ARTS CIRCLE

A century and a half ago, Northwestern Trustees voted to admit young women to the University “upon the same terms and conditions as young men.” But that decision on June 23, 1869, was far from the end...

By William ShakespeareDirected by Danielle Roos January 31 – February 9, 2020Josephine Louis Theater20 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston Performances Friday, January  31                        7:30PMSaturda...

Book by Heather HatchMusic and Lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell BenjaminDirected and Choreographed by Chris Carter February 14 – March 1, 2020Ethel M. Barber Theater30 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston P...

“Violinist James Ehnes and pianist Andrew Armstrong play together with an easy spark and suppleness that only old friends really can.” —The Guardian James Ehnes and Andrew Armstrong conclude their sur...

“Violinist James Ehnes and pianist Andrew Armstrong play together with an easy spark and suppleness that only old friends really can.” —The Guardian James Ehnes and Andrew Armstrong conclude their sur...

Diane Simpson, born 1935, is a Chicago-based artist who for the past forty years has created sculptures and preparatory drawings that evolve from a diverse range of sources, including clothing, utilit...

“These limber and luminous performances by the Aizuri Quartet, in music written specifically for the group by young composers, proves that the 250-year-old string quartet formula remains vibrant and v...

National Theatre Live: Small IslandAdapted by Helen EdmundsonBased on the novel by Andrea LevyDirected by Rufus Norris Sunday, January 19 at 2pmJosephine Louis Theater 20 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston A...

“Light, silvery sonority and graceful style…clearly a talented ensemble on the rise.” —Chicago Classical Review The Dudok Quartet Amsterdam is the recipient of a 2018 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award, the...

Alexander Kerr, violin; Lawrence Neuman, viola; Stephen Balderston, cello; Andrew Raciti, double bass; Kay Kim and José Ramón Méndez, piano; Steven Cohen, clarinet; Gail Williams, horn; Lewis Kirk, ba...

1992 Naumburg International Piano Competition winner and recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant, pianist Awadagin Pratt is acclaimed for his musical insight and intensely involving performances. He...

“Luxurious, beautifully sculptured performances” —New York Times Celebrating its 45th anniversary in 2019, the American String Quartet began its career winning both the Coleman Competition and the Nau...

Stephanie Blythe’s performances are “so powerful and so artful that she made the term ‘commanding the stage’ seem completely inadequate,” raves the Seattle Times. The acclaimed mezzo-soprano is the re...

Taimur Sullivan, director  Featuring Jennifer Higdon’s Stomp and Dance, this program explores the wide-ranging sound world of the saxophone.

Mallory Thompson, conductor W. A. Mozart, Wind Serenade No. 12 in C Minor  Walter Piston, Tunbridge Fair  Morten Lauridsen (arr. H. Robert Reynolds), Contre qui, Rose?  John Corigliano, Gazebo Dances...

Victor Yampolsky, conductor  Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 10 was his final composition, left unfinished at his death. Amid failing health and personal crises, he wrote some of the most turbulent, evo...

Victor Goines and Kevin Fort, conductors  Women composers, instrumentalists, and bandleaders have always played an essential role in the jazz world. Lil’ Armstrong, the Sweethearts of Rhythm, Melba L...

Alan Pierson and Ben Bolter, conductors  Conductor Ben Bolter premiered Drew Baker’s Noxat Chicago’s 2016 Ear Taxi Festival. Taking its title from poet Anne Carson’s elegiac book, Nox uses spatial ar...

Shawn Vondran, conductor; Taimur Sullivan, saxophone  Featuring associate professor of saxophone Taimur Sullivan, this program reprises works from the Symphonic Band’s February 2 performance at the N...

“His performances were exemplary in tonal clarity, textural richness, and what George Bernard Shaw used to call 'marksmanship.'”— Seattle Times Described by Gramophone as "the most trailblazing and me...

Robert G. Hasty, conductor; Anne Waller and Mark Maxwell, guitar  Gioachino Rossini, Overture to La Cenerentola (Cinderella)  Ottorino Respighi, Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite No. 2  Mario Castelnuov...

“…Gorgeous tone, rock-solid rhythm, beautiful phrasing, and no identifiable technical flaws. This is great playing.”—American Record Guide João Luiz and Douglas Lora, guitar The Brasil Guitar Duo, a 2...

Joel Link and Bryan Lee, violin; Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, viola; Camden Shaw, cello  Winner of a Cleveland Quartet Award, an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and the 2013 Banff International String Quar...

 She-e Wu, director  An evening of eclectic rhythms, timbres, and textures for percussion.

Jeffrey Siegel, piano A Valentine’s Day program showcasing heartfelt music by Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, and Bartók. Celebrate with music of passion, love, and longing inspired by the composers' signifi...

Gail Williams, director  A program of varied colors and characters for brass ensemble.

Darius Hampton, conductor  The Count Basie Orchestra is undeniably the most swingin’, blues-infused ensemble in the history of jazz. Throughout the Count’s career, he and his band members performed m...

Students perform the contemporary music of their choice.

Mallory Thompson, conductor   Joel Puckett, Blink  Cindy McTee, Soundings  Jennifer Higdon (arr. Eric Scott), “SkyLine” from City Scape  John Harbison, Three City Blocks

Anne Waller, director  The ensemble celebrates composer, conductor, and classical guitarist Leo Brouwer’s 80th birthday with a performance of his Acerca del cielo, el aire y la sonrisa. The program a...

Stephen Alltop, conductor; Sophie Lanthier, flute; James Cooper, cello; Phillip Matsuura, harpsichord  A varied program of dazzling baroque delights, concluding with a bang!  Evaristo Dall’Abaco, Vi...

Geoff Landman and Patrick Stadler, saxophone; Andreas-Eduardo Frank, composer and multimedia artist The Landman/Stadler Saxophone Duo spans the Atlantic, with Geoffrey Landman based in New York City a...

Daniel J. Farris, conductor  Talented students from across the Northwestern campus present a concert of band standards.

Darius Hampton and Joe Clark, conductors  Throughout the history of jazz, the most frequently asked question has been “What’s next?” This concert provides an answer in the form of all-new compositions...

A. J. Keller, conductor  Join the University Singers for a mid-season concert examining mortality through the art of centuries past. This program explores the concept of death through different perspe...

The composition and music technology program presents a concert showcasing new electroacoustic music.

Alan Pierson, conductor; Oscar Bettison, guest composer  For its second winter concert, the Contemporary Music Ensemble performs two chamber works. Completed in 1906, Arnold Schoenberg’s Chamber Symph...

“An extraordinary exhibition of musicianship, technical control and good taste which lent the music a freshness, immediacy and conviction one all too seldom encounters” —The London Times Since winning...

Victor Yampolsky, conductor  Franz Schubert, String Quartet No. 12 in C Minor (“Quartettsatz”)  Béla Bartók, Divertimento for String Orchestra  Ludwig van Beethoven, Große Fuge  Alfred Schnittke (arr....

Donald Nally and Corey Everly, conductors; Scott Dettra, organ  The music of Herbert Howells continues to grow in stature as we view the 20th century from an ever-increasing distance. His extraordinar...

Jeremy Edelstein, conductor  Treble-voice works by an eclectic group of composers in a variety of styles and genres.

Robert G. Hasty, conductor; Sarah H. Kim, graduate assistant conductor  Johann Strauss, Jr., Kaiser-Walzer (Emperor Waltz)  Jules Massenet, Ballet Suite from Le Cid  Antonín Dvořák, Symphony No. 9 in ...

Kay Kim, piano  One of only two wind players to receive the Avery Fisher Prize, David Shifrin has appeared with major orchestras throughout the US, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Japan, Korea, and Taiwa...

The Chicago Tribune declares, “Dal Niente is a model of what contemporary music needs to reach and engage a wider public.” The 22-member Chicago-based collective presents and performs new music in way...

Robert G. Hasty, conductor; Victor Huls, graduate assistant conductor; Alice Liu, piano  Claude Debussy, Printemps  Francis Poulenc, Piano Concerto in C-sharp Minor Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. ...

Winner of the 2018 Guitar Foundation of America (GFA) Competition, French guitarist Raphaël Feuillâtre has studied with Roland Dyens and Tristan Manoukian at the Paris National Superior Conservatory o...

Shawn Vondran, conductor  Michael Colgrass, Bali  William Bolcom, Song for Band Vincent Persichetti, Divertimento for Band  and chamber music for woodwinds, brass, and percussion

By Noël Coward Directed by Matthew Warchus March 14, 2020 7:00 pm Ethel M. Barber Theater 30 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston Matthew Warchus directs Andrew Scott (BBC’s Sherlock, Fleabag) in Noël Coward’s...

Christopher P. Davis, director  Music written and arranged for trombones.

Written and performed by Phoebe Waller-Bridge Directed by Vicky Jones April 3, 2020 7:00 pm See the hilarious, award-winning, one-woman show that inspired the BBC’s hit TV series Fleabag, broadcast li...

“One of the most serious, questing pianists on the circuit today…breathtaking virtuosity…a complete Beethovenian”—Telegraph (London) Raised in Germany and a graduate of the Juilliard School, Andreas H...

Award-winning lutenist Robert Barto studied historical lute performance at the University of California-San Diego before continuing his studies with Michael Schaeffer in Cologne and Eugen Dombois in B...

"The Spanish pianist of his generation"—Hoja del Lunes de Madrid José Ramón Méndez’s career gained international recognition when he performed Liszt's first piano concerto under the direction of Sergi...

Jeffrey Siegel, piano In this season's spirited conclusion, hear jazz and ragtime music of Gershwin and Joplin; waltzes, polkas, and the popular tango "Por una Cabeza"; the pulsating Toccata from Gina...

Born and raised in Hanoi, Vietnam, An Tran is a “Vietnamese guitar virtuoso” according to Austin Classical Guitar. After winning first prize in the Vietnam National Guitar Competition at the age of 12...

Preconcert lecture, 2:30 p.m. While Madame de Pompadour is best known as mistress to Louis XV, she was no mere vixen. Mesmerizing, fiercely clever, beautiful, and a relentless social climber, de Pomp...

The Phoenix declares, “Polenzani has perhaps the finest tenor voice of his generation, and he sang with aristocratic elegance and potency.” The tenor’s 2018-19 season included a return to Lyric Opera ...