Orchestra evokes the English countryside

It finally feels like spring, so it won’t be hard to imagine being in England’s green and pleasant land Sunday when the Evanston Symphony Orchestra presents “Music from the English Countryside.”

Cellist Wendy Warner will play Edgar Elgar’s glorious Cello Concerto, a work closely association …

Former ‘Idol’ Lee DeWyze back in town

There’s nothing like a homecoming. On April 19, Season 9 American Idol winner Lee DeWyze returns to Viper Alley in Lincolnshire. DeWyze, who previously played Viper Alley’s anniversary show in 2012, hails from Mount Prospect.

Ravinia Festival tickets now on sale

Forget the calendar. Summer runs from June 6 through Sept. 15 at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, with more than 120 events, including more than 80 festival debuts.

Top musical talent sings at Siddons show

Thirteen of Chicago’s finest musical theater professionals will sing some of their favorite songs under the direction of Dominic Missimi and music direction of Doug Peck. Sounds like a must-see show.

Indigo Girls still a powerful two

Though their longtime friends and associates REM have recently disbanded, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers are still going strong as the Grammy-winning folk-rock duo Indigo Girls.

Anne Frank-inspired concert at Ravinia

Anne Frank died at the age of 15 in a Nazi concentration camp, but her diary, left behind when she and her family were arrested in Amsterdam by German police, has made her name a household word.

Living in harmony suits Ars Viva couples

“Did music bring them together? Does music keep them together? We do sometimes marry the people we meet at work, so it’s no surprise that musicians marry musicians.

‘Grapes of Wrath’ opera premieres at NU

John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath has been made into a full-scale opera by one of America’s most successful living songwriters, Ricky Ian Gordon.

Artemis Singers perform works they love

Artemis Singers, Chicago’s lesbian feminist chorus, which takes its name from the Greek goddess of the hunt, will present a highly individualized concert Jan. 19 in Skokie.

Concert celebrates legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.

Five young musicians will perform on a program with the 180-voice Brotherhood Chorale at 5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 20. They are all recipients of the Music Institute of Chicago’s William Warfield Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Chamber music fest warms up winter at NU

If it’s January, it must be time for the Winter Chamber Music Festival at Northwestern University. This is the 17th year chamber music fans will gather in the 989-seat Pick-Staiger Concert Hall alongside Lake Michigan, heedless of the wind and weather, to enjoy performances by local, national and even internationally acclaimed chamber musicians.

Norwegian group never stops singing

It’s not often that a singing society stands the test of time for nearly 150 years. But the all-male Normennenes Singing Society of Chicago — a chorus where most of the singers have roots in Norway — has done just that.

Big rewards from small concerts

Good things come in small packages, they say, and recently, two delightful programs took place in sites off the beaten path. Parisian Salon Concerts The Parisian Salon concerts in the Northbrook Public Library have been produced the first Friday of the month by Didier and …

New look, new sound for Matisyahu

The past year has been a time of significant developments for the recording artist Matisyahu.

Born Matthew Paul Miller, he first made a name for himself by combining his Hasidic faith (a branch of Orthodox Judaism) with a potent blend of stripped-down reggae, beatboxing and …

Early music concert celebrates local master

David Schrader is the master of keyboards.

That’s right, he’s an expert on several of them, including the organ, the harpsichord, the Forte Piano and, of course, the modern piano.

Schrader’s specialty is Early and Baroque music, and he’s been soloist on organ and harpsichord …