What often comes to mind for the opening of my columns is a quote from a great Rogers and Hammerstein musical. In this case, it's an excerpt from "June is Bustin' Out All Over," a wonderful song from Carousel, the pair's enduring 1945 work that celebrates the arrival of the month of June in a factory town in Maine:
"Fresh and alive and gay and young, June is a love song sweetly sung."
Throughout this year's June and July, the events in Chicago will be "bustin' out" in countless ways. Here is a look at just some of the treats.
The sounds of music
The ever-wonderful news: There are concerts throughout July at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park that will be led by conductor Marin Alsop. She is Jewish, grew up in New York City (the daughter of two musicians), and, as the story goes, wanted to become a conductor from the age of nine after she accompanied her father to one of Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts.
Alsop will lead the 89th Chicago Symphony Orchestra Residency's at Ravinia with an opening night concert on July 11, and she will then move on to a number of other programs. They include George Gershwin's Concerto in F, plus other works that will be performed on July 12. Next comes Mahler's grand-scale Symphony No. 2, slated for July 18. And, on July 20, works by Fritz Kreisler, a Vienna-born Jew (La Gitana or The Gypsy), and by the German-born Jewish composer Franz Waxman (Carmen Fantasia), will be paired with Beethoven's Symphony No. 7.
George Gershwin's "Cuban Overture" will be performed on July 25 along with works by Rimsky-Korsakov and Chicagoan Tim Corpus. On July 26, Alsop will conduct chamber works by Aaron Copland along with pieces by Debussy, Piazzolla and others. And on July 27, Alsop will conduct Copland's "Clarinet Concerto" along with Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony and English composer Edgar Elgar's Enigma Variations.
For tickets to all these concerts, visit ravinia.org.
Scott Speck: The conductor who sets the Joffrey Ballet dancing
You might only see the back of his head until he leaves the orchestra pit and takes bows with the dancers of the ever-superb Joffrey Ballet, whose home for performances is Chicago's Lyric Opera House. But since becoming the company's Music Director in 2010 and the Principal Conductor of the Chicago Philharmonic in 2013, Scott Speck is a crucial force in its success. The latest proof of that is sure to be visible as the Joffrey gives the first U.S. performances of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland at the Lyric from June 5 through June 22.
The ballet, which puts a modern twist on the Lewis Carroll classic, is the work of Christopher Wheeldon, a Tony Award-winning British choreographer; Joby Talbot, a British composer who has written music in a wide range of styles; and Bob Crowley, an ingenious designer of stagecraft and puppetry.
Speck was born into a Jewish family outside Boston, and was a stellar student and Fulbright Scholar, with degrees from Yale University and the University of Southern California. "Talbot's score for the ballet is brilliant-full of tuneful melodies, and a fascinating orchestration that requires a huge orchestra, something that is rare these days," Speck said. "Both the music and the choreography are funny and clever, with many special effects, including the use of a shofar for the sound of the White Rabbit."
And who better to describe Speck than Yo-Yo Ma, the stellar cellist who said, "Making music with Scott Speck is a joy for the mind and the body. He works toward something bigger than himself, yet he is totally in the moment. Who could ask for more?"
For tickets to the Joffrey Ballet, contact 312-386-8905 or patronservices@joffrey.org.
Unpacking Israeli history on the road
Jewish educator and media expert Dr. Noam Weissman is on a mission to educate young people about the beauty and complexities of Israeli and Jewish history.
His popular podcast Unpacking Israeli History explores the layers of Israeli history, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the cultural forces at play, drawing on a variety of sources and perspectives. The Executive Vice President of OpenDor Media, Weissman leads the company's educational vision, with content reaching millions of young people around the world.
Now, Weissman-a self-described history nerd-and his team are taking their show on the road, with their first stop on June 8 at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie. Weissman will welcome special guests at each stop to unpack important and complex topics with his signature nuance and authenticity. Matti Friedman, author of Who By Fire: Leonard Cohen in the Sinai, will appear as Weissman's special guest in Skokie.
"[We] have a mission," Weissman explained, "to strengthen the education of young people about Israel, antisemitism, and the Jewish story in a thoughtful and substantial way."
For tickets to the Unpacking Israeli History Road Show at 7 p.m. at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie, visit northshorecenter.org/event/unpacking-israeli-history-road-show.
Hedy Weiss, a longtime Chicago arts critic, was the Theater and Dance Critic for the Chicago Sun-Times from 1984 to 2018, and currently writes for WTTW-TV's website and contributes to the Chicago Tonight program.
