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special events taking place throughout the year at Symphony Center. We hope you enjoy it – and if so, that
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Is Music Dangerous?
 The launch of the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s new Beyond the Score concert series last November was a resounding
success! Wynne Delacoma of the Chicago Sun-Times called Beyond the Score “a winner” and
John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune thought it a “common ground on which newbies and seasoned
concertgoers can meet, learn and be entertained.”
The series continues on Sunday, January 29
at 3:00 p.m., exploring Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 4 and asking the question: is music dangerous?
Find out why this symphony was mysteriously withdrawn shortly before its premiere in Stalin’s Soviet Union
and what the Soviet government found threatening about this work. Or was it Shostakovich himself who withdrew
it because he feared for his life?
Curated by musical scholar and Russian music expert Gerard
McBurney, using narration, film clips and live musical samples, this innovative program gives audiences the
opportunity to fully explore a piece of music with all its hidden meanings and historical, social and political
context during the first half of the concert. Following intermission, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performs
the full work.
“I am very fired up by this project,” said Mr. McBurney, “and feel that
we could produce something of stunning and heart-breaking beauty.”
Dmitri Shostakovich wrote his
Symphony No. 4 in a Soviet Union that was darkened by the shadow of Josef Stalin’s oppressive government.
In that political climate, music played an essential role, expressing the ideas and feelings of a people who
otherwise had no voice. The audience will journey with Mr. McBurney and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra into the
Soviet Union during the 1930s for an in-depth look at Stalin’s despotic rule, as well as the fear and
resentment that rule inspired in the Soviets. Read
more...
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Jazz with Wynton Marsalis
A Symphony Center tradition for
years, Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra return to Chicago for their annual Orchestra Hall
residency later this month, with a Jazz at Symphony Center performance offered on Friday, January 27 at 8:00
p.m. and a Saturday morning Jazz for Young People™ education program on January 28 at
11:00 a.m.
Composed of fifteen of the finest jazz soloists and ensemble players on stage
today—led by superstar trumpeter Wynton Marsalis—the world-renowned Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra is
the resident orchestra of Jazz at Lincoln Center, the world’s largest not-for-profit arts organization
dedicated to jazz.
At Orchestra Hall on Friday night, the orchestra will explore the works of John
Coltrane, particularly his landmark composition A Love Supreme, along with works by Duke Ellington,
Charles Mingus and other acclaimed jazz composers. Read
more...
The following morning, Mr. Marsalis untangles the joyful sounds of New Orleans jazz in
his Jazz for Young People™ program for children ages 5 and up. Joined by members of the Lincoln
Center Jazz Orchestra, he explores the melting pot of music that gave rise to jazz in an engaging narrated
program. Read
more...
Jazz musician, trumpeter, composer, bandleader, advocate for the arts, and educator,
Wynton Marsalis has helped propel jazz to the forefront of American culture. He has received nine
Grammy® Awards—and is the only artist to receive them in both classical and jazz
music—he is the first jazz musician to win a Pulitzer Prize, and he holds honorary degrees from
universities including Columbia, Brown, Princeton and Yale. In 1987 Mr. Marsalis co-founded the jazz program at
Lincoln Center and he has been music director of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra since its inception.
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Just Added for February: Flamenco Great Vicente
Amigo
Symphony Center has just added one of
Spain’s most celebrated flamenco guitarists, Vicente Amigo, to its February 2006 concert lineup, offering
a special concert on Tuesday, February 7 at 8 p.m. This performance is part of the Instituto Cervantes
de Chicago’s Flamenco 2006 annual festival and marks Mr. Amigo’s first performance at Symphony
Center since he made his Chicago debut here in 2002.
In 1991, Mr. Amigo’s debut solo album De
Mi Corazon al Aire led to Guitar Player magazine naming him Best International Flamenco Guitarist.
He has since won four Premios de la Musica (Spanish Grammy) Awards and a Latin Grammy Award. His latest
recording, Un momento en el sonido, was released in April 2005 on the BMG label. Accompanied by
musicians including Tino DiGeraldo and Joan Albert Amargós, Mr. Amigo explores a variety of musical
styles on the album—bulerías, soleá, tangos and rumbas, to name a few—showcasing both
his capacity for musical evolution and the artistic integrity he for which he is known. Read
more...
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John Adams in Chicago
The Chicago
Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, will perform renowned American composer John
Adams’ Naive and Sentimental Music as part of subscription concerts offered at Symphony Center on
Thursday, February 19 at 8:00 p.m., Friday, February 20 at 1:30 p.m., Saturday, February 21 at 8:00 p.m.,
and Sunday, February 22 at 3:00 p.m.
Mr. Adams is the inaugural recipient of the Michael Ludwig
Nemmers Prize in Musical Composition, a biennial award administered by the Northwestern University School of
Music. Naive and Sentimental Music has been programmed on these CSO concerts to coincide with his year
long Chicago residency at Northwestern University.
Mr. Adams will participate in a special pre-concert
lecture with CSO Mead Composer-in-Residence Augusta Read Thomas on Thursday, January 19 at 7:00 p.m.
Admission is free with that day’s Chicago Symphony Orchestra concert ticket. Joining Naive and
Sentimental Music on this set of programs will be Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 4 with CSO Associate
Principal Horn Daniel Gingrich as soloist, and Sibelius’ Symphony No. 5. Read
more...
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CSO Welcomes New Musicians
The Chicago
Symphony Orchestra looks forward to welcoming two new faces to the stage of Orchestra Hall with the additions
of Eugene Izotov (Principal Oboe) and Susanna Drake (Assistant/Utility Horn) to its roster.
Ms. Drake
joins the CSO on January 23, 2006. She comes to Chicago having performed regularly as a freelancer with the San
Francisco Symphony, LucasArts Productions, the California Symphony, and the Santa Rosa Symphony.
Mr.
Izotov begins his new position with the CSO next September at the start of the Orchestra’s 2006-2007
season. Mr. Izotov comes to Chicago from the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, where he has served as Principal
Oboe since 2002. Before joining the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Mr. Izotov was Associate Principal Oboe of
the San Francisco Symphony from 1996 to 2002, and Principal Oboe of the Kansas City Symphony from 1995 to 1996.
Welcome Eugene and Susanna!
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Civic Orchestra’s Free Master
Classes
Conductor Alan Gilbert leads the
Civic Orchestra of Chicago in selected movements from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in the first of a series
of three Civic Orchestral Master Classes on Saturday, January 14 at 1 p.m. For the first time this
season, in addition to its ongoing schedule of free orchestra concerts presented at Symphony Center, the Civic
Orchestra will open three of its rehearsals to the public, sharing the preparatory process of an orchestra
under the leadership of esteemed conductors with the audience.
Founded in 1919, the Civic Orchestra of
Chicago is the only training orchestra affiliated with a major American orchestra, the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra. The principal goal of the Civic Orchestra program is to recruit a diverse group of gifted
pre-professional musicians, train them at the highest level as orchestra players, and further develop skills of
advocacy and mentoring which are essential to the role of orchestral musicians in communities, now and in the
future. Members of the Civic Orchestra present numerous free full-orchestra concerts at Symphony Center and
chamber concerts throughout the Chicago area each season.
The Master Classes are free, but
tickets are required and are available through PhoneCharge at 312-294-3000, CSO’s Web site at www.cso.org,
or the Symphony Center Box Office. Read
more...
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Afterwork Masterworks
Following the success of its first
Afterwork Masterworks concert series in 2004-2005, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra once again offers its
rush-hour performances in 2005-2006, featuring CSO concerts with a shorter, more casual format. Come right
after work, or right from home, to a stress-free, early and affordable concert.
The Afterwork
Masterworks series continues with a program of music by Copland and Dvořák on Wednesday,
January 11 at 6:30 p.m. Alan Gilbert, music director of the Santa Fe Opera and chief conductor and
artistic advisor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, leads the CSO and internationally acclaimed
bass Kevin Deas in a 90-minute, no-intermission concert of Dvořák's Symphony No. 7 and Copland's
Old American Songs.
The third Afterwork Masterworks concert of this season is on Wednesday,
February 8 at 6:30 p.m. with guest conductor David Robertson leading the CSO in music by Beethoven and
Sibelius.
Guests can learn more about the music with pre-concert commentary; following each
Afterwork Masterworks program, concertgoers are invited to stay and mingle at an informal Q&A
session with guest artists and CSO musicians in Symphony Center’s Grainger Ballroom, hosted by Marc
Geelhoed, classical music writer for Time Out Chicago. Read
more...
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Happy Birthday Mozart!
 January 27, 2006 marks the
250th anniversary of Mozart’s birthday. To celebrate, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra has
programmed an extended list of favorite Mozart works in January and following months.
Find all the
programs that include Mozart
here.
But Orchestra Hall is not the only place where you will find this brilliant Austrian
composer this year: the Symphony Store carries many Mozart-related items; from Mozart CDs to Mozart socks, from
Mozart coasters to, yes, Mozart action figures!
Stop by the symphony store at 220 South Michigan
Avenue, just north of Orchestra Hall, or visit us online at www.cso.org/symphonystore. Shop for CSO memorabilia,
books, CDs, DVDs, posters, toys, and apparel. Whether you are looking for a rare CSO recording to fill out your
collection or for unique holiday gifts, the Symphony Store can help.
Remember, all purchases from the
store support the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Store hours: Monday – Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Sunday,
12 noon - 6 p.m. On concert evenings, the store stays open until 30 minutes after the performance.
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Symphony Center, home to the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra, offers more than 200 concerts of the finest classical, jazz, world music and family programs each
year from September through June. For a complete list of the 2005-2006 season offerings, please go to www.cso.org.
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