The Logan Center for the Arts on the University of Chicago Campus
On Tuesday, March 5, the University of Chicago Presents (UCP) announced their 2019-2020 season, the professional concert series’ 76th. The upcoming season will feature 25 concerts within five series, including jazz, early music, and contemporary. Executive director Amy Iwano comments, “UChicago Presents’ 76th season welcomes world-renowned artists rarely heard in Chicago for fresh takes on masterworks and first performances of brand-new music.”
The season will begin on October 11 with musicians from the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble. They will present a performance of Mendelssohn’s Octet for Strings in E-flat Major, Op. 20, alongside a lesser-known work by Erich Wolfgang Korngold and a new piece by Sally Beamish, the ensemble’s composer-in-residence.
Beethoven’s music is featured prominently in UCP’s upcoming season, which is fitting given that 2020 marks the composer’s 250th birthday. This special occasion will be recognized with an all-Beethoven program performed by the Danish String Quartet in January 2020, and a performance of the “Archduke Trio” by the Montrose Trio in April 2020.
One unique highlight for the upcoming season is a program entitled “tenebrae/tenebrous,” which will feature British vocal ensemble Tenebrae and JACK Quartet. This program will provide an uncommon experience for concert-goers in two thematically-linked concerts: Tenebrae will perform Joby Talbot’s Path of Miracles by candlelight and the JACK Quartet will perform Georg Frederic Haas’ ninth string quartet in total darkness.
The season will also feature new works in partnership with the Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition, including 14 premieres by the Grossman Ensemble and the Grammy Award-winning Third Coast Percussion. The Music Without Borders Series will celebrate its second season with a lineup of global musicians, including Chinese pipa player Wu Man.
For more information, visit the UChicago Presents website.
