Evanston Review

Rediscovering the music of Mahler’s contemporaries

Fri, 03 May 2013 10:54:01 -0500

“But seriously folks, is it really necessary that we have another performance of the Tchaikovsky Fifth Symphony?” Those are the words of Lawrence Rapchak, music director of the Northbrook Symphony Orchestra, and it is just such an attitude that won the conductor and his orchestra the Illinois Council of Orchestra’s 2013 award for Programming of the Year.

Orchestra evokes the English countryside

Fri, 03 May 2013 10:52:01 -0500

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 with the late cellist Jacqueline du Pre. “I grew up listening to her recording,” Warner said, when reached at her home in Columbus, Ga. where she teaches at the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University. Warner is a Midwestern girl who began studying the cello at age 6 with Nell Novak at the …

Former ‘Idol’ Lee DeWyze back in town

Sun, 12 May 2013 06:15:59 -0500

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

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 07:43:41 -0500

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

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 10:58:01 -0500

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

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 06:09:45 -0500

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

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 12:30:01 -0500

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

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 14:44:01 -0500

“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

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 12:30:01 -0500

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

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 11:52:01 -0500

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.

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 11:46:02 -0500

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

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 14:26:03 -0500

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

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 09:34:03 -0500

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

Tue, 20 Nov 2012 11:44:01 -0500

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 Jane Lepauw of Northbrook for 13 years. The free series is now in its 14th season and on the evening of Friday Nov. 2 the library’s 188-seat auditorium was very close to full. The night was evenly divided into jazz and classical music. Pianist George Lepauw, founder of the International Beethoven Project and the Lepauw’s …

New look, new sound for Matisyahu

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 14:40:02 -0500

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 hip-hop. After posting a photo of himself sans beard and forelock late last year in a Tweet that began “No more Chassidic reggae superstar,” he has distanced himself from Hasidism. He also made his Hollywood debut playing a Jewish exorcist in the horror film “The Possession” and released his fourth studio album, “Spark Seeker,” a …

Early music concert celebrates local master

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 14:40:02 -0500

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 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the batons of Sir Georg Solti, Daniel Barenboim and Pierre Boulez. Plus he’s been featured artist with the Dallas Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, and performed at festivals throughout the United States and Europe. So it should be no surprise that his 60th birthday …