An Afternoon with Julia: Tickets Now Available!
Make your afternoon with “Julia Child” even sweeter – and help keep Rush Hour’s 2011 summer season admission free!
Back by popular demand, Rush Hour is presenting Lee Hoiby’s “Bon Appétit!: How to Make a Deliciously Decadent Chocolate Cake” on Tuesday, July 19.
Purchase a ticket to the 2011 summer fundraising event, “An Afternoon with Julia,” and receive the following bonuses in addition to FREE concert attendance:
- An invitation to attend the dress rehearsal on Monday, July 18 at 5:30 PM
- Prime seating during Rush Hour’s free concert on Tuesday, July 19 at 5:45 PM
- A flash drive of a podcast interview with the artists and a live track of the performance
- An invitation to a private post-concert terrace reception with the artists and Artistic Director Deborah Sobol featuring spectacular city views and food prepared by Chicago celebrity chef Bill Kim of the award-winning Urban Belly and Belly Shack restaurants)
Tickets are $125 per person. Space is limited – click on the “Buy Now” button below to purchase your tickets.
All fundraiser proceeds help ensure Rush Hour’s admission-free policy for the 2011 summer season.
Make Music Chicago 2011 Pictures Now Available!
After a busy and exciting day throughout Chicago with over 450 musicians of varying genres, the first-ever Make Music Chicago 2011 is now in the history books.
We asked for volunteers and attendees to send us pictures during the day; we now have nearly 500 photos! View them through our Flickr account here.
Special Video Message from Renée Fleming
Lyric Opera Creative Consultant Renée Fleming shares her wishes for Make Music Chicago’s inauguration via video message from Paris below:
2011 Summer Season Preview
The first signs of spring in Chicago brings Rush Hour to many people’s minds.
As our season brochure is about to go to print, I thought I’d share a few of our 2011 summer season highlights with you to warm up these still (mostly) chilly days!
Our opening concert on June 7 features the second of
Brahms’ string sextets, Op. 36 (the first of which opened our 2010 season to great acclaim).
Back by popular demand for the third time at Rush Hour, mezzo-soprano Emily Lodine returns in the role of Julia Child in Lee Hoiby’s mini-opera “Bon Appétit!: How to Make Julia Child’s Deliciously Decadent Chocolate Cake” on July 19.
CSO Principal Trumpet Chris Martin will be featured on our July 26 program with music both old and new for trumpet, organ, and strings, including music of Henry Purcell and contemporary American composer Eric Ewazen.
And on August 9, the Poetry Foundation will again partner with Rush Hour on a program devoted to poetry from Russia paired with the piano preludes of Dmitri Shostakovich.
Click here to view the full schedule of 2011 summer season concerts.
We look forward to welcoming you at St. James Cathedral beginning June 7!
- Deborah Sobol
Artistic Director
Make Music Chicago – Already in the News!
Rush Hour is shepherding the city of Chicago into a global phenomenon on June 21 with Make Music Chicago – the 24-hour musical holiday inspired by France’s Fête de la Musique celebrated in over 460 cities in 110 countries.
The largest “Make Music” celebration in the United States is in New York — Make Music New York is now in its 5th year of providing free live music of all genres to all 5 boroughs of New York City every year on June 21.
Make Music New York was so excited about Chicago joining the international celebration that they featured Make Music Chicago first in their web series on other festivals around the world. Click here to read their article about the inaugural year of Make Music Chicago.
RedEye Chicago, Chicago’s pop culture daily newspaper, featured Make Music Chicago as a part of their 2011 summer festival guide in conjunction with Metromix Chicago.
For information on Make Music Chicago, visit MakeMusicChicago.com.
Call for Volunteers
Rush Hour needs your help!
Rush Hour’s twelfth summer season and the inaugural year of Make Music Chicago will be made possible only through the efforts of volunteers like you.
Even if you have only an hour to give between today and June 30, you can make a difference.
Here are some areas where you can join in anytime:
- Recruiting performance sites across the city for Make Music Chicago
- Distributing Rush Hour and Make Music Chicago brochures, posters and other promotional materials around the city and suburbs
- Producing mailings for Rush Hour and Make Music Chicago
- Photographing and filming performances across the city on June 21 for Make Music Chicago
- Welcoming musicians and greeting audience members at performances across the city on June 21 for Make Music Chicago
- Ushering at concerts at St. James Cathedral beginning June 7
- Serving refreshments at pre-concert receptions each Tuesday beginning June 7
- Setup and tear-down at St. James Cathedral Commons on June 21 for Make Music Chicago
To sign up to volunteer, please contact Eliza Warren at eliza@rushhour.org or 773.338.9480.
We look forward to working with you!
Comcast: Rush Hour’s 2011 Lead Season Sponsor
Rush Hour is proud to announce Comcast as the Lead Season Sponsor of its 2011 summer season.
Please join us in thanking Comcast for its generous support of great music for busy lives all summer long in Chicago!
10% Discount at Bijan’s Bistro for Rush Hour Fans!
Long-time Rush Hour dining partner Bijan’s Bistro (633 N. State, at Erie) offers a casual and welcoming dining atmosphere that’s perfect for any special occasion, weekly post-work happy hour, or leisurely brunch year-round. And, open until 4 a.m. 365 days a year, you can enjoy their fine food anytime!
As a special bonus to Rush Hour fans and friends, Bijan’s is offering a 10% discount on all food and beverages during the months of January and February when you present your Rush Hour coupon.
Click here to download the free coupon.
For more information or to browse their menu and read reviews, visit their website at bijans-bistro.com.
Rush Hour Conversations Available 24/7
Whether you are…
- an early riser or a night owl…
- a Mac evangelist or a PC enthusiast…
- live in Chicago or Caracas…
you can satisfy your cultural curiosity anytime through the Rush Hour Conversations archive. This archive has complete recordings of in-depth interviews with world-class artists and leaders in the world of arts and culture from the last 4 years.
If you joined us for this week’s Mayne Stage Concert, I highly recommend that you listen to two very special podcasts with Children’s Poet Laureate Mary Ann Hoberman, pianist Kuang-Hao Kuang, Penny Barr of the Poetry Foundation, and Artistic Director Deborah Sobol about the genesis of the July 13, 2010 program that had an encore performance this past Sunday at Mayne Stage.
- Julie Hutchison
Managing Director
Recommendations from the Artistic Director: January 2011
| Knowing that Mozart and Schubert were born in January always warms up this cold, sunless, and messy Chicago month for me. Mozart’s birthday on January 27th and Schubert’s on January 31st are cause for hot chocolate and “Sacher Torte” (that wonderful Viennese chocolate cake) in my book! And, of course, the opportunity to play and listen to their music in a concentrated fashion helps “warm up” the frigid temperatures. My colleague Thomas Zoells of PianoForte Chicago has just the right idea here as well: his Schubertiade, a day-long celebration of Schubert’s music takes place on January 29, from 2 – 9 p.m., downtown in the beautiful salon of PianoForte Chicago in the Fine Arts Building (410 S. Michigan, 8th floor). He has put out a call to area musicians to fill the day with Schubert’s wonderful creations in the spirit of Schubert’s own tradition in his lifetime of gathering friends together around a piano and other instruments, passing evenings listening to his newly composed works, and playing others. If you can spare the time on January 29, I highly recommend a jaunt down to PianoForte… you will not be disappointed. Admission is free. You can find more information at schubertiadechicago.org. And then you can raise a glass to Schubert – AND Mozart while you are at it – for all the joy and marvel they have given the world in the many years since their births! As the Viennese would say, “Alles gute zum Geburtstag, Wolfi und Franzl!!” - Deborah Sobol
Artistic Director |
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