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.
Composer/violinist Jessie Montgomery hosted the latest installment of Music Now on Sunday afternoon at Symphony Center. Montgomery is the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Mead Composer-in-Residence. Using CSO musicians and conductor Lidiya […]
On a sunny but chilly Sunday afternoon, the Gryphon Trio gave a lackluster performance to close the Northwestern Winter Chamber Festival at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall in Evanston. Although the playing […]
On a blustery Friday night, the Dover Quartet gave a note-perfect performance at the Northwestern Winter Chamber Music Festival at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall in Evanston. While the Chicagoland region was […]
Chicago’s Cedille Records released lots of enjoyable music in 2023. Like previous years, Cedille releases focus on lesser-known music worthy of greater attention. Unlike previous years, most of the releases […]
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center gave a lively performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s six Brandenburg Concertos at the Harris Theater on Wednesday night. This is an annual holiday […]
Third Coast Percussion commemorated a 400-year anniversary with the help of composer and percussionist Michael J. Burritt, who was their professor 20 years ago at Northwestern University. Burritt, who has […]
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra gave a rousing if edgy performance on Thursday night, when it opened a series of concerts at Symphony Center, billed as MTT Conducts Mozart. MTT refers […]
The music of Johannes Brahms is featuring prominently in a series of concerts at Symphony Center this week. On Tuesday night, under the direction of Jakub Hrůša, the Staatskapelle Berlin […]
In 2021 pianist and composer Haskell Small had a stroke that debilitated the left side of his body. From the beginning of his convalescence, Small was determined not to allow […]
Picosa gave an enjoyable performance at Allen Hall in DePaul’s Holtschneider Performance Center on Monday night. Made up of Jennie Oh Brown on flute, Andrea R. DiOrio on clarinet, Elizabeth […]
Violinist Rachel Barton Pine and pianist Inna Faliks gave a lovely recital at Ravinia’s Bennett Gordon Hall on Saturday night. The program included bluesy and soulful modern music by African […]
Chicago is well known for having a rich and robust classical music community. One of the best measures of that is the talent that emerges from it. One great example […]