MUSICNOW
MAY 9
Chicago Symphony Mead Composers-in-Residence Elizabeth Ogonek and Samuel Adams came out swinging with their first season programming the MusicNOW contemporary music series and now deliver an installment that lives on the dark side of the street. Gorgeous, and ominous, numbers from composers Clara Iannotta, Hans Abrahamsen and Christopher Trapani make up this ruminative triptych, with the added incentive of vocal enchanter Tony Arnold on the marquee.
$15-$26 | Harris Theater | 312-334-7777
INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY ENSEMBLE
MAY 21
You may be familiar with reading between the lines, but what about reading between the notes? The International Contemporary Ensemble's upcoming “Untempered” concert highlights composers who embrace the enticing pitch idiosyncrasies of individual instruments. With selections by Larry Polansky, Peter Adriaansz and Karola Obermueller on the bill, concertgoers are invited to leave that adult coloring book at home.
Free with RSVP | The Promontory | 312-801-2100
LAMPO
JUNE 11
What would it feel like to disengage from one's phone, or responsibilities, for six waking hours? Using Morton Feldman's iconic “String Quartet No. 2” (of similar length) as a touchstone, New York-based composer Ben Vida goes long-form to find out with the premiere of his “Reducing the Tempo to Zero” this summer at Chicago's vanguard experimental music series, Lampo. In it, four vocalists bolstered by electronics compel us to reckon with ourselves.
Free with RSVP | Graham Foundation-Madlener House | (no phone)
EIGHTH BLACKBIRD & MATT ULERY
JUNE 17
If any member of the Eighth Blackbird ensemble drifts over to your craps table in Vegas, beg them to sit a spell. The group is on full tilt with yet another Grammy in the bag this year, a new album on Chicago's Cedille Records and a host of top-shelf collaborations in the works—not the least of which is with composer/bassist Matt Ulery—in this iteration conjuring original tunes as a nonet at local indie haunt the Hideout.
$12-$15 | The Hideout | 773-227-4433
TAKACS STRING QUARTET
JULY 15
Kudos to Ravinia Festival for ensuring the phenomenal Takacs Quartet is as regular a fixture as a sighting of Meryl Streep at the Academy Awards. The formidable foursome returns this year with clarinet superstar Anthony McGill, performing Brahms' heartstring-tugging “Clarinet Quintet in B Minor,” Op. 115, to complement works by Beethoven and Shostakovich. Highly, unequivocally recommended.
$10-$60 | Ravinia-Martin Theatre | 847-266-5100
MATTHIAS GOERNE
JULY 21
Matthias Goerne sings Schumann like the Publican does pork rinds: delicious and inexhaustible. Catch the German-born baritone dishing up savory renditions of Frauenliebe und -leben, Dichterliebe and Liederkreis in Highland Park. Just don't attempt a sneaky photo during the show. The soft-spoken singer respectfully (and understandably) ejected an amateur smartphone photographer from a recent recital.
$10-$60 | Ravinia-Martin Theatre | 847-266-5100
GRANT PARK MUSIC FESTIVAL
JULY 22-23
Classical music is often about as racially diverse as an episode of “Friends,” which is why we are encouraged to see Grant Park Music Festival showcasing the exceptional talent of violinist Regina Carter on a concert comprising orchestral works by Duke Ellington and James Price Johnson, curated by path-carving conductor Marin Alsop.
Free | Jay Pritzker Pavilion | 312-742-7647
GRANT PARK MUSIC FESTIVAL
AUG. 17
Violinist Christian Tetzlaff may burn brightest when performing modernist works that lie outside many top-shelf soloists' repertoire, but the nuance and unchoreographed polish he brings to the warhorses of the catalog are well worth the unfurling of a picnic blanket in Millennium Park. Uncork a bottle of vinho verde and get lost in Mendelssohn's “Violin Concerto in E Minor,” along with winsome numbers from Mozart and Schubert.
Free | Jay Pritzker Pavilion | 312-742-7647
ROOMFUL OF TEETH
AUG. 21
Those feeling trepidatious about digging into anything on the timeline after, say, Ravel or Debussy would do well to head to Ravinia at the end of August to catch vocal live wires Roomful of Teeth. Much of the group's repertoire is penned to exploit its unique technical abilities (yodeling, throat singing, etc.), and the Chicago premiere of Wally Gunn's “The Ascendant” along with scores by Ted Hearne, Michael Harrison and Caroline Shaw make this a definitive Ravinia season high-water mark.
$10 | Ravinia-Bennett Gordon Hall | 847-266-5100