Northbrook Star

Former ‘Idol’ Lee DeWyze back in town

Sun, 12 May 2013 06:15:59 -0500

There’s nothing like a homecoming. On April 19, Season 9 American Idol winner Lee DeWyze returns to Viper Alley in Lincolnshire. DeWyze, who previously played Viper Alley’s anniversary show in 2012, hails from Mount Prospect.

Ravinia Festival tickets now on sale

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 07:43:41 -0500

Forget the calendar. Summer runs from June 6 through Sept. 15 at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, with more than 120 events, including more than 80 festival debuts.

Top musical talent sings at Siddons show

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 10:58:01 -0500

Thirteen of Chicago’s finest musical theater professionals will sing some of their favorite songs under the direction of Dominic Missimi and music direction of Doug Peck. Sounds like a must-see show.

Anne Frank-inspired concert at Ravinia

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 12:30:01 -0500

Anne Frank died at the age of 15 in a Nazi concentration camp, but her diary, left behind when she and her family were arrested in Amsterdam by German police, has made her name a household word.

Nelson twins pay tribute to famous father

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 11:50:00 -0500

Matthew and Gunnar Nelson return to the Raue Center for the Arts Saturday to perform their loving multi-media tribute to their late father in “Ricky Nelson Remembered.”

Chamber music fest warms up winter at NU

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 14:26:03 -0500

If it’s January, it must be time for the Winter Chamber Music Festival at Northwestern University. This is the 17th year chamber music fans will gather in the 989-seat Pick-Staiger Concert Hall alongside Lake Michigan, heedless of the wind and weather, to enjoy performances by local, national and even internationally acclaimed chamber musicians.

‘Sing-Along Messiah’ a crowd favorite

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 15:24:00 -0500

If you’ve always wanted to sing Handel’s “Messiah” but never had a choir breaking down your door asking you to join them, now is your chance. The Voices in Harmony community choir and the McHenry County College Choir, under the direction of Steven Szalaj, will present the “Sing-Along Messiah” Dec. 9 at the Raue Center For The Arts in Crystal Lake. Paige Lush will lead the audience. “The Messiah” will be presented with a 25-piece orchestra. The concert will feature soloists Kirsten Leslie (soprano), A.J. Wester (mezzo soprano), Chad Cygen (tenor). and Rick Ziebarth (bass baritone). “Messiah” scores will be …

New look, new sound for Matisyahu

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 14:40:02 -0500

The past year has been a time of significant developments for the recording artist Matisyahu. Born Matthew Paul Miller, he first made a name for himself by combining his Hasidic faith (a branch of Orthodox Judaism) with a potent blend of stripped-down reggae, beatboxing and hip-hop. After posting a photo of himself sans beard and forelock late last year in a Tweet that began “No more Chassidic reggae superstar,” he has distanced himself from Hasidism. He also made his Hollywood debut playing a Jewish exorcist in the horror film “The Possession” and released his fourth studio album, “Spark Seeker,” a …

Ravinia extends classical concert season

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 10:48:01 -0500

Building on the success of the summer’s many classical concerts in Bennett Gordon Hall for $10 each, the Ravinia Festival is presenting eight programs in the 450-seat theater this season for that very attractive price. Titled “BGH $10 classics,” the series runs October through April and includes the Chicago premiere of James Whitbourn’s “Annelies: The Choral Setting of the Diary of Anne Frank” in 2013, as well as what surely must be the first-ever Christmas concert the Ravinia Festival has ever presented. Those two concerts are only available for $10 to persons who have purchased three other concerts. The series …

Hall & Oates bringing ‘rock ’n’ soul’ to Ravinia

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 14:30:02 -0500

Darryl Hall and John Oates, one of the most influential rock duos during the Reagan years, return to Ravinia on Sept. 1. Better known as Hall & Oates, the two men rocked the pop stage with their rock and R&B fusion throughout the late ’70s and early ’80s, en route to being named Billboard’s best duo of all time.

Knights with stars at Ravinia

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 14:38:00 -0500

Ravinia closes its summer seaon with a star-studded, three-day program. The Knights, an orchestra with a fresh approach to the standard repertoire and beyond, will take up residence in the pavilion and bring as guest soloists cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Itzhak Perlman, and soprano Dawn Upshaw.

Symphony opener celebrates Dvorak

Mon, 27 Aug 2012 11:52:01 -0500

From the podium and in private conversation, Alan Heatherington, artistic director of the Lake Forest Symphony, has hailed the Czech master Antonin Dvorak as one of the great composers of the later Romantic period. So it is no surprise that the opening concert of the Lake Forest Symphony’s 55th season is all-Dvorak all the time. Concertmaster Ilya Kaler will solo in the Dvorak Violin Concerto and “Romance.” The program opens with the composer’s “Slavonic Dances” and closes with his Symphony No. 6. Heatherington, himself a violinist, has not only studied and conducted the composer’s works, but he and his wife …

Piano virtuoso playing at Ravinia

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 15:40:00 -0500

“As I pianist, I feel we’re all so different,” said Barnatan, an Israeli-born piano virtuoso. “I never believed that if somebody is getting a concert, they’re getting a concert that could have been mine. Or vice versa. I feel like if you do what you believe in and if you’re good enough, there will be a spot for you.”

Ravinia Festival 2012

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 11:42:15 -0500

AUGUST Chicago Symphony Orchestra, all-French program, James Conlon, conductor, Jean Yves Thibaudet, piano. Aug. 7, 8 p.m.—Pavilion. Tickets: $70-$40/Lawn $10/Ticket & dining package $75/Park opens at 5 p.m. Yefim Bronfman, piano, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, James Conlon, conductor. Aug. 8, 8 p.m.—Pavilion. Tickets: $70-$40/Lawn $10/Park opens at 5 p.m. Gerald Finley, baritone, Kevin Murphy, piano. Aug. 9, 8 p.m.—Martin Theatre. Tickets: $60-$40/Lawn $10/Park opens at 5 p.m. Steans Music Institute Master Class, Gerald Finley, baritone. Aug. 10, 2 p.m. —Bennett Gordon Hall Admission: FREE Train. Aug. 11, 7:30 p.m.—Pavilion. Tickets: $65/Lawn $33**/Park opens at 5 p.m. Steans Music Institute Master Class, …

Robinson plays ragtime in Barrington

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 10:52:00 -0500

After years as a world renowned ragtime pianist, Reginald Robinson is now dabbling in other areas of jazz. The 5th Element, a jazz sextet he formed, played the Chicago Jazz Festival last year and will be playing more, including a show on Aug. 11 at City Winery in Chicago. But, Robinson will go back to his musical roots Aug. 18, when he’ll perform some classic and original ragtime tunes and provide some history behind the music for the first of the Sanfilippo Foundation 2012 Summer Concert Series at the Sanfilippo Estate in Barrington Hills. “I’ll play some Joplin and some …