Contempo: Contemporary Chamber Players

By Jesse McQuarters, critic

With characteristic élan and zealous dedication to the cause, University of Chicago resident ensemble Contempo dedicated their Harris Theater concert last night to the music of Sofia Gubaidulina.  Like her mentor Dimitri Shostakovich, Gubaidulina forged an independent musical path despite disapproval from Soviet officials and censors, eventually emerging as one of the leaders of Russian music in the 20th century.  In recent decades, her compositions have become even more widely known, with artists like Gidon Kremer and Anne-Sophie Mutter championing her works and prominent features at the Proms and Stuttgart Bach Academy introducing her music to new audiences.

More »

By John von Rhein, Classical music critic

How odd that the music of Sofia Gubaidulina, generally considered to be the most important composer to have emerged from the former Soviet Union since Shostakovich, turns up so infrequently in performance — as opposed to recordings, where it’s well represented.

So the concert presented by Contempo in honor of Gubaidulina’s 80th birthday season, Wednesday night at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, carried a rightful sense of occasion, with performances worthy of a widely respected contemporary figure who, last June, became the first composer ever to be awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Chicago.

More »

By Wynne Delacoma, critic

I’ll take my good omens where I can find them, and Sunday afternoon’s Contempo concert at Roosevelt University’s Ganz Hall was as good an omen as any for Chicago’s 2011 classical music season. More »

By Jesse McQuarters, critic

Crossover concerts that meld different kinds of music often walk a fine line between accessibility and authenticity.  At one extreme, they’re watered-down versions of the original that offend the purists and lose some of the qualities that made a particular genre of music attractive in the first place.  At their best, audiences come for one reason, and have their horizons opened up to new experiences and other types of music. More »

By Andrew Patner, critic

Rands Chicago premiere and Werner/Potter duo reunion are highlights

Contemporary “classical” music fans and jazz-heads have a lot in common but they rarely intersect. Both groups are demanding, curious, knowledgeable, and focused listeners. But often the contemporary crew doesn’t “get” improvisation and the jazz crowd can find contemporary art music too academic or restricted. More »

By John von Rhein, Tribune Critic

Music and visual art have long enjoyed a close, if rather one-sided relationship. (How many paintings do you know that were inspired by pieces of music?) Contempo, the University of Chicago’s new music collective, built the bulk of the opening concert of its 45th season Saturday night around recent music based on famous art works from the 16th through 20th centuries. More »