One of my favorite things in winter is to head to the Mississippi River to photograph bald eagles. They are fierce birds, enormous, powerful, graceful and gorgeous. And with a big lens, several layers of clothes, a car full of snacks, and lots of patience, the photography is a blast. These images were shot along the Lock and Dam systems at LeClaire, Iowa, and Rock Island, Illinois.
Back for another wonderful Lieder Lounge with my friends at the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago. From the Dixon-Stein instrument shop, CAIC hosted this salon recital featuring mezzo-soprano J'nai Bridges, pianist Maureen Zoltek, and violist Frank Babbitt in music by Brahms, Ravel, de Falla, and Britten.
The University of Chicago's Contempo series is celebrating its 50th year of contemporary classical music this season, and featuring its two ensembles-in-residence: eighth blackbird and the Pacifica Quartet. Joining them on January 24 was soprano Sharon Harms, trumpeter Stephen Burns, conductor David Fulmer, and a host of players from Chicago's new music community. It's always fun to photograph these expressive musicians, and I'm looking forward to more in March.
Yvonne Lam
eighth blackbird
Simin Ginatra, Sibbi Bernhardsson of the Pacifica Quartet.
Masumi Per Rostad
Stephen Burns, trumpet, and David Fulmer conducting.
Pacifica Quartet with pianist Anthony Cheung
Pacifica Quartet with pianist Anthony Cheung
Sharon Harms and David Fulmer
Sharon Harms and David Fulmer
Sharon Harms, David Fulmer, and composer John Eaton.
I was fortunate to photograph jazz singer Bruce Henry and his band at Jazz Showcase as part of a benefit evening in support of my friends at Sharing Notes. I've seen first-hand how the fine artists of Sharing Notes bring beautiful music to hospital patients of all ages - often in bedside performances - and it was great to see an enthusiastic audience come out to support this group on a snowy Monday night. From the stage, Bruce Henry's multi-octave tenor range belted out a high-energy set, backed by some great solos from each of his bandmates. More info on Bruce here. More info on Sharing Notes here.
I spent New Year's Eve 2014 in much the same way I spent most of the year: photographing great music. During Evanston's First Night celebration, I hopped from one downtown cathedral to another, in and out of the cold, to catch some killer jazz ensembles, as well as slam poet extraordinaire Marc Smith doing his thing. Here are some of my favorite shots from the evening, the last pictures I took in 2014, and some of the first of 2015.
Alfonso Ponticelli and Swing Gitan
Steve Gibons (violin) with Alfonso Ponticelli and Swing Gitan
John Bany (bass), Alfonso Ponticelli, Alex Udvary (cimbalom)
Howard Levy and Chevere
Joe Rendon (percussion), Ernie Denov (guitar) with Chevere
Howard Levy and Alejo Poveda
Ruben Alvarez
Ernie Denov
Steve Eisen (sax), Mark Ohlsen (trumpet)
Chevere de Chicago
The Slam Papi, Marc Smith (so what).
Marc Smith
Regina Carter
Regina Carter
Regina Carter and Southern Comfort
Fire Jamming
Fire Jamming
It's been a while since I had a good old-fashioned four-hour photowalk through the Loop. Dawn was up for the challenge of capturing crowds of people being festive, and after proper amounts of coffee, off we went.
I wish the Pharez Whitted Group had a standing gig at the Green Mill. These guys played some of the hardest-hitting, soulful music I'd heard at the Mill all year. From my seat down front, I had clean views of most of the band (no music stands!), so I snapped away.
My affinity for jazz has grown in the last year alongside my approach to photography, and I believe the two are related. I've discovered that, for me, photography is largely improvisational. I arrive at a shoot with an idea of what I want, but the final product is often a collaboration between the subject or client and myself. The best images come from on-the-spot decisions, and I've learned to embrace the unknown or unexpected. Jazz teaches me this lesson every time.
Thanks to Pharez Whitted (trumpet), Eddie Bayard (sax), Lovell Bradford (keys), Jon Wood (bass), and Greg Artry (drums) for a weekend of killer music.
It's really hard to run a portrait session when there are waffles cooking in the next room. Nevertheless, I had a great time with the friendly and efficient staff at J&L Catering. Their offices are located in a former tannery on Goose Island, and while bricks can be a difficult background at times, I knew I wanted them in the photos to show a little of the building's character. My thanks to Ted, Kevin, Laura, Nitin, Cam, Vanessa, Jim, Rachel, Scott, and Ashleigh!
Microphones, music stands, lights, cables, a thousand mallets. Plus the instruments - some of them large (marimbas, drum kits, cymbals, a gong, a piano), and some of them found objects (pipes, empty whiskey bottles, a string of paperclips). And the artists themselves: Rob, Pete, Sean, David, all with earpieces plugged in and playing in perfect syncopation. Third Coast Percussion is a complete sensory experience. A few weeks ago, they gave me free range on stage at the University of Chicago's Logan Center for the Arts during their dress rehearsal with one directive: get all four musicians in one frame. The solution was a multiple exposure frame created in the camera; it also captured the organized chaos of instruments.
The light, the venue, the music - it was all perfect back on October 19 when I photographed Chicago a cappella at Rockefeller Chapel. The program blended sacred and spiritual music from ancient vocal traditions, performed flawlessly by the ensemble of nine singers. The late-afternoon autumn light streamed through Rockefeller's giant stained-glass windows; the crystal-clear singing filled the building, making an otherwise huge venue feel intimate, and, well, perfect.
For its 16th annual Concert for Peace, Fulcrum Point New Music Project showed off some serious chops. The first set went from Somei Satoh's meditative "Hikari (Light)" to Louis Andriessen's taut and racing "Hout (Wood)." The second set filled the South Shore Cultural Center with Thelonious Monk and Horace Silver. A little yoga on a windswept lakefront ended the afternoon. Looking forward to working with Fulcrum Point again on its November 1 concert, featuring Indian classical music alongside Messaien and Mingus.
It's a pretty cool thing when one artist can blend so easily with other styles. Russian-born cellist Ian Maksin gave a great concert Saturday at the Old Town School of Folk Music that began with contemporary works for unamplified solo cello. By the end of the night, he was plugged into some reverb and sharing the stage with Flamenco guitarist Carlo Basile, percussionist Bob Garrett, and veena master Saraswathi Ranganathan (Basile described her sound as "an Indian Ry Cooder"). As one last feature, Maksin performed with Lucas Segovia from Joffrey Ballet. Here are some shots from the concert, and a few from soundcheck that afternoon.
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:
Hard to believe the season has ended, but the 15th Summer Concert Series presented by Rush Hour Concerts was another good one filled with a variety of music. Here is a gallery of fantastic artists whom I had the pleasure of photographing throughout the summer.
Haymarket Opera Theater with Craig Trompeter, Kindra Scharich, and Philipe Leroy.
Sones de Mexico Ensemble playing Bach
Brant Taylor and Kuang-Hao Huang play Beethoven.
Julie Miller and the Lyric Opera's Ryan Opera Center.
Barbara Drapcho and Quintet Attacca
Jani Parsons, Drew Williams, and Jennifer Woodrum of Fifth House Ensemble tearing it up as usual.
The Jason Seed Stringtet experimental fusion goodness.
Third Coast Percussion playing everything.
I've never heard so much flute music in one concert, nor seen so many flutists under one roof. But that's what happens when you photograph the National Flute Association's Gala Concerto Concert: flutes of all shapes and sizes and music from Bach to "Sweet Home Chicago." The Los Angeles Flute Orchestra performed an intimate concert in the elegant Grainger Ballroom and showcased some of its custom-made instruments. The Concerto Concert closed with a marvelous performance of Mozart's Flute Concerto by Los Angeles Philharmonic principal flutist Julien Beaudiment. Click through the gallery below for some of my favorite shots from the evening.
Los Angeles Flute Orchestra in Symphony Center's Grainger Ballroom.
Bass flutes - who knew?
Los Angeles Flute Orchestra in Symphony Center's Grainger Ballroom.
Chicago Philharmonic directed by Cliff Colnot - and four vibraphones
Orchestra Hall is one of my favorite spaces in the city.
Cliff Colnot conducting the Chicago Philharmonic.
Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center - what a view!
The LA Phil's Julien Beaudiment playing Mozart.
