Dan Tepfer, Fine Arts Quartet, New Millennium Orchestra, Fine Arts Quartet, Nu Directions Chamber Brass
National Pastime Theater - Mason Hall
09/10/2012 03:00 PM CDT
$30 - $60
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Dan Tepfer
Dan Tepfer is a New York-based pianist and composer and one of the most formidable jazz musicians on the international stage — hailed as “brilliant” by The Boston Globe, “remarkable” by The Washington Post, a “player of exceptional poise” by the New York Times, “a singular voice” by Libération (France). By age 29, he has performed the world over in contexts ranging from solo piano to full orchestra, chronicling his talents on the solo disc Twelve Improvisations in Twelve Keys (2009) as well as the trio sessions Before the Storm (2005), Oxygen (2007) and Five Pedals Deep, his 2010 Sunnyside release with bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Ted Poor. Dan has also had the extraordinary privilege of a sustained, ongoing duo partnership with alto saxophonist and jazz luminary Lee Konitz, documented on the acclaimed 2009 Sunnyside CD Duos With Lee (“a benchmark of human potential” – JazzInsideNY). As France’s Jazz Magazine has noted, Dan is “gifted with a heightened sense for form and an extraordinary confidence in his angles of attack.” His playing, whatever the context, is a model of fluidity and steady, effortless motion, immersed in jazz history but creating new history in turn.
Fine Arts Quartet
The Fine Arts Quartet, now celebrating its 66th anniversary, is one of the most distinguished ensembles in chamber music today, with an illustrious history of performing success and an extensive recording legacy. Founded in Chicago in 1946, and based at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee since 1963, the Quartet is one of the elite few to have recorded and toured internationally for over half a century. Violinists Ralph Evans and Efim Boico, who have performed together in the Quartet for nearly 30 years, were joined by violist Nicolò Eugelmi in 2009 and cellist Robert Cohen in 2012. Each season, the Quartet tours worldwide, with concerts in such musical centers as New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Madrid, Moscow, Tokyo, Beijing, Jerusalem, Mexico City, and Toronto.
The Quartet has recorded over 200 works. Their most recent releases have received many awards and distinctions, among them: "Gramophone award-winner and recording of legendary status" (2012 Gramophone Classical Music Guide), "Key Recording/Top Recommendation" (2010 Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music), "Editor's Choice", (Gramophone Magazine, 2010), "One of Best Classical Recordings of 2009" (ArkivMusic), "Recording of the Year 2009" (Musicweb International), "BBC Music Magazine Choice" (2008). Releases planned for 2012-13 include chamber masterpieces by Schumann and Saint-Saëns. Please visit: www.fineartsquartet.org
New Millennium Orchestra
The musicians of the New Millennium Orchestra of Chicago are as versatile as they are virtuosic, bringing passion and a sense of adventure to the concert experience. The orchestra, led by conductor Francesco Milioto, boasts a repertoire that ranges from traditional and contemporary masterworks of classical and popular music to genre-bending forays into live remixes, improvisations, world music, and multi-media performances.
Hailed by Time Out Chicago as “one of the best additions to the city’s scene,†the New Millennium Orchestra has appeared at Orchestra Hall, the Ravinia Festival, the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, the 2010 Sonar:Chicago Festival, the 2008 Museum of Modern Ice in Millennium Park, and Chicago’s Looptopia festival, and has been a Performing Partner at the Chicago Cultural Center since 2005. Featured collaborators have included members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the International Contemporary Ensemble, the Grammy-award winning group eighth blackbird, DJ Spooky, Michael Kang of String Cheese Incident, saxophonist and composer Greg Ward, The Flashbulb, the garage-girl group Hollows, and the Grammy-nominated rapper Lupe Fiasco.
The ensemble is especially noted for its engaging children’s concerts, appearing on the Kraft Kids Series at Ravinia and the Family Series at the Harris Theater. Its popular DJ Beethoven concert introduces children to a year in the life of the orchestra, with a program that includes a Beethoven Symphony, opera arias, the sounds of Bollywood, and brings the house down with jazz band, string orchestra, and turntablist coming together for Greg Ward’s jazz-funk Adrenaline.
The 2012 season boasts two full-orchestra debuts for the New Millennium Orchestra: on February 23rd, the NMO will appear at the Harris Theater to perform CSO composer in residence Mason Bates’ “Mothership”, Concert Artists Guild winner Claire Chase in Saariaho’s concerto for flute and orchestra, “L’aile du songe”, and Brahms’ unforgettable 4th Symphony. In the summer, the orchestra will co-produce Viktor Ullmann’s one-act opera “Der Kaiser Von Atlantis,” written while the composer was displaced by the Nazis during the holocaust.
Fine Arts Quartet
The Fine Arts Quartet, now celebrating its 66th anniversary, is one of the most distinguished ensembles in chamber music today, with an illustrious history of performing success and an extensive recording legacy. Founded in Chicago in 1946, and based at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee since 1963, the Quartet is one of the elite few to have recorded and toured internationally for over half a century. Violinists Ralph Evans and Efim Boico, who have performed together in the Quartet for nearly 30 years, were joined by violist Nicolò Eugelmi in 2009 and cellist Robert Cohen in 2012. Each season, the Quartet tours worldwide, with concerts in such musical centers as New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Madrid, Moscow, Tokyo, Beijing, Jerusalem, Mexico City, and Toronto.
The Quartet has recorded over 200 works. Their most recent releases have received many awards and distinctions, among them: "Gramophone award-winner and recording of legendary status" (2012 Gramophone Classical Music Guide), "Key Recording/Top Recommendation" (2010 Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music), "Editor's Choice", (Gramophone Magazine, 2010), "One of Best Classical Recordings of 2009" (ArkivMusic), "Recording of the Year 2009" (Musicweb International), "BBC Music Magazine Choice" (2008). Releases planned for 2012-13 include chamber masterpieces by Schumann and Saint-Saëns. Please visit: www.fineartsquartet.org
Nu Directions Chamber Brass
NU DIRECTIONS CHAMBER BRASS is a contemporary chamber ensemble dedicated to breaking down barriers of musical categories. This rhythmically explosive genre-bending brass and percussion ensemble brings together classical, jazz, and free improvising musicians to combine their talents and form a new innovative brand of chamber music. NDCB is comprised of two trumpets, two trombones, and two percussionists. Each musician offers his or her own voice to create a truly unique sound.
Trumpet artist, composer, and NDCB founder Thomas Madeja created this ensemble in response to a growing need for accessibly presented original sounding contemporary music. This also drives the group’s commitment to education. In a concert setting, master class, or interactive recital, NDCB invites its audience to experience its unique creative process.
There are no limitations in regard to performance venues either. NDCB has performed in such varied institutions as concert halls, schools, salons, museums, churches, and jazz and nightclubs. Audiences from all walks of life continue to be intrigued and stimulated by this truly one of a kind ensemble.
Venue Information
National Pastime Theater - Mason Hall
941 W. Lawrence Ave
Chicago, IL 60640
http://www.npt2.com/