I'm pretty lucky to have one of the world's greatest jazz clubs three blocks away from my apartment. Recently, I've seen saxophonist Victor Goines, who performs around the world with the Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra; and accordion virtuoso Julien Labro and the Hot Club of Detroit. Click through the gallery below for some views from my table.
One of the highlights of July was the opportunity to photograph WFMT's Thirsty Ear Festival at City Winery. Thirsty Ear is the annual showcase concert for the weekly new music show, Relevant Tones with Seth Boustead. This year's concert featured two Chicago-based ensembles - Fonema Consort and Gaudete Brass Quintet - and the renowned composer/pianist Graham Reynolds. The two-hour concert and live broadcast was packed with music ranging from vocal-instrumental fusion from Fonema, new music for brass quintet, and arrangements of Reynolds's film scores for string quartet and piano.
The radio.
A few weeks ago, WBBM Newsradio's Regine Schlesinger interviewed me for her weekly Made In Chicago segment. We talked about how my life as a cellist, writer, nonprofit work, and passion for photography led me to my current career of photographing classical concerts. The short interview is up now. I discuss the unique challenges and rewards of photographing some of my favorite musicians. Many thanks to Regine, and to all the wonderful musicians I've been able to photograph in the last few months!
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.
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.
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.
This camera of mine is taking me to some very cool places. I had the recent privilege of doing a behind-the-scenes shoot with the Emmy-winning film crew of Bitter Jester Creative on a windswept bit of Chicago. We dodged flying cameras and wildlife against the backdrop of post-industrialism and pretty sweet view of the skyline.
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
As an English major and photographer, I felt perfectly content photographing World Book Night at The Book Cellar. Co-hosted by the Chicago Writers Conference and Chicago Women in Publishing, the event was part mixer, part reading, with a 100% Midwest feel. Patricia Skalka read from her novel, Death Stalks Door County, about a former Chicago cop tracking a killer on the northern shores of Lake Michigan. Then, in his soft Chicago accent, legendary author/lawyer Scott Turow read from his first novel, Presumed Innocent. Turow talked about writing during his daily commute on the train, and marveled that his first book has sold more copies (25 million) than there are people living in Chicago. Oh, and there was wine because The Book Cellar is good like that.
Scott Turow reading from Presumed Innocent.
Patricia Skalka reads from her novel, Death Stalks Door County.
Book lovers.
Scott Turow at The Book Cellar.
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.
Pacifica Quartet and Anthony McGill
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.
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.
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.
It may very well be the most beloved water tower in the city - certainly, the only one to bear such national pride. But like so many things in Chicago this winter, the Andersonville water tower that sat atop the Swedish American Museum suffered ice damage that threatened its structural integrity. Hopefully, it can be restored and replaced so that immigrants will once again know where to find lamp shops, antiques, and brunch.
The giant Swedish water tower above the corner of Clark and Foster.
The water tower in a parking lot.
