A lover of music his whole life, Louis Harris has written extensively from the early days of punk and alternative rock. More recently he has focused on classical music, especially chamber ensembles. He has reviewed concerts, festivals, and recordings and has interviewed composers and performers. He has paid special attention to Chicago’s rich and robust contemporary art music scene. He occasionally writes poetry and has a published novel to his credit, 32 Variations on a Theme by Basil II in the Key of Washington, DC. He now lives on the north side of Chicago, which he considers to be the greatest city in the country, if not the world. Member of the Music Critics Association of North America.
In a marathon, three-hour concert that included two intermissions at Ravinia on Tuesday night, the Emerson String Quartet gave an energetic, vibrant, yet nuanced, performance of six quartets that comprise […]
The repertoire for piano duo is very rich, but performances can be rather rare. The Music Institute of Chicago has been remedying this situation with its annual Chicago Duo Piano […]
As the sun rises at what annually is its most northerly point on the horizon, sound artist Eric Leonardson will be performing Dean Rosenthal’s experimental music-theater piece, Stones/Water/Time/Breath at Sherwin […]
Chicago’s Orion Ensemble concludes its 2015-2016 season with three performances of Musical Enchantments, a trio of works by Brahms, Dvořák, and Beach straddling the turn of the 20th century. It […]
Rush Hour Concerts is offering a perfect way to end the work day with its 17th season of free chamber music concerts at St. James Cathedral. Running every Tuesday from […]
The students from the Music Institute of Chicago’s Academy showed off their talent on Saturday night in a performance celebrating the academy’s 10 years of training in musical excellence. The […]
The Music Institute of Chicago’s Academy celebrates its 10th anniversary with a performance of its student orchestra featuring alumni Rachel Barton Pine and Matthew Lipman. The concert will take place […]
The guitar duo of Sergio and Odair Assad were joined by composer, pianist, and vocalist Clarice Assad, who is also Sergio’s daughter, for an enchanting performance at the University of […]
The Chicago Ensemble serves up their latest menu of modern and contemporary fare at 3pm Sunday at the International House, University of Chicago, Hyde Park. This eclectic group has kept […]
The Berlin-based Artemis Quartet offered a program of sunshine and suspense to kick off its North American tour at the University of Chicago’s Mandel Hall on Friday. Following the tragic […]
Carlos Kalmar returns to his 17th season with the Grant Park Music Festival for an interesting and varied program for the summer of 2016. From an opening display of Mussorgsky’s […]
Headed by the power musical couple of pianist Wu Han and cellist David Finckel (who started performing full-time with his wife after a 34-year tenure with the Emerson String […]