A Poetic Season Celebrating a World of Artistic Expression filled with Voices, Pipes, Flutes, Brass, Puppets and Strings
Artists
The British Are Coming!
CHICAGO A CAPPELLA
Friday, September 19, 2008
7:30 p.m., Rammelkamp Chapel
Website
Chicago a cappella is a classical vocal ensemble that moves the heart and soul with fun, innovative concerts. The inaugural concert for the Illinois College Fine Arts Series’ 29th season will be a celebration of the glorious tradition of English music, from the Tudor cathedrals to the Beatles.
The ensemble consists of nine singers (four women, five men), including some of the Chicago area’s most accomplished choral singers and soloists. They are committed to furthering the art of singing together without instruments. The ensemble combines emotional power and intimacy with musical excellence, performing a wide mix of music including Renaissance and early music, vocal jazz and spirituals.
Keys, Pipes and Pedals
WILLIAM NESS, ORGAN
Sunday, October 12, 2008
4:00 p.m., Rammelkamp Chape
Website
An accomplished organist as well as pianist, William Ness has fascinated audiences coast to coast. He currently is the Minister of Music and Arts at First Baptist Church of Worcester, Massachusetts, where he conducts three singing choirs and two bell choirs. Throughout his career, he has lent his talents to numerous churches and has performed with numerous choral organizations as an accompanist on Iowa Public Television and National Public Radio.
The Food of Love . . . Words and Music
CLAIRE BLOOM, Narrator,
and EUGENIA ZUKERMAN, Flute
Sunday, November 9, 2008
4:00 p.m., Rammelkamp Chapel
Website - Zukerman
Website - Bloom
“The Food of Love” brings long-time friends and fellow performers, actress Claire Bloom and flutist Eugenia Zukerman, to the Illinois College campus. They will provide an afternoon of music and recitation filled with the likes of Ovid, Wallace Stevens and Shakespeare and music by Debussy, Ned Rorem and Henry Mancini. Flutist Eugenia Zukerman is renowned for her lyrical phrasing, sparkling tone and compelling stage presence. Her vast repertoire and graceful artistry have contributed to her popularity as an international performer with orchestra, in solo and duo recitals, and in chamber music ensembles in North America, Europe, and Asia. A consummate musician who is also a champion of young musicians, she has been praised by the press as “one of the finest flutists of our time.” Zukerman is regularly seen on CBS Television’s “Sunday Morning” where she has been an arts correspondent since 1981, having interviewed more than 300 artists in the fields of music, visual arts, dance, theater and film. Claire Bloom was born in London and made her first appearance on the stage with the Oxford Repertory Company at the age of 16. Her first major role came a year later, when she played Ophelia at Stratford-Upon-Avon opposite the alternating Hamlets of Paul Scofield and Robert Helpmann. She has starred with Richard Burton, Laurence Olivier and Paul Scofield. Dividing her career between England and the United States, she has performed many notable stage roles and has appeared as a narrator with numerous leading orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony, the London Philharmonic and the Chicago
Happy Birthday Abe Lincoln!
SALVATION ARMY STAFF BAND OF CHICAGO
Saturday, February 21, 2009
7:30 p.m., Rammelkamp Chapel
Website
As part of Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday celebration, the Chicago Staff Band has commissioned a piece the Fine Arts Series audience will be delighted to hear. Having just celebrated their 100th anniversary, the Chicago Staff Band, is the Salvation Army’s principal concert band of the Midwest. Their innovative music and quality performances are the result of dedication and effort on the part of its members who volunteer their many hours of service without remuneration. The Chicago Staff Band is composed of approximately one-third laymen and students and two-thirds Salvation Army officers (ordained ministers) and employees.
Are You Ready, My Sister?
UNDERGROUND RAILWAY THEATRE
Sunday, April 19, 2009
4:00 p.m., Sibert Theater
Website
The Underground Railway Theatre was founded 25 years ago in Oberlin, Ohio, one of the last stops on the Midwestern Underground Railroad. Now based in Boston, the Underground Railway Theatre combines acting, puppetry and music to present stories that promote community, provoke discussion, build bridges between people and reflect cultural diversity.
“Are You Ready, My Sister?” tells the exciting story of Harriet Tubman, great conductor on the Underground Railroad, and the Quaker women who helped her bring 300 slaves to freedom. This historical adventure story is told by two actress/puppeteers using a giant patchwork quilt. As the plot unfolds, each square of the quilt comes to life with shadow-puppets and painted back-lit scenery.
Arianna String Quartet
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
7:30 p.m., Rammelkamp Chapel
Website
Hailed for their outstanding musicianship, the Arianna String Quartet has firmly established itself as one of America’s finest chamber ensembles. Formed in 1992, they garnered national attention by winning the Grand Prize in the 1994 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, and First Prize in both the Coleman and Carmel Chamber Music Competitions. They were also Laureates in the 1999 Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition. In 2000, the members of the Arianna String Quartet were appointed to the faculty at the University of Missouri-St. Louis as Artist Teachers and Quartet-in-Residence, and were recently named Associate Professors of Music.
The Arianna Quartet has concertized throughout the United States, Mexico, Japan, Canada and France, including critically acclaimed performances at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and Tokyo’s Suntory Hall. They have collaborated with artists such as Gilbert Kalish, Bernard Greenhouse, Richard Stoltzman, and members of the Vermeer Quartet, Tokyo Quartet, and Cleveland Quartet. The Arianna Quartet has recorded for the Centaur, Albany, and Urtext classical labels.
The Arianna String Quartet has been featured in concerts at the Spoleto, Banff, Norfolk, and Strings in the Mountains festivals, was Ensemble-in-Residence at the Tanglewood Music Center, and was invited by Isaac Stern to perform in his first ever Carnegie Hall master classes. They have been heard on live nationally broadcast performances in Osaka, Japan, and on Canada’s CBC radio, several times as part of Chicago’s prestigious Dame Myra Hess Series, and on National Public Radio’s “Performance Today” program.
Recognized for their innovative educational programs, the ASQ was awarded Chamber Music America Residency Grants in 1996 and 2003 and has given over 700 educational outreach performances. In 2005, the Arianna Quartet received the Missouri String Teacher Association’s Distinguished Service Award for their outstanding contributions to music education and the cultivation of young audiences throughout Missouri. In 2007, the Arianna Quartet was given the St. Louis critic's award for "Outstanding Instrumental Achievement" for their acclaimed presentation of the complete Beethoven Quartet Cycle, a first in St. Louis.