Looking ahead to the planned unveiling this fall of its newly expanded Randolph Street lobby and other physical improvements, the Harris Theater for Music and Dance has announced a significantly expanded season of classical music events for 2015-16.
Classical superstars Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Gil Shaham and Joshua Bell each will headline concerts; the acclaimed Mexican operatic tenor Javier Camarena will make his Chicago debut; and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center will increase its local offerings from five concerts to six.
The 2015-16 Harris Theater Presents series gets under way Nov. 16 with a duo recital by classical guitarist Sharon Isbin and mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard. Their program will include the Chicago premiere of Richard Danielpour’s “Songs of Love and Longing,” co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall and the Harris Theater.
Following a holiday performance by the Chicago Children’s Choir and the Sphinx Virtuosi on Dec. 7, New York’s Juilliard Orchestra will present an all-Tchaikovsky program with Perlman conducting. on Jan. 6.
Zukerman will appear as conductor and violin soloist with London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, on Jan. 13. Feb. 18 will bring The Knights chamber orchestra, playing Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony and Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2, with Shaham as soloist.
The Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto is the centerpiece of the March 12 concert by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields under Bell, the ensemble’s music director, who will double as conductor and violinist. Camarena will present a song recital on March 30, accompanied by pianist Angel Rodriguez; Lyric Opera is co-presenting the concert.
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center season will comprise concerts on Oct. 21, Nov. 13, Dec. 17, Feb. 16, March 9 and April 21. Co-artistic directors David Finckel, cello, and Wu Han, piano, will be joined by various new and returning ensemble members.
The Harris Theater also will present an expanded season of Beyond the Aria song programs in a cabaret-style setting on the Pritzker Pavilion stage. Singers from the Lyric Opera and Ryan Opera Center rosters again will headline these concerts, dates and artists to be announced.
The Harris Theater’s $5 million renovation, designed by architects Hammond Beebe Rupert Ainge, will include two new, high-capacity elevators and reconfigured staircases. It is part of a $10-million, 10-year capital investment. The theater launched a $38.8 million comprehensive fundraising campaign last season, its 10th anniversary.
