Music

Pre-Season Recital – Grant Park Music Festival – May 29, 2026

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The event took place at an undisclosed location, to you, not me. I was not loaded into an unmarked van with tinted windows by Festival agents with ear mics and taken blindfolded through the mean streets of Chicago. But, in the hope that I might someday be invited back to the same location, I’ll be discreet.

I was told that the attendees would be treated to “a performance by acclaimed pianist Clayton Stephenson.” Having seen Stephenson play brilliantly the last two summers at the Festival, that alone would have been enough to lure me in, but we also were promised spectacular views of the Chicago skyline, an impressive personal art collection, curated wines and abundant hors d’oeuvres.

All the promises were delivered upon. Stephenson entertained us with Pictures from an Exhibition and an encore of Take the A Train. The former was particularly appropriate given the massive collection lining the walls of the host’s gigantic four-story home, though I must say, heathen that I am, that I was more interested in the game room that included ping pong and pool tables, especially because none of the pool cues appeared to be warped, a first in my experience.

If you’re anywhere near Ulm, Germany, birthplace of Albert Einstein, in late June, try to catch Stephenson playing Gershwin with the Ulm Philharmonic Orchestra.

Magellan Arts, Made in America Gala – Chicago History Museum – May 13, 2026

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Bernstein, Copland, Ellington, Ives, Joplin, Lerner and Lowe, Price, Rodgers and Hammerstein. Gershwin. Who could ask for anything more?

Another great program assembled by violinist Philippe Quint, his fourth in this new series, this time optimistically celebrating the upcoming 250th anniversary of America, wrapping up a year of these concerts at the Chicago History Museum.

Quint was once again joined by a talented group of musicians, including Matt Herskowitz on the piano, who arranged several of the selections, and still, five months after her last performance at this venue, terrific, 14-year-old violinist Katherine Schafenbuel. If she’s still just 14 years old next time, I’m calling for an investigation.

The musicians were joined, for the Florence Price number, by two young dancers from the Grainger Academy of the Joffrey Ballet. Quint’s wife, Christine Rocas, current rehearsal director and former lead dancer with the Joffrey, who spoke briefly to the crowd, apparently still has some connections there.

We also were graced with the impressive voices of mezzo Angelo Born and baritone Khary Laurent in bringing us the show tunes on the program.

The one thing I was going to ask for more of was these performances, but Quint beat me to the punch by announcing that there would be.

Chicago Sings Broadway’s British Invasion – Porchlight Music Theatre at House of Blues – May 11, 2026

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I’m hard pressed to come up with a logical stream of consciousness regarding this year’s Chicago Sings event, so I will just dive (or diva) into some extremely random thoughts.

I got the chance to have a nice pre-show chat with this year’s Guy Adkins Award recipient, Mark David Kaplan, whom I saw recently as Mr. Mushnik in Little Shop of Horrors. In addition to his talent, what a nice guy, but I’m afraid, a bit of a close talker.

The room wasn’t as cold as last year, but still not shorts weather.

The British Invasion, as with the Revolutionary War, apparently hasn’t been entirely successful for them, at least as far as I’m concerned. I’ve seen less than half the shows that were represented, though only one of them was totally unfamiliar.

One of the shows is coming to Broadway next year – Paddington: The Musical. Seriously?! I think I’ll take a pass, and this is coming from someone who enjoyed SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical.

How do you put out a casting call for a singing bear? Well, if I’m reading the West End production website cast list correctly, you find one person to do voice and remote puppetry and someone else to be the on-stage bear.

I lip synched in a show one year and have worn various furry costumes in other shows, but never combined the two disciplines, or, in my case, undisciplined. So kudos to Paddington, but I still won’t see it.

All of Porchlight’s invading performers, including the band, were wonderful, as usual, even though, unlike last year, when there were three, there were no Moes in the group.

One final note – I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t recognize Aja Alcazar, whom I just saw at Northlight Theatre in the Angel Next Door. But, in fairness to me, she was the angel next door, and the door was usually closed, so I didn’t see that much of her.

Civic Orchestra Tuesdays at Two Concert – Buchanan Chapel – Fourth Presbyterian Church – March 17, 2026


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Over the years I’ve written over two dozen times about the Fourth Presbyterian Church’s Friday Noonday Concerts, which represents only a fraction of the times I’ve attended the events.

The church has now instituted a new concert series, or at at least I hope it will be ongoing, and I have reason to believe it will be based upon my eavesdropping skills, though no future Civic Orchestra Tuesday appearances are yet listed on the church’s concert page. (BTW, eavesdropper dates back to the late, Middle Ages and relates to the two-foot buffer, building regulation, back when regulations were still allowed and seen as a good thing.)

A string quartet from the orchestra created the blueprint for future success of the series by playing a delightful program of Ravel, Shostakovich and Montgomery in front of a full house.

Gallery Conversation: George Gershwin and the Color of Jazz – Art Institute Chicago – Feb. 27, 2026

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Loren Wright, assistant director in Interpretation (who knew there was such thing?) at the Art Institute, led the event. Per the museum’s website, Interpretation in this context, is the “highly collaborative,” way of making “sure the galleries are accessible and relatable to visitors.”

Wright did just that as we first stood in front of Marc Chagall’s America Windows, which, appropriately, are not only are blue, but also feature panels suggesting urban life and music, for her presentation about Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, complete with a few moments of listening pleasure.

The thought of too much audience participation is always a little off-putting in these situations, but the attendees proved to be knowledgable, appropriately inquisitive and considerate of time constraints while reacting to Wright’s prodding questions about the art, the music and their interrelationship.

We moved en masse to Archibald Motley”s painting Blues, depicting a Paris nightclub, for a discussion that, not surprisingly, included Gershwin’s An American in Paris.

Finally, we literally turned around to see Thomas Hart Benton’s The Cotton Pickers and accompanied that with conversation about Gershwin’s controversial Porgy and Bess and his song Summertime, along with quick excerpts of Louis Armstrong/Ella Fitzgerald and Audra McDonald versions of it.

No one left the program feeling blue.

Chamber Music Immersive – A Holiday Special: Celebration with Vivaldi and Bach – Chicago History Museum – Dec. 16, 2025

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Violinist Philippe Quint was at it again. Accompanied by the Magellan Chamber Orchestra, the program included J. S. Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins, featuring a duet with 14-year-old prodigy Katherine Schaufenbuel, who lived up to the hype about her, and not just one or two, but all four of Vivaldi’s Seasons.

Vivaldi, himself, made an appearance to read the sonnets he had written to introduce the concertos. He might have fooled me, given his costume, wig and Italian accent, but he read the pieces in English, so I deduced that it was an actor, and a rather hammy one at that, which helped explain why, despite Quint’s urging, there were no questions for Antonio from the audience.

The evening also included an exhibit of rare, priceless instruments (actually I heard the figure 15 million dollars bandied about, though any security measures were subtle) by Chicago’s Stradivari Society.  Later, a few instruments formed the basis for Quint’s “violin tasting” (his words), wherein he successively, and successfully, played the same passage on one after the other. I couldn’t tell the difference and Quint didn’t rate them for the attendees, so I’m not sure what the point was. A wine tasting would have been more pleasing.

John C. Reilly is Mister Romantic – Steppenwolf Theatre – Dec. 5, 2025

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I’ve seen Mr. Saturday Night, Mister Roberts and now Mister Romantic, John C. Reilly’s one-man show, if you don’t count the four musicians, but you should, because they’re great.

The evening started when said musicians marched down an aisle to the stage, playing a New Orleans-type walking song. What most caught my attention was the performer who was playing the coronet with one hand, while simultaneously playing the accordion with the other. I later prided myself for this mental note when Reilly, at the end of the show, acknowledged that same skill for the audience.

Reilly, at first, was nowhere to be seen, but suspicions grew when the quartet, after reaching their destination, pulled a steamer trunk, with the words Mister Romantic on it, from stage left. Sure enough, a vaudevillian-like-appearing Reilly arose from the luggage to greet the crowd and announce that he had no memory, other than that he had to find someone who would love him forever in order to be freed from the box.

What followed was Reilly beautifully singing classics such as Dream, What’ll I Do and You Don’t Know Me, accompanied by the musicians he claimed not to know (but was pleased that they knew the same songs he did), and augmented by a lot of amusing schtick, including a fair amount of miming and interaction with the audience, with the hope of finding eternal love and never having to return to his portable home.

He added a little extra spice to the show with a rendition of Earl Okin’s “My Room,” before which he suggested that any children head to the lobby for popcorn.

His quest was not gender specific, as he walked into the audience to engage, rather closely (after asking consent), for a few minutes each, two women and two men, one of whom was me. If I were a rabid fan, I would never wash my eyebrows again.

Fall Impresario Society Soirée – Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park – Nov. 19, 2025

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First things first. The brownies were good.

I accidentally found a different entrance to the Millennium Park Garage that I might be able to find again. Exiting was a whole different adventure that I might not be able to repeat, or want to. In fairness to me, there was some construction going on and the brownies may have affected my cognitive abilities.

Entertainment was provided by the Murasaki Duo, composed of the husband and wife team of Eric Kutz, cello and Miko Kominami, piano. They were terrific, playing selections from Nadia Boulanger and Sergei Rachmaninov.

Kutz also was something of a raconteur, my favorite story being about their son, who, when he was young, assisted the duo by being Kominami’s page turner. The son was not present and, according to Kutz, now complains that he was replaced by technology, that is, the wireless, page-turning foot pedal, a scary turn of events that not even Heinlein, Clarke or Wells could have predicted. As far as I, or AI, can tell, The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees does not include a category for page turners.

The other interesting thing about the duo is the origin of their name, being an homage to Lady Murasaki (Shikibu), said by some to be the author of the world’s first novel, The Tale of Genji, in the early 11th century. At least a dozen versions (and a study guide) are available for purchase on Amazon. I’m guessing that the original copyright has run out.

Chamber Music Immersive: Charlie Chaplin’s Smile with Philippe Quint – Chicago History Museum – Nov. 18, 2025

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When I saw Philippe Quint at the Chicago History Museum in May, I mentioned what a terrific musician he is. I now would like to add, based on this latest event, that he also is creative, knowledgeable, a good storyteller, funny and joyful. Too much?

The word immersive is thrown about rather casually these days as a buzz word in describing various types of entertainment. In the sense of being interactive, or in the middle of the action (like the Production of Making Marilyn Miller I previously wrote about), this concert was not. Audience members were not part of The Matrix. They neither played instruments nor mingled with the performers while they played.

The show was, however, multimedia in nature and terrific in execution. There were photos, and some video from The Great Dictator, Limelight, The Kid, A King in New York, Monsieur Verdoux, City Lights, The Vagabond and Charlie’s New Job. Quint provided numerous Chaplin anecdotes and he and pianist Jun Cho played selections from the Chaplin movies and other pieces that related to Chaplin’s interests and friendships, for examples, music by Stravinsky and Gershwin.

As to the latter, Chosen Mitchell, a musical theater major at the Chicago College of the Performing Arts, demonstrated a wide range while singing Summertime and I Got Rhythm.

The highlight of the evening was Quint and Cho collaborating, to play live, replacing the movie’s recorded score, Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No. 5 from the barbershop scene in The Great Dictator, perfectly synched with the film. Quint, charming as always, suggested that you shouldn’t try this at home.

Bloom/Funkhouser Duo: Salute to Duke Ellington – 4th Presbyterian Church – Nov. 17, 2025

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The Funkhouser of Bloom/Funkhouser is not Marty Funkhouser, from Curb Your Enthusiasm, played by the great Bob Einstein, although there was a 2008 movie entitled Einstein and Eddington (not Ellington) about the relationship between Albert Einstein (the scientist, not Bob’s brother, better known as Albert Brooks) and British scientist Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington. Too bad.

Also too bad was that the salute to the Duke was performed on piano (as it should be) and flute (as it shouldn’t be). Just because you can (both members of the duo are accomplished musicians), doesn’t mean you should. See Jurassic Park.

Where’s a saxophone when you need one?

As far as I can tell, the first time a flute was played in Ellington’s band was 1970, 31 years after a 24-year-old Billy Strayhorn penned “Take the ‘A’ Train” for Ellington and only four years before Ellington passed away, though I’m not suggesting that the introduction of the flute into the group was in some way a causal factor. Ian Anderson is still performing at age 78.