ON GRACE, Savion Glover and More Set for Harris Theater's 2014 Season

In the midst of its milestone 10th season, the Harris Theater for Music and Dance heads into the new year with can't-miss performances as part of the Harris Theater Presents series, including a special addition to the 2013-2014 season: the Chicago debut of On Grace, a work-in-progress performance on Tuesday, January 21, 2014, from Drama Desk Award-winner Anna Deavere Smith and cellist Joshua Roman.

A brief summary of On Grace and a complete list of Harris Theater Presents performances in 2014 can be found below. All performances take place at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park.

Tickets are available at harristheaterchicago.org, or by calling the Box Office at 312.334.7777.

On Grace (work-in-progress)

Anna Deavere Smith and Joshua Roman

Tuesday, January 21, 2014 at 7:30 pm Tickets: $25

The University of Chicago and the Harris Theater for Music and Dance present On Grace, a work-in-progress performance conceived and created by renowned actress and playwright Anna Deavere Smith in collaboration with cellist Joshua Roman.

In On Grace, Smith explores ideas of forgiveness and survival in her signature brand of theater where she performs verbatim excerpts of interviews she conducted with renowned scholars, theologians, and politicians, including the late Rev. Peter Gomes, Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, and Rabbi David Wolpe.

The performance will feature two parts: a viewing of the work-in-progress On Grace and an audience discussion. The audience will be invited to ask questions and discuss their own concept of grace as it relates to their life experience.

Savion Glover's STePz

Friday, January 24, 2014 at 7:30 pm Tickets: $30 - $55

Under the direction of Savion Glover, Savion Glover's STePz is an exuberant celebration of tap. Glover and his ensemble of dancers take tap dance to new heights, fusing music selections of the past with Glover's iconic style and energy. This production of Savion Glover's STePz highlights Glover's capability of all complexities of jazz phrasing-both bass line and melody, the wild improvisations, structures and deconstruction, from departure to return.

Gidon Kremer and Kremerata Baltica

Friday, February 7, 2014 at 7:30 pm Tickets: $15 - $30

Famed violinist Gidon Kremer and chamber orchestra Kremerata Baltica, consisting of young musicians from the Baltic republics (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania), return to the Harris Theater in 2014. The ensemble has gained a reputation for its high artistic quality, the exceptional talent of individual musicians, and Kremer's innovative approach to repertoire. This program features Kremer as a solo violinist in pieces by Weinberg and Shostakovich. Kremer serves as the orchestra's artistic director and violinist.

Hamburg Ballet

Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler

Wednesday, February 19 and Thursday, February 20 at 7:30 pm Tickets: $40 - $95

Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler premiered in June of 1975. Since that time, it has become one of Hamburg Chief Choreographer John Neumeier's most important and defining works, now part of the repertory at the Paris Ope?ra Ballet and the Royal Swedish Ballet. Inspired by his great love of Mahler's music, Neumeier created this timeless ballet to express all the emotions and feelings that the Third Symphony's score evokes in its listeners. In addition to the choreography, Neumeier also designed the costumes and lighting concept for the ballet.

Alonzo King LINES Ballet

Thursday, February 27 and Friday, February 28, 2014 at 7:30 pm Tickets: $40 - $95

February 27: Constellation

This ground-breaking collaboration with visual artist Jim Campbell looks to explore the orientation of our bodies to light. Constellation is luminous and lucid, encompassing and intimate. The unique score meshes Baroque music, sung by the regal Israeli mezzo-soprano Maya Lahyani in her Chicago debut, with contemporary music by Leslie Stuck, Somei Satoh, and Benjamin Juodvalkis.

February 28: Meyer

Alonzo King's collaboration with the Grammy Award-winning composer and bass virtuoso Edgar Meyer is a welcoming piece of stunning moments, heart-piercing melodies, and touches of narrative rarely seen in King's choreography. Created for the Company's 30th anniversary, Meyer is lusciously textured with a striking backdrop of synchronized water, created by the Academy Award-winning designer Jim Doyle. Meyer speaks of the complexities of human behavior in a piece that pulses with playfulness. King's solos and duets alternate from exhilarating, tear-up-the-space dancing to his sensitive and at times contentious partnering.

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Michael Hill Series

French Revelations

Tuesday, March 18, 2014 at 7:30 pm Tickets: $15 - $30

The Harris continues to explore all things French in this dazzling program featuring innovative French music of the 20th century, characterized as "faire plaisir" ("giving pleasure"). CMS Co-Artistic Directors David Finckel and Wu Han commented, "Our second program [during the 2013-2014 season at the Harris] is a true delicacy-an entire evening dedicated to the shimmering and beguiling music of early 20th century France. From Ravel's masterly depiction of water at play to Tournier's bubbling Suite, this program is sure to delight."

Program:

Ravel Jeux d'eau for Piano (1901)
Debussy Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp (1915)
Roussel Serenade for Flute, Violin, Viola, Cello, and Harp, Op. 30 (1925) Franc?aix Quintet No. 1 for Flute, Violin, Viola, Cello, and Harp (1934) Debussy Sonata for Cello and Piano (1915)
Jongen Deux pie?ces en trio for Flute, Cello, and Harp, Op. 80 (1925) Tournier Suite for Flute, Violin, Viola, Cello, and Harp, Op. 34 (1928) Musicians:
ANNE-MARIE MCDERMOTT, Piano
KRISTIN LEE, Violin
PAUL NEUBAUER, Viola
NICHOLAS CANELLAKIS, Cello
SOOYUN KIM, Flute
Bridget Kibbey, Harp

Wendy Whelan: Restless Creature

Thursday, March 20, 2014 at 7:30 pm Tickets: $40 - $95

New York City Ballet's Wendy Whelan embarks on a new dance adventure with four male choreographers. Whelan, together with her collaborators, will present the Chicago debut of Restless Creature, an evening of four duets created by and danced with Kyle Abraham, Joshua Beamish, Brian Brooks, and Alejandro Cerrudo, Resident Choreographer at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Restless Creature received its world premiere in August 2013 at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival.

Trey McIntyre Project with students from the Music Institute of Chicago

Thursday, April 3, 2014 at 7:30 pm Tickets: $25 - $55

Trey McIntyre Project (TMP) returns to Chicago following its successful 2012 Harris Theater debut with a new Harris-commissioned world premiere, in which the talented musicians from the Music Institute of Chicago will perform live. TMP annually tours the world performing McIntyre's "fresh and forward thinking choreography" (New York Times), and is known for creating a new era of American contemporary dance.

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Michael Hill Series

Cello Sonatas

Tuesday, April 29, 2014 at 7:30 pm Tickets: $20 - $40

Beethoven's works are milestones of the cello repertoire. Esteemed Co-Artistic Directors of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Wu Han and David Finckel, praised for the boldness, imagination, and collaborative intimacy of their performances, return to the Harris to join forces for this concert. They state: "To close CMS' 2013-2014 residency, we offer a performance of the complete Beethoven Cello sonatas. Performing the entire cycle in a single evening provides a journey from Beethoven's fiery youth, through his heroic middle period, to the moving and momentous final sonatas of his late career."

Featuring: David FinckEL, Cello WU HAN, Piano

Ballet Preljocaj: Blanche Neige

Friday, May 2 and Saturday, May 3, 2014 at 7:30 pm; Sunday, May 4, 2014 at 2:00 pm Tickets: $40 - $95

Angelin Preljocaj's French Dance Company from Provence presents the contemporary Blanche Neige (Snow White). Based on the Grimm Brothers' original fairy tale, Preljocaj's full-length story ballet features costumes by legendary designer Jean Paul Gaultier. For this ballet, Gaultier created costumes that are devilishly sexy with warrior-inspired designs. The company's American tour includes stops at New York City's Lincoln Center and the Los Angeles Music Center. Note: The Friday and Saturday performances will include brief nudity. Sunday's matinee performance will be performed without nudity.

••• All programs, prices and dates are subject to change •••

Harris Theater for Music and Dance: 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. Now in the midst of its 10th season, 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 Artists and ensembles.

To learn more about the Harris Theater, visit www.harristheaterchicago.org, call the Box Office at 312.334.7777 to request a brochure or additional information. The Harris Theater for Music and Dance, Chicago's state-of-the art 1,525 seat performance venue, can also be found on Facebook www.facebook.com/harristheater and Twitter www.twitter.com/harristheater.

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