Chicago Philharmonic Brings The Holidays To Life With Marcus Roberts Trio

This December, Chicago Philharmonic and the Marcus Roberts Trio turn up the heat at Harris Theater with a hot take on George Gershwin's Concerto in F. The Marcus Roberts jazz trio (Marcus Roberts, piano; Jason Marsalis, drums; Rodney Jordan, bass) is renowned for its new approach to jazz performance with each of the talented musicians contributing equally to the trio's musical texture, form, and direction.

In Chicago in 1995, the Marcus Roberts Trio electrified the classical music world with an improvised response to Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. As the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra performed the original Rhapsody score, the Marcus Roberts Trio improvised continuously, creating a completely new piece. This new arrangement of Gershwin's classic remained faithful to the heart of the concerto; Gershwin himself improvised piano solos on the night of the Rhapsody in Blue premiere. Now, the Marcus Roberts Trio returns to Chicago to perform a fresh arrangement of Gershwin's second piano concerto, Concerto in F.

In addition to the Concerto in F, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Scott Speck will lead the orchestra in Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn's reimagining of The Nutcracker Suite, complete with cheeky renditions of classic movements like Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy and Dance of the Reed-Pipes (renamed Sugar Rum Cherry and Toot Toot Tootie Toot by Ellington). Plus, the orchestra will perform classic holiday carols by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.

Tickets $25 - $75 | Students from $10 chicagophilharmonic.org | (312) 957-0000 Approximate running time 1 hour and 20 minutes with intermission.