8/26 – Concert Recap

Quintet Attacca (Jennifer Clippert, flute; Erica Anderson, oboe; Barbara Drapcho, clarinet; Collin Anderson, bassoon; and Jeremiah Frederick, horn) brought Rush Hour’s ninth season to a spectacular close with the charming and lively music of Brazilian composer Osvaldo Lacerda and Mexican composer Arturo Marquez in Summer Winds.

Nearly 400 people attended our season finale concert, and we extend our thanks to our entire audience of the 2008 season for their enthusiasm, engaged listening, and support.

While this is the last concert of our summer season, Rush Hour does not “hibernate” in the “winter season” — we hope you’ll continue to visit us here at rushhour.org and stay up-to-date on events, happenings, and recommendations for the “culturally curious” leading up to our 10th anniversary season in 2009.

Quintet Attacca in rehearsal

The ensemble discusses their future plans during a recording of Rush Hour Conversations

Audience members gather outside St. James Cathedral during the pre-concert reception

Artistic Director Deborah Sobol with Quintet Attacca

Thoughts from the Artistic Director: An Encore of Thanks

“So long as the human spirit thrives on this planet, music in some living form will accompany and sustain it and give it expressive meaning.” The words of American composer Aaron Copland marry well with the mission of Rush Hour to bring great music to busy lives. As we come to the close of our ‘08 season, I hope our weekly series has sustained and inspired each of your spirits.

The past thirteen weeks have once again constituted a remarkable journey of music-making on the part of the Rush Hour artists and “music-experiencing” on the part of you, our active and engaged audience. We hope you will take it with you into the winter months in memory or via our “In-A-Flash” flash drive. And we hope you will “tune in” here (rushhour.org) throughout the next nine months to hear ongoing Rush Hour Conversations and learn of off-season events.

An encore of thanks of large magnitude is in order: to our Board of Directors and our Advisory Committee for their year-round leadership and support; to all who have contributed financially at any level to help us meet our yearly operating budget and challenge grants, guaranteeing that these weekly concerts continued to remain free and open to all; to all the Rush Hour staff and volunteers who have worked devotedly and tirelessly all summer to produce the Rush Hour experience at the level of comfort, ease and stimulation you have come to expect; and finally, to my colleagues, who brought you the music of this season in all its variety and richness.

I hope you will continue to share news of Rush Hour with friends and colleagues and keep in touch with us as we prepare our 10^th anniversary season in 2009. Finally, as is my custom at this time, let me recommend a few notable local series to you for the “winter season,” where you can find great chamber music and continue your own journeys into this wonderful art form.

St. James Cathedral Concerts

Don’t wait until next summer to hear more great music at St. James Cathedral! Bruce Barber, music director of St. James Cathedral, has crafted a wonderful series of concerts October – May. For more information, please pick up a flyer on your way out or visit www.saintjamescathedral.org.

The Chicago Chamber Musicians (CCM)

Many of the outstanding artists you heard this summer are members of the Grammy-nominated Chicago Chamber Musicians, now in their 22^nd season. Considered “one of the indispensables of classical music in Chicago” by the Chicago Tribune, CCM offers free, noontime concerts on the first Monday of most months at the Chicago Cultural Center and the ensemble’s ticketed subscription series is held in Evanston and Chicago September – May. For more information about upcoming CCM concerts, please visit www.chicagochambermusic.org.

Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts

The Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert series provides free concerts 52 weeks a year, every Wednesday at 12:15 p.m. at the Chicago Cultural Center. These concerts present talented young musicians early in their careers and are broadcast live on WFMT. On October 22 this year, the 31st anniversary of Hess concerts will be celebrated with the Avalon Quartet (who succeeded the Vermeer Quartet as quartet-in-residence at Northern Illinois University). For more information, visit www.imfchicago.org.

I wish you all a happy and healthy “winter season” and look forward to seeing you again next summer at Rush Hour!

- Deborah Sobol

8/19 – Concert Recap

This Tuesday, Rush Hour audiences enjoyed a special concert event with Bruce J. Barber II, organ, in Organ 101: Back to Bach. In addition to hearing Bach’s magnificent works on St. James’ organ, Rush Hour audiences were able to see the physical complexity of Mr. Barber’s performance through the use of a live video feed from the organ gallery projected onto a large screen on the “stage” of the Cathedral.

Before the concert, concertgoers were treated to delicious colorful pastries provided by Austrian Bakery, located at 2523 N. Clark Street in Chicago.

We thank the Consulate General of Germany in Chicago for their generous partial sponsorship of Tuesday’s performance.

Austrian Bakery (2523 N. Clark Street in Chicago) provided the delicious pastries at the pre-concert reception

Madtown Media produced the video feed for Tuesday’s performance

Organist Bruce J. Barber II in rehearsal

The Cathedral was “standing room only” during the concert

Bruce Barber gives a tour of St. James’ historic organ after the concert to interested attendees

Exactly what is an organ … and how does it work?

Organists are often asked these two simple questions . . . the answer, however, is both simple and complicated! I offer you my best shot at answering clearly and simply!

What is an organ? The very first organs were winded through the use of moving water and were popular in Greek civilization to provide a “drone” (like the drones of the bagpipe) as background for entertainment instruments and singing. In settings more closely associated with organs (i.e. churches), the instrument is thought to have made its first appearance as early as the 6th century. By that time, it had grown from its humble, water-winded system into a much larger instrument (still small by today’s standards) which was raucous in nature and whose function was principally to play during formal processions and, to a lesser extent, to accompany singing.

Towards the 13th century, the organ took on a much greater liturgical (sacred) role – offering support for chant and presenting specific music written for it (albeit geared towards the Mass). Because of the increasing importance being placed upon it, the organ also grew in size! It was winded by multiple bellows (often worked by multiple individuals); its palette of stops (collections of pipes of varying timbre and pitches) increased; and it became an increasingly important work of art in the life of both church and community.

By the 15th century in Germany, organs were being built with separate stops and keys for the feet – the pedalboard was born. The organ continued to develop into styles that reflected the national identity of the builder: e.g. Dutch organs sounded different from English organs, which sounded different from American organs, etc. These nationalistic styles were also heavily informed by composers for the organ as they pressed builders to create new and innovative sounds for the organ. Additionally, the organ began to appear in town halls, orchestra halls, and opera houses as composers included parts for it in their works: think of the heroic Symphony No. 3 of Camille Saint-Saëns or the stunning Concerto for Organ by Francis Poulenc, to name but a few.

How does it work? Well, first of all, an organ is basically a collection of very expensive whistles (pipes) of varying tonal colors that speak (make sound) when air blows through them. How the pipes are controlled from the keyboards (console) varies from builder to builder, but there are basically two ways for that “connection” to be made. Some organs are called “tracker organs” as they have an actual physical connection through levers, cables, and joints — all making up the tracker mechanism — which runs from each key to the base of each pipe, while other organs are called “electro-pneumatic organs” because that key to pipe connection is made NOT with trackers, but rather through electronic signal transmitted through a wiring system (and in some cases, involving a computer!)

For example, in Chicago, the organ in the balcony at Holy Name Cathedral is a tracker organ built by a Dutch builder (Flentrop), while the St. James’ organ is an electro-pneumatic organ built by American builders (Austin and E.M. Skinner — and a few others!) St. James has had an organ since the church was first built in 1837; over the years, it has been rebuilt and enlarged many times and currently consists of 99 ranks (collections of pipes) and over 5800 individual speaking pipes. Most notably, it incorporates the historic 1929 E.M. Skinner Organ originally built and installed in Chicago’s Lyric Opera House.

- Bruce J. Barber II

8/12 – Concert Recap

This week, Rush Hour welcomed Emily Lodine, mezzo-soprano, Capriccio (Donna Milanovich, flute, and Stephen Hartman, harp), and Elizabeth Start, ‘cello for a memorable concert event. The performance featured the poignant I Remember – Based on the Diary of Anne Frank (music by Michael Cohen, text by Enid Futterman), as well selections from Charles Lichter’s Four Hebrew Canons and Ernest Bloch’s From Jewish Life.

We would like to extend a special thank you to Trader Joe’s, who generously provided refreshments at Tuesday’s pre-concert reception.

Thank you, Trader Joe’s!

Donna Milanovich, flute, at the pre-concert reception

Stephen Hartman, harp

Elizabeth Start, ‘cello

Emily Lodine, mezzo-soprano

Thoughts from the Executive Director: Reflecting on Community

It may seem that Tuesday’s program, “I Remember,” is an unusual choice for a chamber music series such as ours. What do the writings of an adolescent trapped by hatred and a cruel war have to do with a beautiful evening in Chicago 70 years later, and you, our community of concertgoers?

Everything.

Rush Hour is a diverse community of people who have several things in common: cultural curiosity, the shared enjoyment of a respite at the end of the day, and the willingness to explore the traditional alongside the modern. You are savvy with politics, intelligent, generous, and some of the most interesting people I have ever met. Speaking with members of the Rush Hour community illuminates and informs my own journey, and broadens the aesthetic nourishment provided by the music. Having the unintentionally immortal words of Anne Frank set against the backdrop of beautiful music and the Rush Hour community seems like the perfect combination of respite and reflection to me. While St. James’ physical space is gorgeous and inspiring, I take this opportunity to thank you, our Rush Hour community, for creating the proper mental and reflective space to truly enjoy these works.

- Megan Balderston

8/5 – Concert Recap

CINCO Brass Quintet (Guillaume Fortin and Dorival Puccini, trumpets; Anna Mayne, horn; Brian Risinger, trombone; and Jared Bulmer, tuba) joined Rush Hour this Tuesday to perform a diverse selection of repertoire in Brass Outings: Music of Giovanni Gabrieli, André Previn, and George Gershwin.

Jared Bulmer paused the performance after the Gabrieli Canzone per Sonare No. 1 “La Spiritata”, a piece arranged for brass quintet, to discuss the availability of repertoire for his ensemble. The following selection on the program, André Previn’s Four Outings for Brass, was the only piece on the program originally intended for the instruments present in performance. Anna Mayne spoke briefly before Selections From Porgy and Bess (George Gershwin, arr. Jack Gale) to discuss the popularity of the works’ melodies before ending the group’s stunning performance.

Artistic Director Deborah Sobol engages in a Rush Hour Conversation with the members of CINCO Brass Quintet before the performance

Jared Bulmer, tuba, in rehearsal

Dorival Puccini, trumpet and Anna Mayne, horn

Brian Risinger, trombone and Guillaume Fortin, trumpet

Fanfare Committee members Reba Levy and Eli Margulies
stand by the Cathedral doors to greet audience members

Rush Hour Board Secretary Anstiss Hammond Krueck, Norman Pellegrini,
Lady Valerie Solti, and Rush Hour Executive Director Megan Balderston

Rush Hour on NBC Nightly News!

Rush Hour was featured on the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams on Tuesday, August 5 as part of their “What Works” series. We’re very pleased to share the national recognition and thank all who have helped keep Rush Hour free and accessible to all for the past nine seasons.

Thoughts from the Executive Director: 10th Anniversary Season

You may find it hard to believe that Rush Hour is celebrating its ninth season this year. There is a sense of innovation and freshness around the audience, the programming, and the spirit of each concert event. I hear at some point each Tuesday evening, “I didn’t know about this!” and “I’m here for the first time…” This juxtaposition of new faces with familiar is mirrored in RH’s mission to bring the traditional chamber music format to new listeners while introducing all of our listeners to new kinds of chamber music.

For those of you who have been around for awhile—and those who are reading our blog for the first time—we have an invitation. In honor of our 10th anniversary season in 2009, we would like to revisit one of your favorite programs.

Artistic Director Deborah Sobol has compiled a list of five of the most popular programs from Rush Hour’s first nine seasons. Vote below or cast a ballot at the August 12 or 19 concerts. We will announce the audience favorite to be programmed in 2009 at this season’s final concert on August 26.

We look forward to hearing from you!

- Megan Balderston

7/29 – Concert Recap

Third Coast Percussion members Owen Clayton Condon, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin, and David Skidmore dazzled Rush Hour audience members with a dynamic presentation of contemporary percussion music on Tuesday. Beginning with Nico Muhly’s arresting Ta and Clap, the quartet was joined by Constance Schoepflin, flute, for George Crumb’s An Idyll for the Misbegotten and ended with quartet member David Skidmore’s composition In Contact.

In addition to the unique musical presentation, concertgoers enjoyed refreshments generously provided by Trader Joe’s at the pre-concert reception.

Thank you, Trader Joe’s!

David Skidmore and Owen Clayton Condon rehearse before the concert

Robert Dillon and Peter Martin

The group rehearses framed by the stunning Cathedral interior

Owen Clayton Condon demonstrates different sounds for interested concertgoers

Managing Director Julie Hutchison with volunteer Chuck Hamilton