ALEXANDRA OLSAVSKY
SCHEDULE
2017-2018
4 JUN
Bella Voce + Civic Orchestra of Chicago: Holst's The Planets
8:00p | Orchestra Hall (Chicago, IL)
Newly appointed music director of the Eugene Symphony Francesco, Lecce-Chong conducts this program beginning with Bernstein’s Jeremiah Symphony, a work that explores the composer’s Jewish heritage. Holst’s enduringly popular orchestral suite The Planets, influenced by the astrological significance of Earth’s seven neighbors, concludes the 2017/18 Civic Orchestra season.
11-24 MAR
Artemisia + Village Harmony: Cuba
Various Locations (Cuba)
The members of leading female vocal trio Artemisia join forces with Village Harmony - not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization welcoming singers of all colors, creeds, ethnicities, nationalities, gender orientations & socio-economic backgrounds - to study the rich tradition of Cuban music.
16 FEB
Fifth House Ensemble: Journey Live
8:00p | Kenyon College, Rosse Hall Auditorium (105 College Dr Gambier, OH)
You wake alone, surrounded by miles of burning, sprawling desert, and soon discover the looming mountaintop that is your goal. Faced with rolling sand dunes, age-old ruins, caves and howling winds, your passage will not be an easy one. A cloaked avatar, you travel and explore this ancient, mysterious world alone, or with a stranger you meet along the way. While the goal is to get to the mountaintop, the experience is the discovery of who you are, the story of this place, and your purpose.
The Chicago-based Fifth House Ensemble (praised by the New York Times for its “conviction, authority and finesse”) teams up with composer Austin Wintory to present an original, interactive live performance of his Grammy-nominated score to the video game Journey. Described as “the most beautiful game of its time” by IGN, critics have called Journey one of gaming’s crowning achievements. It is the fastest selling game to date on the Playstation Network.
Never the same each time it is played, Journey is an interactive parable, an anonymous online adventure to experience a person’s life passage and their intersections with others. In this unprecedented collaboration, live musicians respond to the actions of game players in real time on stage.
10 FEB
Oriana Singers, City Voices, Gargoyle Brass Ensemble: Meechan's "Love Songs" (World Premiere)
7:30p | First United Church of Oak Park (848 Lake St., Oak Park, IL)
The Oriana Singers collaborate with Gargoyle Brass Ensemble and City Voices with a program of music centered around the premiere of a new work for choir, brass, and organ, "Love Songs" by Peter Meechan. "Love Songs" samples sonnets by William Shakespeare.
Other music related to Shakespeare, his time, and to British history, will be paired alongside the Meechan premiere, including three selections from "The Triumphs of Oriana" for Queen Elizabeth I, two works to mark the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, and a suite of selections from Purcell's "Come, Ye Sons of Art."
18 DEC
Bach + Beethoven Ensemble: Carols
1:00p | Women's Club of Chicago
Do you know Greensleeves, Joy to the World, or Hark the Herald Angels Sing?
If you grew up in Europe or North America, you probably do, and you probably know quite a few others, too. All those carols that we know and love have been around a long time - some for hundreds of years - and they have quite a history. While some carols have remained mostly unchanged, others have evolved over the years, changing tunes and lyrics.
We bet you've never experienced Carols the way that we perform them. Curated by traverso player and long-time BBE ensemble member Leighann Daihl Ragusa, we explore the history of carols - those you know, and those you don't - and invite you to sing (and laugh) with us through some of the most beloved Christmas carols of all time.
16 DEC
Ft. Wayne Philharmonic Holiday Pops
2:00p and 7:30p | Embassy Theatre (Ft. Wayne, IN)
This is Holiday Pops like you've never seen it before. Large-scale projections and lighting will create an evocative, warm glow in the Embassy Theatre. You'll take a journey through the winter wonderlands and traditional Christmases of bygone days to the present. You'll experience the music, memories, popular culture and true spirit of the season. Entertaining, exciting, authentic fun for the whole family.
15 DEC
Bach + Beethoven Ensemble: Carols
12:00p | Fourth Presbyterian Church (Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL)
Do you know Greensleeves, Joy to the World, or Hark the Herald Angels Sing?
If you grew up in Europe or North America, you probably do, and you probably know quite a few others, too. All those carols that we know and love have been around a long time - some for hundreds of years - and they have quite a history. While some carols have remained mostly unchanged, others have evolved over the years, changing tunes and lyrics.
We bet you've never experienced Carols the way that we perform them. Curated by traverso player and long-time BBE ensemble member Leighann Daihl Ragusa, we explore the history of carols - those you know, and those you don't - and invite you to sing (and laugh) with us through some of the most beloved Christmas carols of all time.
9 DEC
Ft. Wayne Philharmonic Holiday Pops
2:00p and 7:30p | Embassy Theatre (Ft. Wayne, IN)
This is Holiday Pops like you've never seen it before. Large-scale projections and lighting will create an evocative, warm glow in the Embassy Theatre. You'll take a journey through the winter wonderlands and traditional Christmases of bygone days to the present. You'll experience the music, memories, popular culture and true spirit of the season. Entertaining, exciting, authentic fun for the whole family.
8 DEC
Ft. Wayne Philharmonic Holiday Pops
7:30p | Embassy Theatre (Ft. Wayne, IN)
This is Holiday Pops like you've never seen it before. Large-scale projections and lighting will create an evocative, warm glow in the Embassy Theatre. You'll take a journey through the winter wonderlands and traditional Christmases of bygone days to the present. You'll experience the music, memories, popular culture and true spirit of the season. Entertaining, exciting, authentic fun for the whole family.
19 NOV
Artemisia + The Matchsellers
7:00p | Uncommon Ground (Lakeview, Chicago, IL)
Artemisia joins up with The Matchsellers for a fun night of boot-stompin' tunes! (Advanced copies of Artemisia's debut album "Sounds Like Us" available for pre-sale at the event.) Tickets: $12 - Limited seating, reservations encouraged
9 NOV
Fifth House Ensemble: Journey Live
11:00a | Bass Concert Hall, UT Austin (2350 Robert Dedman Dr, Austin, TX)
You wake alone, surrounded by miles of burning, sprawling desert, and soon discover the looming mountaintop that is your goal. Faced with rolling sand dunes, age-old ruins, caves and howling winds, your passage will not be an easy one. A cloaked avatar, you travel and explore this ancient, mysterious world alone, or with a stranger you meet along the way. While the goal is to get to the mountaintop, the experience is the discovery of who you are, the story of this place, and your purpose.
The Chicago-based Fifth House Ensemble (praised by the New York Times for its “conviction, authority and finesse”) teams up with composer Austin Wintory to present an original, interactive live performance of his Grammy-nominated score to the video game Journey. Described as “the most beautiful game of its time” by IGN, critics have called Journey one of gaming’s crowning achievements. It is the fastest selling game to date on the Playstation Network.
Never the same each time it is played, Journey is an interactive parable, an anonymous online adventure to experience a person’s life passage and their intersections with others. In this unprecedented collaboration, live musicians respond to the actions of game players in real time on stage.
8 NOV
Fifth House Ensemble: Journey Live
8:00p | Bass Concert Hall, UT Austin (2350 Robert Dedman Dr, Austin, TX)
You wake alone, surrounded by miles of burning, sprawling desert, and soon discover the looming mountaintop that is your goal. Faced with rolling sand dunes, age-old ruins, caves and howling winds, your passage will not be an easy one. A cloaked avatar, you travel and explore this ancient, mysterious world alone, or with a stranger you meet along the way. While the goal is to get to the mountaintop, the experience is the discovery of who you are, the story of this place, and your purpose.
The Chicago-based Fifth House Ensemble (praised by the New York Times for its “conviction, authority and finesse”) teams up with composer Austin Wintory to present an original, interactive live performance of his Grammy-nominated score to the video game Journey. Described as “the most beautiful game of its time” by IGN, critics have called Journey one of gaming’s crowning achievements. It is the fastest selling game to date on the Playstation Network.
Never the same each time it is played, Journey is an interactive parable, an anonymous online adventure to experience a person’s life passage and their intersections with others. In this unprecedented collaboration, live musicians respond to the actions of game players in real time on stage.
15 OCT
Bach + Beethoven Experience: Chicago Stories
3:00pm | Green Mill Cocktail Lounge (4802 N Broadway, Chicago, IL)
Chicago Stories: Three Composers. Two Shows. One Chicago.
Chicago is a city of diverse people whose stories span the world and culminate here in amazing ways. In January 2017, we commissioned three next-generation Chicago composers to create six new pioneering pieces based on the life stories of individuals, groups, and their neighborhoods. Chicago Stories brings the city to life on a personal level, while offering an underlying melody of this melting pot of world cultures.
Throughout the first half of the year, the composers met directly with Chicagoans to learn about their stories and experiences in their communities. Taking the inspirations from these encounters, they then worked with our musicians to develop wholly new compositions.
Through Chicago Stories, the audience learns about the Alvarez Brothers and their renaissance efforts to revive the Pilsen Latin jazz scene. They are then taken on a journey through the harrowing escape of members of the Assyrian immigrant community, who finally found refuge in the neighborhoods of Rogers Park and Lincolnwood. Finally, they scale the wall along with a group of minority women in executive leadership roles who crushed their glass ceilings to reach the top of the mountain.
The works will be performed by a multidisciplinary cohort of Chicago artists as part of a series of premier concerts on October 14th at 7:00PM at the University of Illinois at Chicago and October 15th at 3:00 PM at the Green Mill Cocktail Lounge.
Join us to celebrate the great stories and people of Chicago!
14 OCT
Bach + Beethoven Experience: Chicago Stories
7:00pm | University of Illinois at Chicago - Student Center East
Chicago Stories: Three Composers. Two Shows. One Chicago.
Chicago is a city of diverse people whose stories span the world and culminate here in amazing ways. In January 2017, we commissioned three next-generation Chicago composers to create six new pioneering pieces based on the life stories of individuals, groups, and their neighborhoods. Chicago Stories brings the city to life on a personal level, while offering an underlying melody of this melting pot of world cultures.
Throughout the first half of the year, the composers met directly with Chicagoans to learn about their stories and experiences in their communities. Taking the inspirations from these encounters, they then worked with our musicians to develop wholly new compositions.
Through Chicago Stories, the audience learns about the Alvarez Brothers and their renaissance efforts to revive the Pilsen Latin jazz scene. They are then taken on a journey through the harrowing escape of members of the Assyrian immigrant community, who finally found refuge in the neighborhoods of Rogers Park and Lincolnwood. Finally, they scale the wall along with a group of minority women in executive leadership roles who crushed their glass ceilings to reach the top of the mountain.
The works will be performed by a multidisciplinary cohort of Chicago artists as part of a series of premier concerts on October 14th at 7:00PM at the University of Illinois at Chicago and October 15th at 3:00 PM at the Green Mill Cocktail Lounge.
Join us to celebrate the great stories and people of Chicago!
20 AUG
Ravinia Concert Series: CSO: Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
7:00pm | Ravinia Pavilion (Ravinia, IL)
Ravinia presents the Lord of the Rings trilogy with a live performance from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Ludwig Wicki, Conductor), Chicago Children's Choir, Chicago Chorale, The Lakeside Singers, and Soprano Kaitlyn Lusk.
19 AUG
Ravinia Concert Series: CSO: Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
7:00pm | Ravinia Pavilion (Ravinia, IL)
Ravinia presents the Lord of the Rings trilogy with a live performance from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Ludwig Wicki, Conductor), Chicago Children's Choir, Chicago Chorale, The Lakeside Singers, and Soprano Kaitlyn Lusk.
18 AUG
Ravinia Concert Series: CSO: Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
7:00pm | Ravinia Pavilion (Ravinia, IL)
Ravinia presents the Lord of the Rings trilogy with a live performance from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Ludwig Wicki, Conductor), Chicago Children's Choir, Chicago Chorale, The Lakeside Singers, and Soprano Kaitlyn Lusk.