October 6, 2008
By John von Rhein, Tribune Critic
Olivier Messiaen would have been overjoyed by the opening weekend of the University of Chicago ‘s Messiaen Festival in Mandel Hall, a 10-day feast of concerts honoring the centenary of the great French composer and modernist mystic. More »
October 5, 2008
By Andrew Patner, critic
[...] The university’s Contempo new music collective, which draws on Chicago’s eighth blackbird and Pacifica Quartet, stepped up Saturday night at Mandel Hall with a rarely played late and brief work by Messiaen — the 1991 piano quintet — and works by five of his prominent students, including a world premiere by U. of C. prof Marta Ptaszynska. More »
April 9, 2007
By Howard Reich, Tribune arts critic
For those with open ears — and minds — the past weekend produced unforgettable listening. The best of it attested to the caliber of musicians playing Chicago’s stages these days. More »