Preview: Inside Conrad Tao’s Expanding Musical World
There is an old home video of Conrad Tao that captures the modest beginnings of a prodigy. In the footage, a very young Tao sits at the piano, pawing out […]
Zach Carstensen, a Chicago-area freelance music critic, specializes in classical music and opera. He contributes regularly to Seen and Heard International and founded the Gathering Note in 2007. For two decades, he lived in Seattle, where his writing was featured in publications such as the Seattle Times, City Arts, Sound Magazine, and River Cities Reader. Zach is a 2009 fellow of NEA Institute in Classical Music and Opera.
Review: Distance and Discovery Frame the Rembrandt Chamber Musicians Finale
For their final program of the 2025–26 season, the Rembrandt Chamber Musicians—drawn from the Lyric Opera Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra—offered a thoughtful look at how geographic displacement can […]
Review: Multidisciplinary Future Arrives at Harris Theater With “Icons and Innovators”
The house lights at the Harris Theater rarely dimmed on an occasion as self-assured as “Icons and Innovators.” This program, held on May 2, was ostensibly a tribute to Joan […]
Review: Civic Orchestra of Chicago Brings Vitality to Price, Walker, Kay and Dvořák at Orchestra Hall
Amid a Chicago orchestral landscape dominated by marquee ensembles, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago tends to exist in the shadows. That’s unfortunate, because this century‑old training orchestra—founded in 1919 by […]
Review: Handel’s Triumphal and Somber Sides Shine at Festival Close
Review by Zach Carstensen. George Frideric Handel’s career was interwoven tightly with the British monarchy, a relationship that spanned the exuberant heights of national peace and the somber depths of […]
Review: Handel Week Festival Opens in Oak Park With Concerti and a Roman Rarity
This review was written by Zach Carstensen. Each February for the past 27 years, Dennis Northway has convened musicians to perform the work of George Frideric Handel in Oak Park. […]
Review: City Opera Brings Enchanting, Intimate Cendrillon to the CheckOut for Valentine’s Weekend
This review was written by Zach Carstensen. On Valentine’s Day weekend, Chicago City Opera brought Jules Massenet’s Cendrillon (Cinderella) to the CheckOut in Lakeview, proving that you don’t need a […]