Harris Theater for Music and Dance Brings ‘Epic Masterworks’ to Chicago in 2017-18 Season

By Angelica Lasala |

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Harris Theater (Photo: HBRA Architects, Hedrich Blessing)

The Harris Theater for Music and Dance announced some of the lineup for its 2017-18 Harris Theater Presents performance series, which features the Monteverdi Choir, American Ballet Theatre, and the Mark Morris Dance Group performing “epic masterworks.”

In October, the Harris will present concert performances of Monteverdi‘s three surviving operas, L’Orfeo, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, and L’incoronazione di Poppea led by Sir John Eliot Gardiner. These performances by Gardiner’s own Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra and English Baroque Soloists at the Harris are part of an international tour commemorating the composer’s 450th birthday.

American Ballet Theatre returns to Chicago in February 2018, marking the Harris Theater debut of acclaimed dancer Misty Copeland, the first female, African-American principal dancer in the company’s history. ABT performances will include Jessica Lang’s Her Notes, Christopher Wheeldon’s Thirteen Diversions, Alexei Ratmansky’s Serenade after Plato’s Symposium, and Anthony Tudor’s Leaves are Fading.

The Mark Morris Dance Group returns to the Harris to present the Chicago premiere of Layla and Majnun, which had its world premiere in September 2016. The choreographed work explores a classic Persian love story told most famously by the poet Nizami Ganjavi, and features music performed by the Silk Road Ensemble, founded by cellist Yo-Yo Ma.


Find information about these performances and more on the Harris Theater’s website.