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Chicago Tribune
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Classical and jazz for summer 2025: From concert halls to the open air of Millennium Park
Condolences to everyone's calendar. Despite sobering news of canceled summer festivals and slashed National Endowment for the Arts grants, Chicago summer — knock wood — looks to be as busy as ever. Classical and jazz programming alone is packed with blockbusters. Before the subscription arts season is out, Riccardo Muti is back at the Chicago Symphony, closing out the season with Verdi's Requiem, his calling card, and trumpeter Esteban Batallán as a featured soloist (June 12-24). After that, Giancarlo Guerrero begins his tenure as director of the Grant Park Music Festival, bringing with him a bevy of music by living and American composers (June 11-Aug. 16). Musicians and celebrity chefs team up for the Ravinia Festival's Breaking Barriers, with audiences taste-testing the results (July 25-27). Then, to close out the season, the Chicago Jazz Fest returns, this time with esperanza spalding, Monty Alexander, Kermit Ruffins and Eliades Ochoa as headliners (Aug. 28-31). But with so much excitement afoot, it's all too easy for other cultural highlights to get lost. Here's a handful to keep on your radar well ahead of summer's dog days. Before the boycott: Rosa Parks was just the most famous representative of a group of women who worked to desegregate Montgomery's public transit system in the 1950s. Chicago Opera Theater's 'She Who Dared' — with music by the talented young composer Jasmine Barnes and a libretto by Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton — foregrounds their overlooked story. June 3, 6 and 8 at the Studebaker Theater, 410 S. Michigan Ave., tickets $60-$160, Price's precocious champion: Still in his 20s, Randall Goosby has become one of the leading interpreters of Florence Price's music. The violinist brings her music — specifically her second violin concerto — back to its home city alongside the CSO and conductor Sir Mark Elder. June 5-7 at Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Ave., tickets $39-$299, What happens to music never heard?: In the case of Oscar Peterson's 'Africa,' it gets resurrected. Peterson performed and recorded movements of the suite throughout his career, but never the entire thing. Thanks to bandleader and arranger John Clayton, the late jazz pianist's epic finally sees the light of day. 8 p.m. June 13 at Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Ave., tickets $39-$299, Soundtrack to the 21st century: World-class soloists and contemporary classical music are both hallmarks of the Grant Park Music Festival, but they don't always converge. This summer is a refreshing change of pace, with several guest artists platforming pieces written in the new millennium. First among them: cellist Inbal Segev, who plays Mark Adamo's 'Last Year' (July 9) and Anna Clyne's 'Dance' (July 16) as this year's artist-in-residence. Also on tap are trumpeter Pacho Flores in Arturo Márquez's Concierto de Otoño (June 20-21); the Imani Winds in a concerto grosso penned by former ensemble member Valerie Coleman (June 25); mezzo-soprano J'Nai Bridges in Peter Lieberson's 'Neruda Songs' (Aug. 1 and 2 at Harris Theater); and Glen Ellyn native Jennifer Koh in Jennifer Higdon's epic 'The Singing Rooms' for solo violin, orchestra and chorus (Aug. 8 and 9). All at Millennium Park, 201 E. Randolph St., free admission, Paired pipes: From 2018 to 2020, Camille Thurman — as alluring a singer as she is a tenor saxophonist — made history as the first woman to join the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra roster. But she's a commanding, charismatic bandleader in her own right, as this local run of shows will no doubt co-sign. June 26-29 at the Jazz Showcase, 806 S. Plymouth Court, tickets $25-$45, more information at Big news for people who hit things: Chicago institution Third Coast Percussion is turning 20. The quartet rings in the milestone with 'Rhythm Fest,' an all-day bash with collaborators past and present. Noon to 10 p.m. June 28 at Epiphany Center for the Arts, 201 S. Ashland Ave., tickets $60-120 and $30 for students, Irakere at 50: The iconic Cuban ensemble technically celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023. Then again, no celebration is big enough to capture its outsized mark on contemporary Latin jazz. Founder and bandleader Chucho Valdés is joined by former bandmates Paquito D'Rivera and Arturo Sandoval — a rare convening of the genre's elder statesmen — for this one-night-only Ravinia extravaganza. 7:30 p.m. July 9 at the Ravinia Pavilion, 201 Ravinia Park Road, Highland Park, tickets $29-$65, One day, two premieres: Slather on sunscreen if you must, because new music fans are advised to post up at the Ravinia grounds on July 20. Steans Institute musicians debut a string quartet by American composer Joel Thompson at Bennett Gordon Hall (1:30 p.m.). A few short hours later, the CSO gives the first performance of Malek Jandali's 'Rhapsody for Orchestra' (5 p.m.). Both July 20 at Ravinia, 201 Ravinia Park Road, Highland Park, free admission for the Steans recital, tickets $15-$95 for the Pavilion concert, Early music everywhere: 'Baroque-and-before' need not mean 'boxed in.' Creative and unconventional early-music performances abound this summer, starting with 'Secret Byrd,' a theatricalized account of William Byrd's Mass for Five Voices devised by Bill Barclay. (Barclay was the mind behind 2023's excellent 'The Chevalier.') Meanwhile, at Ravinia, Cleveland- and Chicago-based early music troupe Apollo's Fire presents a 'dueling double concerto' program — as do actual fencers, demonstrating the sport on the lawn. Haymarket Opera Company also makes its festival debut with a semi-staged 'Alcina'; soprano Nicole Cabell, who starred in the company's recent 'L'Amant anonyme,' sings the title role. 'Secret Byrd,' two shows each, 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., on July 20 and 21 at Salvage One, 1840 W. Hubbard St., tickets $65-$75, 'Fencing Match' with Apollo's Fire, 7:30 p.m. Aug. 13 at Ravinia's Martin Theatre, tickets $15-$75, Handel's 'Alcina' with Haymarket Opera, 1 p.m. Aug. 24 at Ravinia's Martin Theatre, tickets $15-$75, Partitas na praia: Bach and Brazil meet in Plínio Fernandes. The São Paulo-born guitarist's 'Bacheando,' featuring Bach arrangements, was one of the illustrious Decca label's most striking 2023 releases. He picks up where the album left off with this Ravinia recital. 7:30 p.m. Aug. 26 at Ravinia's Bennett Gordon Hall, tickets $20,
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
City of Irondale donates $20K to Birmingham area nonprofit that works with autism community after losing grant
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — After losing a $50,000 grant due to cuts at the National Endowment for the Arts, the city of Irondale has stepped up to help a nonprofit dedicated to helping those with autism express themselves through art. On Thursday, Irondale Mayor James D. Stewart Jr. presented a $20,000 check to to Studio By The Tracks. The city's support was increased from previous years in order to help close the gap left by their unexpected loss of $50,000 in federal grant funding due to changes by the Trump administration. 'Studio by the Tracks is a vital part of our Irondale community—providing creative space, art instruction, and economic opportunities for individuals on the autism spectrum,' a statement on the city's Facebook page read. 'Their work uplifts not only the artists they serve, but the entire community through inclusion, expression, and empowerment.' Earlier this month, Studio by the Tracks announced that a $50,000 grant they had previously been awarded through the NEA's ArtsHERE program had been eliminated, initially putting plans for future programming in question. While the nonprofit uses several grants to operate, the ArtsHERE grant was the largest. 'I don't know what's going to happen with the youth program,' executive director Merrilee Challis told CBS 42 on May 13. 'It remains to be seen if the community will step up and shore up these losses.' Studio by the Tracks has been operating since 1989, offering classes to both children and adults on the autism spectrum. In fact, the studio also sells art made by these individuals, allowing artists 60% of the proceeds. The nonprofit is currently hosting a membership drive for $15 a month to help make up for lost funding. For more information, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
I Helped Pick National Endowment for the Arts Grant Recipients. Trump Eliminated Many of Them
At this year's Cannes Film Festival, Palme d'Or winner Jafar Panahi delivered the ultimate rebuke to the attempted censorship of art: His acclaimed It Was Just an Accident, in which a group of ex-prisoners kidnap their torturer, was made only a short time after his seven-month prison sentence. Over the years, Panahi has confronted attempts to restrict his work through various clandestine methods that may be instructive to Americans in the present climate. If that sounds extreme, look at the evisceration of recent National Endowment for the Arts grants that have proved vital to America's film culture. These decisions suggest an effort to suppress all but the most overt nationalistic efforts from American artists, a fool's errand given the outspoken nature of the creative community, and one that is not unfamiliar around the globe. Censorship has wormed its way into American cinema. More from The Hollywood Reporter Bono Weighs in on Trump-Bruce Springsteen Drama: "There's Only One Boss in America" Trump Pardons Rapper NBA Youngboy, Who Was Sentenced for Gun-Related Charges Trump Plans to Pardon Reality TV Stars Todd and Julie Chrisley In many other countries, efforts to reduce creativity to propaganda often lead to filmmakers navigating the system in unique ways, with some recent examples on display at this year's Cannes. We'll get to that shortly, but first, it's worth considering the immediate impact of the assault on the NEA. The organization's effects may register as minimal relative to film-financing efforts overseas. Watch any random movie in the Cannes selection and you're bound to see a parade of opening credits signaling production resources from across Europe, including many national film funds. America has never possessed any public financing body on that scale, but for years, at least it had the NEA. A week before Cannes, the Trump administration eliminated countless NEA grants that recipients — from theaters to arts organizations — expected to receive. Last summer, I served on an NEA panel that selected a few of these finalists. While I'm not at liberty to reveal those entities, many of them were critical to the support system necessary for cinema to thrive on America's margins: The list included film clubs, festivals, screening series and other collective efforts to sustain an expansive presence for moviegoing beyond the biggest commercial offerings. These funds rarely exceed tens of thousands of dollars, but they help sustain organizations that foster filmmaking on the local level, efforts that help ensure both audiences and artists continue to engage with movies as a part of America's entertainment infrastructure. The decision to disburse these funds unfolded under circumstances rarely discussed in public due to a confidentiality arrangement that, as far as I'm concerned, has been nullified by the cancellations. It was a democratic process the whole way through. NEA administrators shared dozens of applications for panelists to review and required that we share not only numerical scores, but also written comments for each one. This was followed by a series of Zoom conversations that allowed for greater nuance in the decisions made. In essence, the American government outsourced its support of the arts to the creative community. Throughout the deliberations, nobody used the letters 'DEI' to justify their decisions, though the future administration would later claim such logic was behind many of the canceled grants in the months to come. Instead, many of the conversations centered around geographic balance, as applicants from underserved arts communities in states ranging from New Mexico to Florida received special attention, even as established entities in big cities sailed through based on their obvious institutional needs. Because panelists had to provide written feedback with each application, it wasn't possible to simply skim applications for appealing buzzwords. By paying close attention to each submission, panelists grappled with not only the specific needs, but also how each organization or entity made the case. As a result, in early June, we convened to discuss a final top 10 that included a major university as well as several film festivals and financing bodies from across the country. Sure, some of them supported underrepresented communities — but they did more than that. Ironically, given the rhetoric around tariffs and overseas filmmaking taking away American jobs, these resources would have provided a valuable foundation for more production to take place on the local level. Instead, their cancellations amount to explicit censorship, as well as missed opportunities for economic growth. In light of that, this year's Cannes lineup was instructive in unexpected ways, as it demonstrated the way certain filmmakers navigate their own autocratic threats to freedom of expression. Only at Cannes could one find immediate parallels between Iran, Israel and Ukraine. All three countries produced major cinematic works that contend with life under oppressive leadership, despite those countries having oversight on the stories they tell. Panahi's It Was Just an Accident is a searing indictment of the country's regime. It's safe to say that no major filmmaker has courted the animus of his government as much as Panahi, who has found savvy ways to direct movies even while officially banned from making them. His diary-like home production This Is Not a Film was produced under house arrest, while the masterful Taxi was shot within the confines of a cab that the director himself drove around Tehran. Panahi was jailed for nearly seven months between 2022 and 2023, but stuck around upon his release to make It Was Just an Accident with his usual savviness. According to sources on the production, Panahi submitted the project to Iran's Ministry of Culture for shooting permits by describing it as a documentary. Sometimes you have to break the rules to produce the art worth fighting for. Then there is Nadav Lapid's Yes, which follows a hard-partying Tel Aviv couple conflicted over the war in Gaza. Lapid has long cast a critical gaze on his country with celebrated works such as Policeman and Syndromes, but Yes marks his first undertaking since the Oct. 7 attack. It's a brazen and shocking satire of a nation living comfortably while unspeakable horrors take place on their doorstep. Directing the movie in the immediate aftermath of Israel's Gaza invasion, Lapid had to work under guerrilla conditions, outsourcing his financing needs to France, and finding additional support from the independent financing body the Israel Film Fund. Lapid reportedly gained a secondary citizenship in France to receive international financing as a means of overcoming the limited support he received on the homefront, where the government was wary of his production during such divisive times. Censorship has gradually crept into Israeli society, with the government often taking a hard line against even the hint of pro-Palestinian sentiments in locally produced art. Lapid's new movie certainly has that, though it couches the perspective within a pair of protagonists clearly divided over their allegiances. This appears to have been a storytelling tactic that allowed the movie to sneak through the hurdles necessary to get made. One last example stems from a subtler form of censorship. In 2023, Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa was booted from the Ukrainian Film Academy after he voiced opposition to the decision to exclude Russian films from the European Film Awards. 'Many friends and colleagues, Russian filmmakers, have taken a stand against this insane war,' Loznitsa wrote in an open letter at the time. 'They are victims, as we are, of this aggression.' Loznitsa's latest movie, Two Prosecutors, serves as the next stage of that response. Set in the Soviet Union circa 1937, the bracing drama finds a newly graduated law student attempting to exonerate an imprisoned prosecutor falsely accused by Stalin's regime. An idealist who believes in the law, the young prosecutor finds himself lost in a Kafkaesque labyrinth of prison cells in his efforts to locate and assist the prisoner — who has resigned himself to his fate. Despite the gloomy overtones, Loznitsa's powerful movie asserts that goodness hides within the confines of institutional control, worming its way through the boundaries of bureaucratic red tape in an effort to do some good. In America, there is no shortage of similar stories demanding to be told, no matter the economic censorship that might slow them down. Seek international support, bury the lead or hide in the shadows to make the work as pure as possible: These are the global lessons for America from this year's Cannes Film Festival. 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Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Letters to the Editor: As NEA grants are targeted again, a reader recounts how one made an impact
To the editor: Upon receiving my bachelor of architecture degree in 1973, I was hired by the urban design unit of the city of Chicago's planning department. My job was to be the main writer of a community development guideline document for the redevelopment of the downtown banks of the Chicago River. This position was funded in its entirety by a National Endowment for the Arts grant, and the document was published in 1974 ('Art for art's sake, or the president's?' May 27). After moving to San Diego in 1982, my wife and I returned to Chicago in 2019. Much to my genuine glee, as we crossed the Michigan Avenue bridge over the Chicago River, I saw that nearly every concept in that NEA-funded document had come to fruition. The desired public-private investment into what was then a severely underutilized urban "amenity" had produced a full-of-life area in place of a semi-forgotten element of the city's core (except for when it's being dyed green on St. Patrick's Day). Accessibility, climate considerations and the like were promoted in that 1974 document, and the proof of its value was in that corridor. Would the city have paid for the document without the NEA? Perhaps, but with the NEA's help, I am sure it was created much sooner and now has proved its long-term value. Saving a relative few dollars on such a valuable resource (for all of the arts) makes little sense. Dan Linn, La Jolla This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
4 days ago
- General
- Los Angeles Times
Letters to the Editor: As NEA grants are targeted again, a reader recounts how one made an impact
To the editor: Upon receiving my bachelor of architecture degree in 1973, I was hired by the urban design unit of the city of Chicago's planning department. My job was to be the main writer of a community development guideline document for the redevelopment of the downtown banks of the Chicago River. This position was funded in its entirety by a National Endowment for the Arts grant, and the document was published in 1974 ('Art for art's sake, or the president's?' May 27). After moving to San Diego in 1982, my wife and I returned to Chicago in 2019. Much to my genuine glee, as we crossed the Michigan Avenue bridge over the Chicago River, I saw that nearly every concept in that NEA-funded document had come to fruition. The desired public-private investment into what was then a severely underutilized urban 'amenity' had produced a full-of-life area in place of a semi-forgotten element of the city's core (except for when it's being dyed green on St. Patrick's Day). Accessibility, climate considerations and the like were promoted in that 1974 document, and the proof of its value was in that corridor. Would the city have paid for the document without the NEA? Perhaps, but with the NEA's help, I am sure it was created much sooner and now has proved its long-term value. Saving a relative few dollars on such a valuable resource (for all of the arts) makes little sense. Dan Linn, La Jolla
