin, Scottish Dance Theatre, Phoenix Dance Theatre, Australia’s Company Loaded and Sweden’s Skånes Dansteater. Her Cedar Lake world premiere “frame of view” is the first work Veldman has created for an American company.

Jo Strømgren began studying at the National College of Ballet and Dance in Norway at the age of 20. After four years of training there, Carte Blanca Dance Company in Bergen, Norway engaged him as a choreographer and dancer. Strømgren gained artistic recognition with “Schizoid Stories,” a 75-minute, one-man show that combines distinctive body language with absurd humor and dark psychology. Strømgren’s choreography has been commissioned by Ballet de l’Opera National du Rhin, the Royal Danish Ballet, New Danish Dance Theatre, Ballett Nürnberg, Iceland Dance Company, Norwegian National Ballet, Oslo Dance Ensemble, Repertory Dance Theatre Utah, Cloud Gate, IT Dansa Barcelona, Helsinki Dance Company, Stadttheater Bern Ballett, Austria’s ABCDancecompany, Vienna State Opera Ballet, Sweden’s Norrdans Dance Company and Skånes Danseteater. In 2003, Strømgren made his debut as a feature film director with colleague Runar Hodne.

For more information about Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, please visit cedarlakedance.com.

Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet Performance Schedule and Ticket Information

The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University proudly presents Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet for two performances:

Saturday, Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 15 at 2 p.m.

Single tickets are now on sale, and range in price from $30 – $65. For single tickets, visit the Auditorium Theatre Box Office at 50 E. Congress Parkway; call Ticketmaster at (800) 982-ARTS (2787); or log on to ticketmaster.com/auditorium.

Subscriptions for the Auditorium Theatre’s 2009 – 2010 Dance Series are now on sale. Subscribers to three or more shows receive 10% off full ticket prices. Discounted tickets are also currently available for groups of 10 or more. For subscription and group ticket information, call (312) 431-2357.

about the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University

The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, located at 50 E. Congress Parkway, is an independent, not-for-profit organization committed to presenting the finest in international, cultural and community programming to Chicago, and to the continued restoration and preservation of the National Historic Landmark Auditorium Theatre. This September, the Auditorium Theatre begins a year-long celebration of its 120th Anniversary, and a number of special events will be announced in the coming months. For more information about programming, volunteer and donor opportunities or theater tours, call (312) 922-2110 or visit www.auditoriumtheatre.org.