Classical music and jazz for winter 2023: No doldrums, simply drums

I can’t assist myself: Taking inventory of the humanities calendar, repeatedly, I discover it exhausting to restrict these lists to simply 10 suggestions. However it’s an excellent downside to have, and — with many knocks on wooden — a far cry from final 12 months’s winter information, when the omicron variant swept many venues’ gig calendars clear.

Under, our information to the season’s can’t-miss reveals within the metropolis and ‘burbs:

A string sing at Northwestern: Bassist Xavier Foley was not only a MusicNOW spotlight however a Symphony Middle spotlight when he carried out at November’s “Frequent Floor” program. On Jan. 6, Foley joins the Calidore String Quartet to kick off the annual Winter Chamber Music Competition. As in earlier years, the headlines tilt towards string quartets: The Isidore (Jan. 13), New Orford (Jan. 15) and Jupiter (Jan. 22) quartets are additionally amongst this 12 months’s visiting artists. Jan 6-22, Choose-Staiger Live performance Corridor, 50 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston; tickets are $30 at music.northwestern.edu

Symphonic seekers: If orchestral works by dwelling composers are your factor, Chicagoland’s regional ensembles have a greater batting common than the large guys at 220 S. Michigan. This winter, the Chicago Philharmonic and the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra current a powerful run of native and world premieres, even by their very own adventurous yardstick. On Jan. 14, the Chicago Philharmonic and guitar titan Sharon Isbin carry out the North American premiere of Tan Dun’s guitar concerto “Yi2″; this system additionally options cellist Joshua Roman in Tan’s Crouching Tiger concerto and a fee by resident composer Reinaldo Moya. The Illinois Philharmonic’s Feb. 25 live performance spotlights a brand new work by its personal composer-in-residence Jonathan Cziner and cellist Inbal Segev performs the Midwest premiere of “Human Archipelago” by pianist-composer Vijay Iyer, among the many commissionees for her bold “20 for 2020″ recording mission. Then, on March 11, the IPO premieres Augusta Learn Thomas’ new setting of Gwendolyn Brooks poems.

• “Tan Dun: Yi2 and Crouching Tiger Concerto,” 7:30 p.m. Jan. 14, Harris Theater, 205 E. Randolph St.; tickets are $35-$75 at chicagophilharmonic.org
• “Iyer & Sibelius,” 7:30 p.m. Feb. 25; “Debussy, Ravel & Thomas,” 3 p.m. March 11. Ozinga Chapel at Trinity Christian School, 6601 W. School Drive, Palos Heights; tickets are $10-$74 at ipomusic.org/2022-23season

Opera stars, in recital: Met Reside in HD who? In a single week, you may catch solo engagements by each tenor Juan Diego Flórez and mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, no opera glasses required — the previous at Symphony Middle, the latter at Wentz Live performance Corridor in Naperville.

• Symphony Middle Presents: Juan Diego Flórez, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 31, Symphony Middle, 220 S. Michigan Ave., tickets are $39-$150 at cso.org
• Denyce Graves at North Central School, 3 p.m. Feb. 5, Wentz Live performance Corridor, 171 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville, tickets are $55-$65 at finearts.northcentralcollege.edu

New operas ‘R us: Chicago Opera Theater is a prolific commissioner of recent work, and it retains up that streak with Justine F. Chen and David Simpatico’s biographical “Life and Dying(s) of Alan Turing” in March. Alternatively, Lyric Opera final commissioned a brand new opera in 2015 — Jimmy López Bellido and Nilo Cruz’s “Bel Canto” — and even that world premiere had been Lyric’s first in a long time. Lyric doubly breaks that drought this season, first with “The Factotum,” which reimagines “The Barber of Seville” in a Black South Aspect barbershop. Will Liverman of “Fire Shut Up In My Bones” stars, however he additionally dons a brand new hat (or perhaps a contemporary fade?) for “Factotum”: that of composer/creator, alongside his longtime pal DJ King Rico. Lyric follows that up a month later with “Proximity,” three mini-operas by no much less luminous composerly lights than John Luther Adams, Daniel Bernard Roumain and Caroline Shaw.

• “Life and Dying(s) of Alan Turing,” 7:30 p.m. March 23 and three p.m. March 25, Harris Theater, 205 E. Randolph St.; tickets $25-$165 at chicagooperatheater.org
• “The Factotum,” Feb. 3-12, Harris Theater, 205 E. Randolph St.; tickets are $35-$125 at lyricopera.org. “Proximity,” March 24-April 8, Lyric Opera Home, 20 N. Wacker Drive; tickets are $40-$330 at lyricopera.org

Bard of the blues: Any probability to catch Mavis Staples reside is a drop-what-you’re-doing affair. So, clear your calendar for Feb. 4, when this homegrown icon headlines Symphony Middle. Opening for her is singer-songwriter Celisse, who, along with performing her personal music, has supported acts like Mariah Carey, Lizzo, Kesha and Melissa Etheridge. 8 p.m. Feb. 4, Symphony Middle, 220 S. Michigan Ave.; tickets are $40-$199 at cso.org

A Finnish phenom takes Chicago: Klaus Mäkelä made a sensational podium debut with the CSO final season, leaving eddies of music director buzz in his wake. This time, the 26-year-old Orchestre de Paris and Oslo Philharmonic honcho comes toting Mahler 5 and a U.S. premiere by “Bel Canto” composer Jimmy López Bellido, a Sibelius Academy alum whose music Mäkelä has enthusiastically championed. Feb. 16-18 at Symphony Middle, 220 S. Michigan Ave., tickets are $45-$350 at cso.org

An unusual connection between man and instrument: For as soon as, it’s not a cliché to say the sarod runs in Amjad Ali Khan’s blood. His household is credited with reinventing the instrument as we all know it at the moment, a fretless lute that’s a core melodic voice in Hindustani music; his sons, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash, are the newest in seven generations of sarodiyas. Khan himself revolutionized sarod enjoying together with his uncommon left hand approach and pyrotechnic virtuosity, which shall be on full show on this live performance together with his sons. 3 p.m. Feb. 5, Logan Middle Efficiency Corridor, 915 E. sixtieth St., tickets are $20-$30 at chicagopresents.uchicago.edu

A brand new sax guard swings via city: This winter, we play host to quartets led by Melissa Aldana and Immanuel Wilkins, younger saxophonists who launched among the most important jazz albums of 2022. Aldana’s “12 Stars” much less attracts your consideration than instructions it, priming listeners’ expectations earlier than feinting into a brand new route totally; Wilkins’s “The seventh Hand” is a feat of un-self-conscious spiritualism and precocious musicianship.

Sounds too sometimes heard: The vacations come however yearly, however for lovers of music thought-provoking and new, the annual Frequency Competition blows Christmas out of the water. Whereas earlier years have been wholly eclectic, the 2023 fest largely coalesces round some recurring themes. For one, guitarist-composers take pleasure of place — Invoice Orcutt, Eli Winter (each Feb. 21 at Constellation) and Julia Reidy (Feb. 23 on the College of Chicago’s Renaissance Society) — although the three’s approaches to the instrument couldn’t be extra completely different. Then, violinist Silvia Tarozzi and cellist Judith Hamann headline two back-to-back days of the competition, realizing French composer Pascale Criton’s three “Sounding Limits” compositions collectively (Feb. 25 at Constellation) and enjoying solo units (Feb. 25 at Corbett vs. Dempsey). Chicago’s personal a.pe.ri.od.ic and Ensemble Dal Niente (Feb. 24 and 26 at Constellation, respectively) additionally headline. Varied venues. Instances, ticket costs and extra particulars out there quickly at frequencyfestival-chicago.com

Anti-jazzers of a sure age: Ask members of Snarky Pet what sort of music they play, and so they’ll probably provide some variation of their Instagram bio: “We’re a band of musicians enjoying music on devices.” However the collective’s strategy to improvisation and the structure of their songs has drawn a devoted fan base of jazzheads since their star rose within the early 2010s. They tour Chicago in assist of their most up-to-date album, “Empire Central.” Present 8 p.m., doorways 7 p.m., March 31, Riviera Theatre, 4746 N. Racine Ave.; tickets are $40-$175 at jamusa.com

Hannah Edgar is a contract author.

The Rubin Institute for Music Criticism helps fund our classical music protection. The Chicago Tribune maintains editorial management over assignments and content material.