Visual Arts

It takes a long time to stay here: Paintings by Jordan Ann Craig is an exhibition running January 25 to April 13, 2025.  For related exhibition events, click here. Artist Jordan Ann Craig’s (Northern ...

Woven Being: Art for Zhegagoynak/Chicagoland is an exhibition running January 25 to July 13, 2025.  For related exhibition events, click here. Zhegagoynak, the place now known as Chicagoland, is a vit...

Jen Pitt, stage director; Patrick Furrer, conductor; Joachim Schamberger, director of opera Count Danilo’s family had forbidden him to marry the beautiful but impoverished Hanna, although they adored ...

Part of the Winter Chamber Music Festival Judith van Driel and Marleen Wester, violin; Marie-Louise de Jong, viola; David Faber, cello ChicagoClassicalReview.com praises the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam’s ...

Part of the Skyline Piano Artist Series Pianist, conductor, and scholar Jeffrey Kahane is in the fifth decade of an expansive and versatile career which has included concertos with the New York Philha...

Part of the Winter Chamber Music Festival Daniel Ching and William Fedkenheuer, violin; John Largess, viola; Joshua Gindele, cello Hailed for their “explosive vigor and technical finesse” by the New Y...

Derrick Gardner and Kevin Fort, conductors  Following the passing of saxophonist, composer, and arranger Benny Golson in September, the Derrick Gardner ensemble dives into his musical legacy, performi...

Part of the Tichio-Finnie Vocal Master Class Series From the title roles in Rusalka, Lucrezia Borgia, and Manon Lescaut to Roxane in Cyrano de Bergerac, soprano Sondra Radvanovsky is recognized the wo...

Part of the Skyline Piano Artist Series “immaculate pianism and artistry” —The Guardian Pianist Louis Lortie appears in the world’s most prestigious concert halls and festivals, including London’s Wig...

Join us to celebrate the opening of the exhibition Woven Being: Art for Zhegagoynak/Chicagoland. Zhegagoynak, the place now known as Chicagoland, has long been a critical hub for Indigenous art. Throu...

Benjamin Manis, conductor; Christian Santos, percussion (Northwestern Concerto Competition winner) Mikhail Glinka, Ruslan and Ludmilla Overture Joseph Schwantner, Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra...

Stephen Alltop, conductor; Alice Millar Chapel Choir; Bill Baxtresser, cornetto; Paul Von Hoff, sackbut; Emi Tanabe and Brandi Berry, Baroque violin; Anna Steinhoff, Baroque cello; Eric Budzynski, org...

Heidi Moss Erickson, soprano; Kurt Erickson, piano  This event is made possible by the Filstrup Fund for Voice, Health and Wellness. In 2007, soprano and scientist Heidi Moss Erickson suffered a crani...

Joe Clark and Darius Hampton, conductors Pianist and composer Keith Jarrett performed with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers early in his career, later collaborating with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis befo...

Screening and discussion with guest filmmaker Eduardo “Teddy” Williams (Eduardo Williams, 2016, 97 min, DCP) THE HUMAN SURGE, the first feature film by Argentinian filmmaker Eduardo “Teddy” Williams...

The Litowitz MFA+MA Graduate Program in Creative Writing and English is proud to present a reading by Claudia Rankine. The event is free and open to the public, but you must RVSVP HERE. The program wi...

Screening and discussion with guest filmmaker Eduardo “Teddy” Williams THE HUMAN SURGE 3 (Eduardo Williams, 2023, 121 min, DCP)    Seven years after his debut feature THE HUMAN SURGE (2016) conjured a...

Derrick Gardner, conductor Join the Northwestern University Jazz Orchestra for adaptations of spirituals, gospel music, and Wynton Marsalis’s arrangement of the influential John Coltrane masterpiece A...

SHORT FILMS BY EDUARDO WILLIAMS (2011-2019) with filmmaker in attendance (Eduardo Williams, 2011-2019, 68 min, DCP) Since breaking through with the captivating 17-minute PUDE VER UN PUMA (I COULD SEE ...

Andrew Megill and Victoria Marshall, conductors; Chuck Foster, collaborative keyboards BCE performs J. S. Bach’s cantata BWV 39: Brich dem Hungrigen dein Brot (Give the hungry ones thy bread). Also fe...

Shawn D. Vondran, conductor The centerpiece of the Symphonic Band’s first winter-quarter concert—focused on tributes—is Kevin Day’s exuberant Concerto for Wind Ensemble. Day’s concerto is a fusion of ...

Part of the Segovia Classical Guitar Series “Pure musical alchemy… the audience jumped to its feet in ovation.” —Courier & Press Multifaceted guitarist Meng Su captivates audiences around the world wi...

Reed Capshaw, director An exciting array of music written and arranged for trombones. 

TIME PASSAGES (2024) with filmmaker Kyle Henry with pre-screening reception and with post-screening discussion A pandemic rages across the globe. In the final months of his mother Elaine’s late-stage ...

Harvey Felder, conductor; Sage Chen, violin (Northwestern Concerto Competition winner) Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35 Aaron Copland, John Henry Antonín Dvorák, Czech Suite...

Robert Taylor, conductor; Imran Amarshi and Sheldon Frazier, doctoral assistant conductors; Philip Kleutgens, saxophone (Northwestern Concerto Competition winner)  The Symphonic Wind Ensemble’s Valent...

Part of the Skyline Piano Artist Series “In a world teeming with gifted young pianists, Borrow stands out with a touch that’s both light and powerful, and supremely incandescent” —Cleveland Plain Deal...

Join Marisa Cruz Branco, Terra Foundation Curatorial Fellow for Woven Being: Art for Zhegagoynak/Chicagoland, in a conversation on works in the exhibition that explore Indigenous futurism, the Pueblo ...

Downbeat praises Billy Childs for “seeing colors and vignettes where others might just hear notes,” and the pianist and composer remains one of the most prolific and acclaimed artists active today. Hi...

Ben Bolter and Yelisey (Eli) Zelman, conductors; Nina C. Young, guest composer Nina C. Young, Tarnish Nina C. Young, Kashchei Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Entropic Arrows Ania Vu, Feathered Beings

Stephen Alltop, conductor The Baroque Music Ensemble ventures into the early Classical period with concertos by Joseph Haydn and Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, with numerous featured student soloists. ...

Darius Hampton, conductor Tenor saxophonist, composer, and bandleader Sonny Rollins is widely considered one of the most influential musicians in jazz and a pioneer of hard bop. Many of his compositio...

She-e Wu, director An evening of eclectic rhythms.

Bienen students perform contemporary music selections. 

Olivia De Prato and Maya Bennardo, violin; Victor Lowrie Tafoya, viola; Nathan Watts, cello  The Mivos Quartet “embraces toothy modernism with punk-rock verve,” declares the New York Times’ Steve Smit...

Amy Halpern’s FALLING LESSONS (1992) with guest author Laura Paul (Amy Halpern, 1992, 64 min, 16mm) Across a career that spanned over 50 years as both an experimental filmmaker, commercial cinematog...

Part of Keyboard Conversations with Jeffrey Siegel Jeffrey Siegel, piano Beloved Impromptus and the joyous Sonata in A Major, D. 664.

Marguerite Lynn Williams, director An afternoon of solo, chamber, and ensemble repertoire for harp.

Anne Waller, director Music for guitar soloists, small ensembles, and full ensemble.

Presented in collaboration with the Italian Consulate and the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago. Harpsichordist Michele Benuzzi has given solo and chamber performances throughout Italy, Spain, Jap...

 This Exhibition Tour will be led by Jordan Poorman Cocker, Terra Foundation Guest Co-Curator for Woven Being: Art for Zhegagoynak/Chicagoland.   Through the perspectives of four collaborating artists...

The Trilloquy podcast declares Karen Slack “not only one of the nation’s most celebrated sopranos, but a leading voice in changing and making spaces in classical music.” Recipient of the 2022 Sphinx M...

Donald Schleicher, conductor Maurice Ravel, Pavane pour une infante défunte (Pavane for a Dead Princess) Zoltán Kodály, Dances of Galánta (Galántai táncok) Joseph Haydn, Symphony No. 90 in C Major

Daniel J. Farris, conductor Northwestern University’s Concert Band celebrates the compositional voices of women in wind band. This exciting concert explores a variety of contemporary and historical fe...

Tim Lambert, conductor Join the Northwestern Camerata for a captivating concert that delves into the themes of home and belonging. This program showcases a diverse range of repertoire for treble voice...

Joe Clark and Darius Hampton, conductors Enjoy original compositions and new arrangements by students in the Joe Clark and Darius Hampton ensembles.

Robert Morgan and Carlie Meeker, oboe; Todd Levy and Kathryn Jarvey, clarinet; Dennis Michel and Alexander Lake, bassoon; Gail Williams, Eden Stargardt, and Lily Kern, horn; Kay Kim, piano; Desirée Ru...

An evening of music by Bienen student composers. 

A. J. Keller and Ari Carillo, conductors; Chuck Foster, collaborative piano In the words of William Shakespeare, “Like as the waves reach toward the pebbled shore, so do our minutes hasten to their en...

 Jordan Ann Craig is known for large-scale paintings, prints, and painting-inspired installations. Her work develops out of an engagement with abstraction rooted in Northern Cheyenne and other Indigen...

Ben Bolter and Yelisey (Eli) Zelman, conductors; Tania Leon, guest composer (2023 winner of the Michael Ludwig Nemmers Prize in Music Composition) Nemmers Prize winner Tania León joins the ensemble fo...

A. J. Keller and Ian Morris, conductors; Chuck Foster, collaborative piano  On the first Sunday of Lent, explore the wealth of transformative music written for this season of introspective contemplat...

Reed Capshaw, director An array of music written and arranged for trombones. 

Derrick Gardner and Kevin Fort, conductors Enjoy original compositions and new arrangements by students in the Derrick Gardner and Kevin Fort Ensembles.

Taimur Sullivan, director  The ensembles present a concert of new and inventive sounds for many saxophones, including a world premiere by Sam Alvarez (‘24) and premieres of arrangements by composers ...

Harvey Felder, conductor Manuel de Falla, El sombrero de tres picos (The Three-Cornered Hat): Suite No. 1 Johannes Brahms, Serenade No. 1 in D Major, Op. 11

Derrick Gardner, conductor The Jazz Orchestra explores the “third stream,” a genre fusing elements of classical and jazz, through music of Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, and others. Their program als...

Part of the Segovia Classical Guitar Series “Sensuously beautiful tone…lyrical and sublime” –San Francisco Classical Voice Shin-ichi Fukuda began playing the classical guitar at the age of eleven unde...

Robert Taylor, conductor; Imran Amarshi and Sheldon Frazier, doctoral assistant conductors; Ashrey Shah, clarinet (Northwestern Concerto Competition winner)  Omar Thomas’s exuberant Come Sunday rounds...

Andrew Megill and Victoria Marshall, conductors; Chuck Foster, collaborative piano The ensemble performs Der Rose Pilgerfahrt (The Pilgrimage of the Rose), a sweet fairy-tale set to music by Robert Sc...

Shawn D. Vondran, conductor As the winter quarter comes to a close, the Symphonic Band offers a program looking to both the heavens and the earth, opening with Steven Bryant’s fanfare In This Broad Ea...

Part of the Skyline Piano Artist Series “coiled...explosive” —New York Times Pianist Christopher Guzman enjoys an international performing career that showcases a broad range of styles from the Baroqu...

The Moore Lecture Series is proud to present acclaimed author and poet John Keene. His 2022 poetry collection, Punks: New and Selected Poems, received the National Book Award for Poetry. He is the aut...

Part of the Skyline Piano Artist Series “a pianist of sterling artistry” —Gramophone Lauded by audiences and critics alike, Michelle Cann has become one of the most sought-after pianists of her genera...

The Litowitz MFA+MA Program and the Bienen School of Music are proud to present Sandra Cisneros, in conversation with Derek Bermel. The program will include a reading, a discussion with Derek Bermel, ...

Part of the Segovia Classical Guitar Series Following his first public performance at the age of eight, Aniello Desiderio quickly established himself as a concert artist with a distinct voice. He has ...

Part of Keyboard Conversations with Jeffrey Siegel Jeffrey Siegel, piano Witty and whimsical selections by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Chopin, and Stravinsky.