Tuesday marks the third year RH has partnered with the Poetry Foundation in combining words with music. We have had a history together of what I might call “experimental collaborations.” For the last two years, the Poetry Foundation commissioned poets to write for J.S. Bach’s Two Part Inventions and Three Part Inventions for keyboard. This [...]

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This week, the Rush Hour audience accompanied violinist Bernard Zinck and guitarist Rene Izquierdo on a musical exploration of the tango, starting with the sultry Bordel 1900 of Astor Piazzolla’s History of Tango and ending with the lively Polo of Manuel de Falla’s Canciónes Populaires Españolas.
Audience members began their journey through Argentine culture in [...]

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Last fall, Rush Hour was very pleased to invite Megan Balderston to join its staff as Executive Director. Her talents and vision beautifully complement Rush Hour’s mission to bring great music to busy lives throughout the summer. I thought you would enjoy hearing from her today.
- Deborah Sobol
For this week’s classical dance music of the [...]

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Rush Hour was delighted to welcome members of Fifth House Ensemble on Tuesday for A Composer’s Fire Rekindled: Johannes Brahms Clarinet Trio, Op. 114. Clarinetist Jennifer Woodrum prefaced the ensemble’s performance with a heartfelt talk on her appreciation of Brahms’ trio and her approach to the complexities and subtleties of chamber music. She [...]

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You know that old Beatles line, “I get by with a little help from my friends”? The back story to Tuesday’s music (Brahms’ Clarinet Trio, op. 114) gives new meaning to it. I’m pretty sure Mr. Brahms was a bit sad as he declared he was finished composing… but then along came Mr. Mühlfeld with [...]

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We were pleased to welcome the Chamber Singers of the Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum on Tuesday. The Chamber Singers specialize in performances of Renaissance music, and the Rush Hour audience reveled in a stunning program of a cappella works by Renaissance masters Guillaume Du Fay and Josquin Desprez, among others.
We wish to extend special thanks to [...]

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Rush Hour’s June 3 season opener saw many brave concertgoers whose passion for music triumphed over the torrential Chicago weather. Our theme this season focuses on the role of the listener, and our intrepid attendees asserted their essential role in the concert experience despite the difficult circumstances. These music lovers were rewarded with [...]

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Dear Friends,
It gives me great pleasure to welcome the Chamber Singers of the Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum to their first Rush Hour appearance on Tuesday. Chamber singers are to a chorus what an instrumental chamber ensemble is to an orchestra – smaller, more intimate, perhaps more accessible. You will be able to hear individual voices blending [...]

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