Enjoy free concerts at ‘Tuesdays-at-One’
Corey Hamm performs with the Nu:BC Collective Feb. 19.
Classical, jazz and new music is featured in a free concert each week for UIC’s Tuesdays-at-One performance series.
All concerts begin at 1 p.m., unless otherwise noted, in Recital Hall L060 on the lower level of the Education, Performing Arts and Social Work Building.
• Feb. 5: Julia Miller, midi-guitar and video
Miller titles her performance “Sound and Visual Poetry,” a multimedia show. As a guitarist, she performs with Gimlet Eye, the electroacoustic trio Auris and as a soloist and collaborator in experimental and avant-garde chamber music. She chairs the jazz, folk and contemporary guitar department at the Music Institute of Chicago, where she is a Suzuki guitar specialist. She is adjunct faculty in sound and liberal studies at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago.
• Feb. 12: Andrew Russo, piano
Russo was a 2007 Grammy nominee and 2001 finalist in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. He will perform the musical portion of his YouTube hit, “The Body of Your Dreams” by composer Jacob TV, as well as selections from Wagner-Liszt, Marc Mellits, Carl Vine and Pastorius-Molinaro.
• Feb. 19: Nu:BC Collective
The Nu:BC Collective has played in Vancouver Pro Musica’s Sonic Boom new music festival for the last four years, premiering dozens of works by Vancouver composers. The Vancouver Sun called pianist Corey Hamm, flutist Paolo Bortolussi and cellist Eric Wilson “a dream gift, one of the best additions to local new music.”
• Feb. 26: Miguel Zenón, saxophone
This event, a jazz master class for UIC students, will start at 12:30 p.m. In a cover story, Downbeat Magazine called Zenón a “genius at play.” He received a MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant, a Guggenheim fellowship and several Grammy nominations. He tours as a Kennedy Center jazz ambassador, has played the Newport Jazz Festival, and performs regularly as a founding member of SF JAZZ. Zenón will perform also as a guest at the UIC High School Jazz Festival Feb. 25.
• March 5: Avalon String Quartet with Gene Collerd
The Avalon String Quartet, a chamber music ensemble, has been described by the Chicago Tribune as “an ensemble that invites you — ears mind, and spirit — into its music.” They have played at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Library of Congress, Ravinia and on NPR’s “St. Paul Sunday.” Collerd, UIC professor emeritus and music coordinator, is principal clarinetist with the Elgin Symphony and Chicago Opera Theater, assistant principal clarinetist with the Grant Park Symphony, and a member of the Chicago Wind Quintet and the chamber orchestra Ars Viva.
• March 12: UIC Jazz Ensemble
The UIC Jazz Ensemble has performed at the Jazz Showcase and with guest artist Howard Levy at the 2012 UIC High School Jazz Festival. The ensemble has recorded at the Shure Microphone Performance and Listening Center in Niles.
March 19: Marc Mellits, composer
Steve Smith of the New York Times wrote that Mellits, UIC professor of music, uses elements of ’60s Minimalism “in tightly concentrated bursts that more accurately reflect an era of short attention spans and text messaging.” Mellits’ work has been commissioned by the Kronos Quartet, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Society for New Music, Syracuse Symphony Orchestra and Debussy Quartet.
April 2: Michael Weiss Trio
Michael Weiss (piano) has headlined at the Detroit and Stanford jazz festivals and been featured on “Live from Lincoln Center,” “Jazzset” and “Piano Jazz.” Lorin Cohen (bass) has toured the world with Monty Alexander and is a jazz ambassador for the U.S. Department of State and the Kennedy Center, touring Europe, Russia, Africa and the Middle East. George Fludas (drums) has performed with Lenny Burrell, Betty Carter, Lou Donaldson and Tommy Flanagan, and performs regularly at the Jazz Showcase, Andy’s and the Green Mill. The trio will play original compositions and standards.
April 9: Elaris Duo, cello and violin; with Susan Merdinger, piano
Steven and Larisa Elisha, the Elaris Duo, play a diverse classical repertoire. Steven Elisha has played and taught cello throughout China, Europe, Brazil, Israel and the U.S., including solos with the Beijing Central Philharmonic, Connecticut Chamber Orchestra, Cleveland Chamber Symphony and Gulf Coast Symphony. Merdinger performs as a soloist with orchestras and as a collaborative pianist with principal members of the New York Philharmonic, the New Jersey Symphony and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
April 16: UIC Student Chamber Music Performances
April 23: Kia-Hui Tan, violin
Kia-Hui Tan has performed as concerto soloist, recitalist and chamber musician in 25 states and 20 countries, including such venues as London’s Barbican Hall and New York’s Carnegie Weill Recital Hall. Described in The Strad as a “violinist whose virtuosity was astonishing,” she won the Bronze Medal at the first NTDTV Chinese International Violin Competition. Now on the faculty of Ohio State University, she has taught at Cornell University, the University of Toledo and the Cleveland Institute of Music.
April 30: UIC Jazz Combos
