'The University Of Chicago Presents' Announces Virtual Programming For January

As the 2020 coronavirus pandemic has continued across the United States and around the world, the University of Chicago Presents continues to enlighten and inspire audiences with streaming performances and talks with renowned musicians from around the world. Executive Director Amy Iwano has announced eight new virtual events that will share music and connect audiences from January through March 2021.

"We look forward to sharing a rich assortment of performances with our Chicago audiences this winter," says Executive Director Amy Iwano. "At a time when we all must take extra special care for the health and safety of our community, we hope that these concerts will offer moments of respite as well as inspiration and connection through the experiences we share together."

In recent years, UChicago Presents has placed a special emphasis on programs that nurture curiosity and place performances of repertoire both familiar and unfamiliar in a new light. Two programs this winter continue that focus. On February 5, the St. Lawrence String Quartet shares one of its distinctive "Haydn Discovery" programs, exploring the inner workings of Haydn's String Quartet in G minor, Op. 20 No. 3. Then, on February 26, cellist and University of Chicago Department of Music Artist-in-Residence Seth Parker Woods shares the second installment of the Department's new SOUND/SITES series. Combining music and architecture, SOUND/SITES features performances of new and traditional repertoire recorded in distinctive spaces across the University of Chicago campus. Woods's program features music by Monty Adkins, Nathalie Joachim, George Lewis, and Fredrick Gifford performed in emblematic arts spaces on the University's campus.

UChicago Presents' winter programming will also feature performances from three local ensembles captured on the University's campus and in Chicago. ~NOIS saxophone quartet and Axiom Brass will both offer streaming performances as 2020-21 Don Michael Randel Ensembles-in-Residence. ~NOIS's program, rescheduled from the fall, features music by Georg Friedrich Haas and Pauline Oliveros, and Axiom will perform works by University Professor Augusta Read Thomas, Evan Williams, and Alvin Etler. The Grossman Ensemble will replace its previously announced program with a slate of miniatures: duos, and trios composed for members of the ensemble.

In addition to local ensembles, this winter will bring performances by international and touring artists from New York City, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. On January 15, recorder virtuoso Tabea Debus, who was originally scheduled to perform in the Logan Center for the Arts, will share a duo performance of "ear worms" with lutenist Alon Sariel. On January 22, the Jazz Gallery All-Stars, an ensemble featuring leading voices of the current jazz generation, share their combined creative energies with a concert recorded at the Jazz Gallery in New York. Then, on January 29, in partnership with Town Hall in New York, UChicago Presents shares a streaming performance by Portuguese singer Mariza, the internationally renowned "queen" of the traditional Portuguese style called fado.

Tickets to all winter events will be available at chicagopresents.uchicago.edu beginning Tuesday, December 15. All events will be available for a 53-hour period beginning at 7:00 PM CT on the scheduled Friday and ending at 11:59 PM CT the following Sunday, with the exception of the January 29 concert featuring Mariza Nunes, which will be available for 48 hours ending at 7:00 pm CST on Sunday, January 31. More information is available at chicagopresents.uchicago.edu.

WINTER 2021 PROGRAMS

OHRWURM: TABEA DEBUS, RECORDER AND ALON SARIEL, LUTE

January 15 - 17 | $15 | ONLINE

In her program Ohrwurm, recorder virtuoso Tabea Debus joins lutenist Alon Sariel to explore how tunes and dances wormed their way into many aspects of music-making in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe-and, in traversing the centuries, the duo testifies to the earworm's secured place in modern life through contemporary compositions written for the duo. Partially supported by a gift from Louise K. Smith.

JAZZ GALLERY ALL-STARS

Miguel Zenón, alto saxophone; Morgan Guerin, tenor saxophone; Joel Ross, vibraphone; Charles Altura, guitar; Gerald Clayton, piano; Linda Oh, bass; Kendrick Scott, drums; Renee Neufville, voice

January 22 - 24 | $15 | ONLINE

Known as "the most imaginatively booked jazz club in New York" (New York Times), New York City's The Jazz Gallery has played host to generations of GRAMMY Award-nominees and winners, MacArthur Fellows, Thelonious Monk Competition winners and finalists, Critics' Poll-winners, and headliners at major international festivals. In celebration of its 25th anniversary, the Gallery brings together a special ensemble featuring many of the leading creative voices in jazz-all of whom have cut their teeth on its stage. Partially supported by a grant from the Revada Foundation.

MARIZA SINGS AMALIA

January 29 - 31 | $40-52 | ONLINE

For more than two centuries, the folk style of Fado has been synonymous with its home of Portugal, and in the last hundred years, it has been epitomized by just two singers: Amália Rodrigues, who commanded the Fado stage for more than six decades, and Mariza, who has reinvigorated the genre for the twenty-first century. To mark the centenary of the late "Queen of Fado," Mariza shares a streaming concert from her home of Lisbon, Portugal, featuring the songs that defined Amália's career and nearly a century of the genre.

HAYDN DISCOVERY: OP. 20, NO. 3 WITH THE ST. LAWRENCE STRING QUARTET

February 5 - 7 | $15, $20 with reception | ONLINE

Though well known as the "father" of the string quartet, Haydn is all too often overshadowed by his successors: Beethoven, Brahms, Shostakovich, etc. The St. Lawrence String Quartet is here to set things straight, turning the spotlight on the composer's genius and wit. In one of its unique "Discovery" programs, the award-winning ensemble reveals the inner workings of Haydn's quartet in G minor, Op. 20, No. 3, one of the works that would define the string quartet genre for generations. After the initial performance broadcast, the ensemble answers listener questions in a virtual audience reception. This concert is partially supported by Hanna Holborn Gray.

~NOIS

February 19 - 21 | $15, $20 with reception | ONLINE

In just four years, Chicago-based saxophone quartet ~NOIS has quickly emerged as one of the most exciting and engaging chamber music ensembles in the United States. As a 2020/21 Don Michael Randel resident ensemble, the prize-winning quartet will perform riveting music by contemporary composers Gemma Peacocke, Sam Pluta, Marcos Balter, Viet Cuong, Georg Friedrich Haas, and Pauline Oliveros.

SOUND/SITES: SETH PARKER WOODS, CELLO

February 26 - 28 | $15 | ONLINE

Seth Parker Woods, artist-in-residence at the University of Chicago, has been called "a cellist of power and grace" who possesses a "mature artistry and willingness to go to the brink" by The Guardian. In this streaming performance, Woods showcases the architecture and creative spaces of the University of Chicago with music by Fred Gifford, Nathalie Joachim, Monty Adkins, and George Lewis. A co-presentation of UChicago Presents and the Department of Music.

AXIOM BRASS

March 5 - 7 | $15, $20 with reception | ONLINE

With programs ranging from jazz and Latin music to transcriptions of string quartet repertoire and original compositions for brass quintet, Axiom Brass has been delighting audiences of all ages for more than a decade. In a virtual recital presented as part of its Don Michael Randel Residency, the quintet shares a kaleidoscope of musical colors and characters with Augusta Read Thomas's Avian Capriccio alongside music by Evan Williams and Alvin Etler.

MINIATURES: MEMBERS OF THE GROSSMAN ENSEMBLE

March 12 - 14 | FREE | ONLINE

In a concert centered on the ability of music to excite and inspire, members of the Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition's resident Grossman Ensemble share world premiere performances of new duos and trios written by Martha Horst, LJ White, Dongryul Lee, and Will Myers. The musicians also reflect on the music that inspires them, inviting the audience to join them in a virtual reception following the concert. Presented in partnership with the Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition.

Tickets to all winter events will be available at chicagopresents.uchicago.edu beginning Tuesday, December 15. All events will be available for a 53-hour period beginning at 7:00 PM CT on the scheduled Friday and ending at 11:59 PM CT the following Sunday, with the exception of the January 29 concert featuring Mariza Nunes, which will be available for 48 hours ending at 7:00 pm CST on Sunday, January 31.

UChicago Presents is supported in part by grants from the Illinois Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Arts Midwest Artstour fund, and the REVADA Foundation. Promotional support is provided by DownBeat magazine.

IN-PERSON CONCERTS CANCELED THROUGH MAY 2021

In light of the continuing pandemic and in consideration of University, city, and state guidelines, all in-person performances through May 2021 have been canceled. A decision regarding the scheduled June 4 performance by the Grossman Ensemble will be made at a later date. UChicago Presents will continue to offer performances and other programs digitally through the end of the season.

Subscribers who hold tickets to concerts originally scheduled for January - May 2021 have had the value of those tickets automatically applied as a credit on their account with the UChicago Arts Box Office. Account credit may be used to purchase admission to any virtual events in the 2020/21 season, with the exception the concert featuring Portuguese fado singer Mariza on January 29. Account credit may also be used to purchase subscriptions for the 2021/22 season, after they become available for sale. Subscribers may also contribute the value of their tickets to canceled concerts as a tax-deductible donation, or they may request a refund. To make a donation or request a refund, patrons should call 773.702.ARTS (2787) and leave their name, callback number, and a time when they can be reached.

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