Our final music column of the year looks ahead to the numerous events already crowding the January 2008 calendar. Of course, the seasons of Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra continue in full force with several weekly performances. Here are a few of the many other musical offerings.
The vocal music year kicks off with a concert by VOX 3, the innovative vocal music collective dedicated to the wide-ranging literature of the art song. Their upcoming programs, scheduled for Jan. 13 ( Skokie Public Library ) and Jan. 19 ( Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Addison Street, Chicago ) , include From Russia with Love, featuring songs by Rachmaninov, Mussorgsky, Medtner and Tchaikovsky. The four-voice ensemble will be supplemented by a real, Russian pianist, Irina Feoktistova, who will perform solo pieces by Russian composers. By the way, VOX 3 performances are free!
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Pictured: Rodrick Dixon is in Too Hot to Handel. Photo by Dan Rest
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Northwestern University School of Music's Winter 2008 voice and opera season begins Jan. 15 at the unusual time of 11 a.m. with a master class led by world-renowned American soprano Renée Fleming, who's in town to sing Violetta in six January performances of La Traviata at Lyric Opera of Chicago. The Fleming master class will be held at Pick-Staiger Hall on Northwestern's Evanston campus, 50 Arts Circle, or Cahn Auditorium, 600 Emerson as noted below. At just $7, this is a real deal, even if Fleming herself won't actually be singing, ( except, perhaps, to demonstrate a point to her students ) . 847-467-4000.
Singing Alfredo Germont to Fleming's Violetta at Lyric Opera will be the distinguished young lyric tenor Matthew Polenzani. But he'll also make a far more intimate personal appearance at the Village Players Theatre, Oak Park, at 8 p.m. Jan. 22. He'll sing a few arias and answer questions in an evening that includes champagne and hors d'oeuvres. This is a rare chance to see and meet a rising international opera star up close and personal. 866-764-1010; $50 ( benefit for the Village Players ) .
In an annual celebration in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University once again presents Too Hot to Handel: The Jazz-Gospel Messiah, modestly dubbed a soulful reinvention of the classic oratorio. It goes down Jan. 19-20 with a company of 200 performers fronted by soloists including tenors Rodrick Dixon and Victor Trent Cook ( both of the original Three Mo' Tenors ) and soprano Alfreda Burke. The company also includes the citywide Too Hot Choir and a 50-piece symphony orchestra and a jazz ensemble, the whole shebang under the baton of conductor Suzanne Acton. 312-902-1500: $30-$59.
The Chicago Sinfonietta also offers its annual Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Jan. 20 ( Lund Auditorium, Dominican University, River Forest ) and Jan. 21 ( Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Avenue ) . The program combines dance, gospel music and orchestral pieces, both traditional and modern, as performed by the Chicago Sinfonietta; Deeply Rooted Dance Theater; guest violinists Christina Castelli and Melissa White; and the 200-voice Apostolic Church of God Sanctuary Choir. The whole shebang will be under the baton of Paul Freeman, the Chicago Sinfonietta's founder and musical director. 312-236-3681 ext. 2; $26 - $40 ( Lund Auditorium ) , $26 -$96 ( Orchestra Hall ) .
For innovative contemporary music and multidisciplinary performance art, the only place to be in January is the Museum of Contemporary Art ( MCA ) , which is chock-a-block with events. The MCA offers a Jan. 12 double bill of Contempo and the Graznya Auguscik Sextet with Jarek Bester; Contempo being the contemporary classical music ensemble of the University of Chicago led by Shulamit Ran, and the later being vocalist Graznya Auguscik and band, plus solo accordionist Bester. Yes, this concert is an effing mouthful; 312-397-4010; $19-$24.
The MCA also presents the Chicago Chamber Musicians in a Jan. 25, fully-staged performance of The Tyrant, by Paul Dresher, a chamber opera based on a story by the intriguing author Italo Calvino. 312-397-4010; $24. FYI: the Chicago Chamber Musicians also will the present one-hour matinee family concerts ( kids four and up ) , Classical Idol, at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Jan. 19-20; 312-595-5600; $18 ( adults ) . The interactive concerts are designed to introduce kids to the personalities of the various families of traditional instruments.
One of the great stars of Lyric Opera of Chicago is the Lyric Opera Chorus, heralded year after year for its outstanding vocal and staging contributions to each season. Lyric Opera will hold auditions in January for experienced, classically trained singers in all voice categories for the choral ensemble for the 2008-2009 season. There are daytime and evening audition hours Jan. 14-18 and Jan. 26, but all appointments are by invitation only. First thing, send a current resume and photo to: Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chorus Auditions Coordinator, 20 North Wacker, Suite 860, Chicago, IL 60606. Full requirements and details are available at www.lyricopera.org ( click About Lyric link ) , or by e-mailing choraud@lyricopera.org . No resumes are accepted after Jan. 7 and there are no walk-in auditionees. FYI: the chorus is paid.
