Look at all these wonderful people making the world better with beautiful art! Thanks to all for their trust and enthusiasm. Plus, I joined in and got a new headshot myself. Hair and makeup by Angela Brasington, Christine Sciortino, Kimberly Cox, and Andrea Samuels. Photos © copyright 2018 by Elliot Mandel. All rights reserved.
soprano
Year in Review: Portraits of 2015
Look at all these wonderful people!
Top, L-R: Bridget Skaggs, Juliet Petrus, Ashley Bryan. Mid, L-R: Lauren Haselberger, Robert Nordling, Alexandra Ganser. Bottom, L-R: Penelope Turgeon, Sarah Forbes Orwig, Anna Sanders Lee, Charles Thomas.
Photos © Copyright 2015 by Elliot Mandel. All rights reserved.
A Great Distance: CD Launch Recital
One of my favorite recitals of 2015 came on November 6 when soprano Juliet Petrus and pianist Lydia Qiu gave the Chicago launch of their debut CD of beautiful and rarely performed Chinese art song. I was thrilled to have shot the cover (my first album cover!) and additional artwork; check out the original photo. Our collaboration inspired me to do some of my best work of the year. Juliet and Lydia gave an intimate and eloquent performance that night at PianoForte Chicago. As a bonus, the event featured two galleries of my work: some black-and-white studies of the staircase at the Art Institute where we did the cover shoot, and an exhibit of 15 scenes of Chicago cityscapes and new work from Chinatown.
You can watch the entire recital here. And you can buy A Great Distance on Amazon, CDbaby, or itunes.
Photos © Copyright 2015 by Elliot Mandel. All rights reserved.
Scenes from the 2015 Collaborative Works Festival
My third season shooting for the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago (CAIC) kicked off last week with the 2015 Collaborative Works Festival and four days of fantastic singing. It's an incredible privilege to have such close access to these singers; here are some of my favorite images.
Photos © Copyright 2015 by Elliot Mandel. All rights reserved.
Collaborative Works Festival 2014, part 1
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:
A gallery of singers.
I love photographing singers - it's the perfect combination of drama and music.
Chamber music and whiskey shots: a recap of June
June was filled with music. So. Much. Music. Spektral Quartet rocked The Hideout so hard, the boys needed whiskey shots. Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago closed out its season with French art songs performed by Juliet Petrus and Matthew Gemmill at PianoForte Foundation. Some highlights from the Rush Hour Concerts season include the Handel-Halvorsen Passacaglia performed by violinist Liba Schacht and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's principal cellist John Sharp, and a beautiful concert by the trio of John Macfarlane, Brant Taylor, and Winston Choi. Alice Teyssier and the International Contemporary Ensemble blew away a packed Constellation with Daniel Dehaan's "Trompe l'Corps." And soprano J'nai Bridges hit some serious high notes during Make Music Chicago. Click through the gallery below for a selection.
Saturday night with a soprano
The Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago is quickly changing the way Chicago audiences listen to vocal music. No fancy halls or microphones; just intimate venues and soloists singing the long neglected form of art song. On Saturday, CAIC held its Spring Lieder Lounge in the Dixon-Stein studio on the 8th floor of the Fine Arts Building. Perched above Michigan Avenue, the Dixon-Stein space was a perfect salon-style setting to listen to songs by Schubert, Fauré, Sibelius, and American composers Libby Larsen and Tom Cipullo, performed by renowned soprano Deborah Selig and pianist Shannon McGinnis. This was the fifth event I've shot for CAIC, and my appreciation for vocal music grows with every performance. As an added bonus, CAIC announced its 2014-15 season with a brochure that features my photos.
Soprano Deborah Selig and pianist Shannon McGinnis
The Dixon-Stein instrument shop doubles as a performance salon on the eighth floor of the Fine Arts Building.
Violins hanging in the Dixon-Stein studio.
CAIC's attractive new brochure for its 2014-2015 season.