Harris Theater Announces March 2011 Events And Shows

This March, the Harris Theater for Music and Dance will present a month full of exciting debuts and premieres by the finest music and dance artists from Chicago and around the world.

Music highlights include the Harris debut of preeminent soprano Renée Fleming and triumphant return of virtuoso violinist Pinchas Zukerman who together will headline the musical event of the season-Fanfare For An Uncommon Woman: A Celebration Of Joan W. Harris On Her Birthday, an extraordinary benefit performance with all proceeds to support Harris Theater programs; the Contempo Double-Bill: European Connections featuring the Jason Marsalis Vibes Quartet; Bella Voce, Chicago's premier chamber choir, reuniting with The Callipygian Players, the stylish period instrument ensemble; Nicholas Kraemer leading the Music of the Baroque orchestra in three of Bach's beloved Brandenburg Concertos; Kaija Saariaho's lush and rich Graal Theatre, a concerto for violin and string ensemble, anchoring MusicNOW's final 2010-2011 concert; Fulcrum Point New Music Project celebrating love and spiritual landscapes through music in Speaking in Tongues; and finally, the Harris Family Series returning with the Chicago premiere of Green Eggs and Hamadeus-composer and conductor Rob Kapilow's musical setting of the Dr. Seuss classic woven together with Mozart's A Little Night Music, performed by musicians from Midwest Young Artists.

Dance highlights include Thodos Dance Chicago performing the world premiere of "The White City: Chicago's Columbian Exhibition of 1893" choreographed by Tony-award winner Ann Reinking and Melissa Thodos; Hubbard Street Dance Chicago presenting new works by esteemed Israeli choreographers from the Batsheva Dance Company, Artistic Director Ohad Naharin and Resident Choreographer Sharon Eyal; Luna Negra Dance Theater performing artistic director Gustavo Ramírez Sansano's critically acclaimed Flabbergast ; Creative Force: The Joffrey's Choreographers of Color Initiative with the Academy Trainees of The Joffrey Ballet featuring a collection of inspirational new works; and Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago fusing athleticism and artistry in the next installment of the lunchtime performance series Eat to the Beat and also premiering a new work on their spring series engagement.

Tickets for these 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.

Complete program information for the month of March at the Harris Theater is as follows:

Contempo Double-Bill: European Connections
Tuesday, March 01, 2011 at 7:30 PM
Tickets $25 / $10 students

The exciting and "serendipitous" (Chicago Sun-Times) double-bill is back, this year featuring Jason Marsalis on vibes with his quartet, who will complement the first set of bold, contemporary music with a spicy jazz set.
Marta Ptaszynska, acting artistic director

Featured artists:
Agata Zubel, soprano/composer
eighth blackbird
Pacifica Quartet
Jason Marsalis Vibes Quartet

Program:
Paul Patterson: String Quartet, op. 58
Füsun Köksal: Deux Visions pour Sextuor
Agata Zubel: Cascando
Luciano Berio: Sequenza
Kaiji Saariaho: Changing Light
Jazz set

Baobob Tree Champion Foundation
Thursday, March 03, 2011 at 7:30 PM
Tickets $15-$50

The Spirit of the Baobab Tree is a dance-driven stage phenomenon that brings African American history to life in an exciting way. The production was created and choreographed by Dionne Champion and Sherice Grant, directors of DancExcel: Champion Center for Creative Arts Education in Gary, Indiana. It is a dance-umentary that explores over 700 years of African and African American history through movement, monologue, music, song, and dance, unlocking the mysteries of history, capturing the imagination, and conveying a message that is as simple as it is profound: knowing a little more about where you come from can help you make positive choices about who you can become. At the heart of the story is a young boy named Jelani who is struggling to overcome a loss of hope and faith in the world after being removed from his family and placed in foster care. Jelani comes to find his inner worth, pride in himself and peace of mind after taking a magical journey through the past with the help of an ancestral storyteller and the magical Baobab tree, the mother tree of Africa.

Thodos Dance Chicago
Winter Concert
Friday, March 4, 2011 at 8:00 PM
Tickets $25-$60

Thodos Dance Chicago returns to the Harris with an exciting program of three world premieres and two company premieres. Tony-award winner Ann Reinking joins Melissa Thodos in a choreographic collaboration of a one act contemporary story ballet "The White City: Chicago's Columbian Exhibition of 1893", set to the music of composer Bruce Wolosoff and performed live by Carpe Diem String Quartet. Ron De Jesús premieres "Shift", a tour de force ensemble work set to music by John Adams. Melissa Thodos contributes the third world premiere "Getting There", her second work featuring a large wheel as a central prop. The program is rounded out with two company premieres including "Quieting the Clock" by Francisco Avina and Stephanie Martinez Bennitt and "Dancer, Net (Solo1)" from Thodos dancer/choreographer Wade Schaaf.

Bella Voce
Saturday, March 05, 2011 at 7:30 PM
Tickets $35

Bella Voce, Chicago's premier chamber choir, and The Callipygian Players, the stylish period instrument ensemble led by Baroque violin virtuoso Martin Davids, reunite for a riveting and energetic performance.

Handel: Dixit Dominus, HWV 232
Vivaldi: Dixit Dominus, RV 595
|Corelli: Concerto Grosso in D Major, Op. 6, No. 4
|Vivaldi: Concerto for Violin, Op. 4, No. 12
Allegri: Miserere

Creative Force: The Joffrey's Choreographers of Color Initiative
with the Academy Trainees of The Joffrey Ballet
Sunday, March 6, 2011 at 4:00 and 6:00 PM
Tickets $10

Bring the whole family to see this riveting, contemporary dance program featuring the Academy Trainees of The Joffrey Ballet. The program includes a collection of inspirational new works by the winners of Creative Force: The Joffrey's Choreographers of Color Award. Three additional stunning works will be performed, each choreographed by Academy Artistic Director, Alexei Kremnev.

 

Modern Times, choreography by Alexei Kremnev
World Premiere, choreography by Creative Force winner Francisco Aviña
Blue Velvet, choreography by Alexei Kremnev
Solo in Black, choreography by Alexei Kremnev (world premiere)
World Premiere, choreography by Creative Force winner Darius Barnes

 

Fanfare For An Uncommon Woman: A Celebration Of Joan W. Harris On Her Birthday
Wednesday, March 09, 2011
Champagne reception at 5:30 PM
Benefit performance at 6:30 PM
Tickets start at $100

The Harris Theater for Music and Dance presents Fanfare for an Uncommon Woman: A Celebration of Joan W. Harris on Her Birthday, an extraordinary performance that is certain to be the event of the season. Preeminent soprano Renée Fleming and virtuoso violinist Pinchas Zukerman headline this exceptional concert to benefit Harris Theater programs. They will be joined by the spectacular Emerson String Quartet, acclaimed cellist David Finckel and impassioned pianist Wu Han of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the electrifying Escher String Quartet, members of the world-renowned Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the magnificent Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and Stephen Burns, brilliant trumpeter and artistic director of the Fulcrum Point New Music Project.

Luna Negra Dance Theater
2011 Spring Season
Saturday, March 12, 2011 at 8 PM
Tickets $25-$55
Luna Negra Dance Theater's 2011 spring season features the works of two exciting, up-and-coming Latino choreographers - Fernando Hernando Magadan of Spain and Luis Eduardo Sayago Alonso of Venezuela - who will bring their fresh and original voices to Chicago audiences. The program also features artistic director Gustavo Ramírez Sansano's critically acclaimed Flabbergast.
Program:
Naked Ape by Hernando Fernando Magadan - North American Premiere
Through the interaction of dance and audio-installation sculptures created by multimedia artist Harmen Straatman, Hernando Fernando Magadan explores how new technologies are changing the way we communicate and how much space is left for pure personal interaction.
Solo una Vez by Luis Eduardo Sayago Alonso - North American Premiere
Set to Latin American bolero songs, Solo una Vez is an exploration of the universal human search for one's other half or for that person who allows us to develop our self and to grow as an individual.
Flabbergast by Gustavo Ramírez Sansano
10 years after its creation, Gustavo Ramírez Sansano revisits this early work originally commissioned by Luna Negra Dance Theater. Sansano incorporates new and surprising elements from his experiences traveling throughout the world to expose - with humor - our stereotypes and preconceived ideas about foreign places.

Music of the Baroque
The Brandenburgs...and more!
Monday, March 14, 2011 at 7:30 PM
Tickets $30-$75
Share an intimate evening of musical camaraderie as Nicholas Kraemer leads members of the Music of the Baroque Orchestra in three of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos.

J. S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B-flat Major, BWV 1051
MUFFAT: Armonico Tributo No. 2 in G Minor
J. S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major, BWV 1048
TELEMANN: Concerto in F Major for 3 violins, strings, and continuo (from Tafelmusik II)
J. S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G Major, BWV 1049
Music of the Baroque Orchestra
Nicholas Kraemer, conductor

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
Thursday, March 17, 2011 at 7:30 PM
Friday, March 18, 2011 at 8:00 PM
Saturday, March 19, 2011 at 8:00 PM
Sunday, March 20, 2011 at 3:00 PM
Tickets $25 and up

The Spring Series unites Chicago's premier contemporary dance company with Israel in a cultural expression through movement. This historic and exciting program will feature new works by esteemed Israeli choreographers from the Batsheva Dance Company, Artistic Director Ohad Naharin and Resident Choreographer Sharon Eyal.

MusicNOW
Monday, March 21, 2011 at 7:00 PM
Tickets $10-$20

Kaija Saariaho's lush and rich Graal Theatre, a concerto for violin and string ensemble, anchors MusicNOW's final concert of 2010/11. The program also brings the ambient music of Chicagoan Nathan Davis with his Like Sweet Bells Jangled for clarinet, crotales and interactive electronics. The season wraps up with world premieres by Bates and Clyne specially commissioned for MusicNOW. Meet the musicians and composers at post concert receptions with FREE food and drink!

Pablo Heras-Casado, Conductor
Yuan-Qing Yu, Violin
Musicians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Mason Bates and Anna Clyne, Mead Composers-in-Residence

Kaija Saariaho: Graal Theatre
Mason Bates: MusicNOW commission
Nathan Davis: Like Sweet Bells Jangled
Anna Clyne: MusicNOW commission

Fulcrum Point New Music Project
Speaking in Tongues
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 7:30 PM
Tickets $15-20

Celebrate love and spiritual landscapes through music, electronics and songs inspired by the languages & lore of Aboriginal Djawun, Naxi tribal women and titan of poetry Ted Hughes.

Fung: Naxi Love Poems (World Premiere; commissioned by MAP Fund)
Gordon: Tiger Psalms (World Premiere)
James: Djawun Dreamscapes (World Premiere; commissioned by NEA)
Zupko: Rising

Featured Artists:
Katherine Calcamuggio, soprano
Julia Bentley, mezzo-soprano
Brad Jungwirth, baritone
Matthias Tacke, violin
Mischa Zupko, Composer-in-Residence

Eat to the Beat: A Lunchtime Performance
Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago
Friday, March 25, 2011 at 12:00 PM
Tickets $5

Lunch never tasted so good than when accompanied by the sights and sounds of high-energy high-impact dance that is Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago. Go behind the scenes with Chicago's most ambitious dance company as they offer a noon-hour sneak peek of their Spring premiere performance to be held later this same evening. Talk about the ultimate power lunch!

Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago
Friday, March 25, 2011 at 8:00 PM
Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 8:00 PM
Tickets $15-$60

LiveLife.Dance! High-energy, high-impact dance. A fusion of athleticism and artistry that wows the spirit and stirs the soul. This is Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago. The Company returns to their home theater for two very special LiveLife. Dance! Spring performances, featuring a world premiere work and standout audience favorites. For program information, visit www.giordanodance.org and click the red G.

Green Eggs and Hamadeus
Rob Kapilow, conductor/composer
Musicians from Midwest Young Artists
Sunday, March 27, 2011 at 2:00 pm
Tickets $10

"I would not eat green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam-I-am." It's one of the most beloved and recognizable declarations from one of the most popular children's books of all time-Dr. Seuss' "Green Eggs and Ham." Join musicians from Midwest Young Artists for a magical hour of interactive family fun as they perform composer and conductor Rob Kapilow's musical setting of this Dr. Seuss classic-woven together with Mozart's delightful A Little Night Music. Discover how music tells its own stories in this Chicago premiere of the Lincoln Center blockbuster series!

* * * 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 Artists and ensembles. 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

 

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