Contempo: Contemporary Chamber Players

a new music collective
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51st Season (2015-2016)

10.27.2015

Shulamit Ran Portrait Concert with Julia Bentley, mezzo-soprano

Concert Program
O The Chimneys
Verticals
Lyre of Orpheus
Mirage

Bach Shards

The 51st season opens in celebration of Shulamit Ran, recently retired artistic director of Contempo (serving 2002-2015). Ran received the Pulitzer Prize in 1991 and has been awarded most major honors given to US composers. The program features her memorable and significant chamber works, beginning with O The Chimneys (1969), set on poems about those who perished in the Holocaust. The evening concludes with Bach Shards, commissioned in 2003 as part of the Brentano String Quartet’s invitation to 10 composers to write companion pieces for Bach’s Art of Fugue.

Buy tickets here.

02.29.2016

Focus on Europe with Agata Zubel, vocalist

eighth blackbird; Pacifica Quartet

Agata Zubel, vocalist; Tadeusz Wielecki, double bass

Concert Program
Agata Zubel: Not I
Tadeusz Wielecki: The Thread is Spinning
Christophe Bertrand: Madrigal
Marta Ptaszynska: Mosaics
Helmut Lachenmann: String Quartet No. 3, Grido

Contempo looks across the ocean to today’s leading European composers, creating a compelling program that features award-winning compositions and stunning soprano lines. The electric Agata Zubel, making a return to Contempo, and Tadeusz Wielecki, director of Warsaw Autumn Festival, perform in their own works.

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04.16.2016

Contempo-Jazz Double Bill

Set I: Mondrian and More

Jaroslaw Kapuscinski: Mondrian Variations; Oli’s Dream; Juicy
Marek Choloniewski: Waves

From leading studios in California and Kraków, Jaroslaw Kapuscinski and Marek Choloniewski present the latest in multimedia content during performance. This up-to-the-minute trend in music intertwines works for piano and interactive audio-visual projection.

 

Set II: Chopin Can Swing

Grazyna Auguscik, jazz vocalist
Jarek Bester, accordion
Matt Ulery, bass
Maniacal 4 Trombone Quartet

Bringing a stunning voice and “no boundaries” style to the Chicago jazz scene, vocalist Grazyna Auguscik, virtuoso accordionist Jarek Bester, and their talented collaborators will perform an exhilarating set reflecting European roots and universal appeal. Of Auguscik the Chicago Tribune says, “This must-see performer is one of the best voices to be heard today.”


The Contempo-Jazz Double Bill is supported by the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Chicago.


Buy tickets here.


Contempo is grateful to artist Julie Rafalski, who provides the artwork featured on the Contempo brochure and program book covers this season. 

Julie Rafalski was born in 1981 in Greenwich, Connecticut and grew up between the US and Poland. She obtained a BFA in graphic design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA from the Slade School of Art in London. She currently lives and works in London.

Rafalski has participated in numerous group shows including the The Royal Academy Summer Show (2011) and the Liverpool Biennale (2006). Her solo exhibitions include Projections at the Studio Wooden Gallery in Chicago (2014) and Collages at Skwer, Warsaw (2014).

More of her artwork may be seen in the current Cafe Logan exhibit, “Dear Mondrian,” on view through April 22. Please click here to learn more.

 

05.13.2016

Photo by Jason Smith

Tomorrow’s Music Today I

Tomorrow’s Music Today concerts feature music by some of today’s finest young composers, performed by Contempo’s resident ensemble, eighth blackbird, and guest artists. Programs will include works by University of Chicago doctoral candidates in composition.

Concert Program
Works by Jack Hughes, Joungbum Lee, Pierce Gradone, Katherine Pukinskis

Click here to read the program notes.

Free admission, no reservations required

05.20.2016

Photo by Jason Smith

Tomorrow’s Music Today II

Tomorrow’s Music Today concerts feature music by some of today’s finest young composers, performed by Contempo’s resident ensemble, eighth blackbird, and guest artists. Programs will include works by University of Chicago doctoral candidates in composition.

Concert Program
Works by Alican Çamci, Igor Santos, Timothy Page, Phil Taylor, Tomás Gueglio Saccone

Click here to read program notes.

Free admission, no reservations required

© 2004-2023 Contempo | original artwork © Rebekah Boyer | Contact | Home

Contempo Brochures

  • 2017-2018 Season
  • 2016-2017 Season
  • 2015-2016 Season
  • 2014-2015 Season
  • 2013-2014 Season
  • 2012-2013 Season
  • 2011-2012 Season
  • 2010-2011 Season

Contempo Seasons

  • 53rd Season (2017-2018)
  • 52nd Season (2016-2017)
  • 51st Season (2015-2016)
  • 50th Season (2014-2015 )
  • 49th Season (2013-2014)
  • 48th Season (2012-2013)
  • 47th Season (2011-2012)
  • 46th Season (2010-2011)
  • 45th Season (2009-2010)
  • 44th Season (2008-2009)
  • 43rd Season (2007-2008)
  • 42nd Season (2006-2007)
  • 41st Season (2005-2006)
  • 40th Season (2004-2005)
  • 1-31st Seasons (1964-1996)