A year ago, the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago (CAIC) became my first official photography client. Last week, I marked that anniversary by once again shooting CAIC's annual Collaborative Works Festival. The four-day festival opened at the Poetry Foundation with a quartet of wonderful singers - Joshua Hopkins, Susanna Phillips, Kelley O'Connor, and CAIC's Artistic Director Nicholas Phan - in music by Robert and Clara Schumann. Pianist and accompanist Myra Huang opened the concert with Bach's Prelude and Fugue in G Major. It was an honor to photograph these artists, and a pleasure to hear them perform in such an intimate venue. As a bonus, my photo accompanied Andrew Patner's review in the Sun-Times. Here is a small gallery from the concert:

L-R: Joshua Hopkins, Kelley O'Connor, Susanna Phillips, Nicholas Phan

Tenor Nicholas Phan

Myra Huang

Mezzo-soprano Kelley O'Connor and Myra Huang

Soprano Susanna Phillips

Baritone Joshua Hopkins

Joshua Hopkins, Kelley O'Connor

I am confident saying that Sunday's concert with the Pacifica Quartet and clarinetist Anthony McGill was the most soulful and satisfying performance of Mozart and Brahms that I have ever heard. So often, the promise of all-star combinations falls short of expectations, but the Pacifica and McGill make music as if they have been performing together as a quintet for 20 years. Their collaboration is natural, and the music flows with depth and clarity. The concert also celebrated the quintet's forthcoming release of the same program - Mozart's Clarinet Quintet in A Major and Brahms' Clarinet Quintet in B minor - on Cedille Records in May.

Not only was I able to hear this exquisite music from behind a camera, but the artists were kind enough to let me hang out with them in the green room during intermission. I was thrilled to finally meet the Pacifica, an ensemble I've long admired as a reviewer and music lover; and McGill - a Chicago native - may be best known for his performance at President Obama's first Inauguration.

And to top it all off, my photo of the concert ran in the Sun-Times with Andrew Patner's glowing concert review. My first photo in a newspaper! Many thanks to Cedille Records' Jim Ginsburg and University of Chicago Presents' Amy Iwano for a wonderful afternoon.

Clarinetist Anthony McGill and the Pacifica Quartet during Mozart's Clarinet Quintet.

Cellist Brandon Vamos studies Brahms during intermission.

Anthony McGill tests out his reeds in the green room.

My photo on page 26 of the Sun-Times, April 15, 2014.

Collaborative Works Festival 2014, part 1

Pacifica Quartet and Anthony McGill make for a perfect afternoon