Preview: Ear Taxi Festival… Welcome Back!
When Third Coast Review started in 2016, I had had only limited exposure to Chicago’s contemporary classical music scene. My appreciation of our community received a massive jolt in October […]
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.
Review: Bach Week Festival Made a Fine Return to In-person Performance
In the 2019-2020 concert season, the classical music world was absorbed in Beethoven250, the celebration of the 250th anniversary of that master’s birth. As the calendar flipped from February to […]
Feature: Chicago Embraces a Major Talent: Clarice Assad
One of the more recent arrivals to Chicago’s vibrant art music scene is a product of a musical family in Brazil. Clarice Assad had lived in Chicago on and off […]
Preview: Bach Week Festival 2021 and Fundraiser Set to Return Following Pandemic Hiatus
Planning continues for an abbreviated version of Evanston’s Bach Week Festival to celebrate the music of the baroque master, Johann Sebastian Bach. Last year’s event was a COVID-19 casualty. This […]
Feature: Music Institute of Chicago Continues its Mission, Pandemic or Not
One of Chicago’s longest serving music organizations has continued to operate under the trying circumstances posed by a pandemic. While COVID-19 has affected the ways in which the Music Institute […]
Preview: Music Institute of Chicago to Honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The Music Institute of Chicago will be streaming free events this weekend to celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. On the following Sunday the MIC will be […]
Review: Karim Sulayman Sang Beautifully in Chicago Artists Workshop Performance
Chicago’s four-time Grammy Award-winning ensemble Eighth Blackbird unveiled their Chicago Artist Workshop virtual concerts on Tuesday evening with Rebuilding/Crossing Bridges, a concert that featured a performance by another Grammy Award […]
Review: Third Coast Percussion Premiers Two New Works
As part of Bowling Green State University’s 41st annual New Music Festival, Chicago’s Grammy-Award winning Third Coast Percussion quartet offered a performance of several works commissioned by or written for […]
Preview: New Music Chicago to Celebrate 15 Years with Virtual, Live Concerts
New Music Chicago will be celebrating their 15th anniversary with Anniversary Bash, including two live, virtual concerts broadcast from the new Epiphany Center for the Arts in Chicago this Saturday […]
Review: Cedille Records Continues Excellence With New Releases
Update: Since this review was published in September 2020, Pacfica Quartet’s Contemporary Voices CD won the Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance. Congratulations to Pacifica Quartet and everyone […]
Preview: Chicago Philharmonic Chamber Quartet and Music of the Baroque to Perform In-Person Concerts in Skokie
As part of its Out Back Summer Sessions, the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts will be hosting the Chicago Philharmonic Chamber String Quartet and Music of the Baroque […]
Preview: Clarinetist Anthony McGill to Livestream This Friday
Chicago native Anthony McGill will be offering a livestream performance of works by Florence Price, Leonard Bernstein, and Carlos Guastavino this Friday evening, June 26. McGill grew up in Chicago’s […]