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. 

Whiskey shots with Spektral Quartet

Juliet Petrus and Matthew Gemmill 

John Sharp and Liba Schacht 

Alice Teyssier with International Contemporary Ensemble

John Macfarlane, Brant Taylor, Winston Choi

J'nai Bridges belts it out.

Music as Medicine

Sharing Notes is a small non-profit with a big heart.  Started two years ago by cellist Allegra Montanari, Sharing Notes is made up of a corps of professional musicians who perform every other week for patients of all ages in Chicago area hospitals.  The musicians perform for free, and Sharing Notes provides the service at no cost.  The mission is pure and simple: to bring the healing power of music to those who need it.  

On Saturday, I had the privilege of photographing some of the Sharing Notes musicians while they performed for patients on the oncology floors of Northwestern's Prentice Women's Hospital.  (For legal reasons, I was unable to photograph the patients.)

I was led first to the 14th floor where classical guitarist Jack Cimo had already started playing in a hallway.  With the exception of a few nurses, the hallways were mostly empty.  Some of the patients had their doors open so they could hear the music.  One woman invited Jack into her room and he sat by her bed and played the prelude to Bach's 6th Suite for Cello.  Unbelievably gorgeous.  

Guitarist Jack Cimo

On another floor, a singer Nora Byrd and keyboardist Gabriel Di Gennaro were performing pop songs and numbers from musicals.  They, too, were invited to another room and they set up just outside the door.  The woman told Nora and Gabriel about her daughter who was really into The Beatles, so they played "Till There Was You."  When they finished, the woman applauded and burst into tears, saying, "I just really miss my daughter."  It was a moment that symbolized the essence of Sharing Notes, and showed that music can give an outlet for every difficult emotion and provide a space for comfort and emotional relief.  

Vocalist Nora Byrd and keyboardist Gabriel Di Gennaro

We met another woman from Rockford whose husband was receiving treatment for a stem cell transplant.  She looked very tired, but stood in a doorway while flutist Laura Block played Bach. The woman talked about how wonderful it was that these musicians are here, and how much they help. 

Flutist Laura Block

The music was striking, not just because of its inherent beauty, but because it emphasized just how otherwise quiet the floors were.  Without the music, the only sound was an occasional door opening and closing, a machine beeping, or the sound of wheels on a cart.  Instantly, every note was magnified by the silence.  Because of the tiled floors and low ceilings, the music was naturally amplified and rang down the halls.

It was a different world up there.  Yes, the views of the lake were great, but it looked like a mirage - it might as well have been another painting on the wall.  Such seclusion is necessary, of course, when dealing with serious medical conditions.  And high-powered medicine and technology are important.  But the music from from Sharing Notes added something more; it gave a moment of humanity and beauty to people who are at their most vulnerable.  For two hours, the musicians brought a concert hall to cancer patients, and it was one of the most affirming experiences I have ever witnessed.  My profound gratitude to Sharing Notes and Northwestern Hospital for making it happen.   

Click through this gallery for additional photos. 

Violinist Francis DeAsis.

Guitarist Jack Cimo

Not the usual medical supplies.  Nora Byrd and Gabriel Di Gennaro bring the music to the patients.

Nora Byrd and Gabriel Di Gennaro sing numbers from The Sound of Music.

Violinist Francis DeAsis

Flutist Laura Block

Guitarist Jack Cimo

Flutist Laura Block

Pharez Whitted at the Green Mill

Last Saturday night, I did two really awesome things. 1) I spent 3 hours listening to the great jazz pianist Willie Pickens at the Green Mill while he fired off Thelonious Monk tunes like it weren't nothing.  And 2) I met and photographed trumpeter Pharez Whitted, who is a very nice guy but will knock you over with trumpet solos.  I love photographing musicians.  They do their thing, I do mine, but I've never thought of them as mere entertainers.  There is art, there is the moment of creating music, and they've spent years learning how to be really good at it.  Photographing musicians is a privilege, and a task I am continually drawn to purely out of respect for their work and for a love of music.  

Pharez Whitted blows a mean trumpet at the Green Mill.

Up close with Patricia Barber

In the green room at intermission, legendary jazz pianist and vocalist Patricia Barber turns to me and asks, "How the f*** do I follow that?"  She was referring to a performance by percussionist Nicholas Reed of Marta Ptaszynska's "Space Model," a work for three sets of percussion instruments and recorded track.  Reed's seamless playing held the audience in rapt attention, igniting waves of applause.  Pianist Lisa Kaplan and cellist Nicholas Photinos, both of eighth blackbird, opened the show with the haunting "Habil-Sayagy" by Franghiz Ali-Zadeh.  The Pacifica Quartet followed with Elena Firsova's String Quartet No. 11, "Purgatorium," playing with its trademark precision and sensitivity.  I didn't have an answer to Barber's very serious question, other than to say, "I'm glad I don't have to."  

Barber was just as intense during her set as she was before it.  Sensing the enormity of the concert - the 10th anniversary of the new music series Contempo at the University of Chicago curated by Pulitzer-Prize-winning composer Shulamit Ran - Barber gave a performance both searing and deeply touching, poignant and beautiful.  Drummer Ari Hoenig, bassist Patrick Mulcahy, and guitarist Gilad Hekselman provided ample solos and witty accompaniment.  But it was Barber who carried the full weight of the music.  I know this because I witnessed it from the front row, often dropping my camera from my eye just to watch for a minute.  It was an honor to photograph these artists, and to share for the briefest of moments the space they occupy.  

Patricia Barber: Completely awesome jazz pianist, vocalist, poet.

Patricia Barber rocking the Steinway.

eighth blackbird's Lisa Kaplan (piano) and Nicholas Photinos (cello).

The Pacifica Quartet in the spotlight.

Percussionist Nicholas Reed 

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.

Spektral Quartet plays new ringtones

Forget the canned default music programmed on your phone.  Spektral Quartet has launched a brilliant project that brings new, fresh music to your device - and everywhere else you go.  The quartet commissioned more than 40 composers across the country to write ringtones, alerts, and alarms.  The result is Mobile Miniatures - dozens of tiny masterpieces for your phone.  On Saturday, the Spektrals gave a ringtone party at Constellation, including the premiere performance of several pieces, curated listening stations on phones from olden days, and two ringtones composed live that night.  I was thrilled to photograph the event and to walk among so many accomplished artists.  Check out a few of my shots below, then go download some new ringtones!

Spektral Quartet plays a brand new ringtone.

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Shulamit Ran listens to the big red lips phone.

Go get ringtones!

Ye olde talking device from olden times. 

Composer Marcos Balter does his thing.