Harris Theater Announces 2019-20 Season

The Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance announces its season lineup for 2019-20, continuing the presenting organization's push to bring exclusive projects, Chicago debuts, and global voices to its stage in Millennium Park.

The 2019-20 HTP Mainstage season will feature: the Chicago debut of Australia's Bangarra Dance Theatre, weaving contemporary dance with 65,000 years of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage; Sir John Eliot Gardiner and Orchestre R volutionnaire et Romantique performing all nine Beethoven symphonies over five days; the celebrated Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch performing in Chicago for the first time in its history; Max Richter and American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME) in an evening of works by the prolific composer; and a celebration of Lar Lubovitch with works spanning his 50 years as a choreographer, performed by artists from The Joffrey Ballet, The Martha Graham Company, Ballet Austin, and more.

One of the most exciting things about leading the Harris is that we're still a young organization, we're still evolving, said Patricia Barretto, the Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols President and CEO of the Theater. There's no formula for the number or scale of performances each season we have the freedom to seek out the most exciting projects to bring to Chicago, and to respond to the growing and increasingly diverse audiences who come through our doors.

The 2019-20 Mix at Six and Exelon Family Series will add to the slate of artists and cultures represented on the season including Amir ElSaffar and Two Rivers Ensemble's fusion of jazz and Arabic musical traditions, virtuosic Carnatic violinist Ambi Subramaniam, 17-year-old jazz pianist Matthew Whitaker, French-Canadian circus artists Flip Fabrique, and The Kingdom Choir, which pairs popular music with gospel traditions that reflect the choir's community in Southeast London.

The Theater's robust chamber music programming continues next year with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's ninth season in residence at the Harris, and a debut performance by Michael Barenboim and the newly formed West-Eastern Divan Ensemble.

The Theater enters its 17th year with a new season sponsor, Sterling Bay. The developer has acquired landmark Chicago properties in recent years and contributed more than $8 million to area non-profits. This gift marks its first lead sponsorship in the arts, and the largest single corporate gift in the Harris Theater's history, representing the firm's deep commitment to arts and culture in Chicago.

Sterling Bay transforms spaces to enrich the way Chicagoans live and work, said Andy Gloor, Managing Principal of Sterling Bay. We are incredibly proud to embark on this partnership with the Harris Theater, an organization that transforms the way Chicagoans play and dream by providing a platform for local artists and presenting great art from around the world.

Barretto added, The Harris has established a reputation for pursuing big ideas and taking artistic risks presenting diverse voices, programming in new and unexpected spaces, and securing exclusive projects that draw audiences from across the country to Chicago. Ambitious programming requires investment from people in our community who are willing to think big with us. As our 2019-20 Season Sponsor, Sterling Bay has done just that.

Subscriptions are on sale now for the 2019-20 HTP Mainstage and Chamber Music Series. Subscriptions for Mix at Six and Exelon Family Series will be available beginning in March. The 2019-20 Beyond the Aria lineup and special summer programming, including a concert on the Harris Theater rooftop, will be announced later this spring.

2019-20 AT A GLANCE:

Oct 5 + 6, 2019 A Celebration of Lar Lubovitch

Featuring artists of Ballet Austin, The Joffrey Ballet, The Martha Graham Company, and more

Oct 19, 2019 Max Richter + ACME

Oct 23, 2019 Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

Immortal Schubert string quintets by Schubert and Mozart, and a premiere by Bruce Adolphe

Nov 22 + 23, 2019 Bangarra Dance Theatre

Nov 23, 2019 Exelon Family Series: Bangarra Dance Theatre

Dec 9, 2019 Mix at Six: Matthew Whitaker

Dec 20, 2019 Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

Brandenburg Concertos

Jan 13, 2020 Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

The Creative Spirit Debussy's G minor string quartet, plus works by Jan ek and Brahms

Jan 31, 2020 Mix at Six: Amir ElSaffar + Two Rivers Ensemble

Feb 19, 2020 Michael Barenboim + The West-Eastern Divan Ensemble

Feb 21, 2020 Mix at Six: Flip Fabrique

Feb 22, 2020 Exelon Family Series: Flip Fabrique

Feb 27-Mar 3, 2020 Sir John Eliot Gardiner + Orchestra R volutionnaire et Romantique

The Complete Beethoven Symphonies

Mar 26, 2020 Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

Young Masters early works by Mozart, Mendelssohn, Strauss

Apr 7, 2020 Mix at Six: Ambi Subramaniam

Apr 17, 2020 Mix at Six: The Kingdom Choir

Apr 18, 2020 Exelon Family Series: The Kingdom Choir

Apr 21, 2020 Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

The Jazz Effect Rhapsody in Blue and more

May 1-3, 2020 Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch

Palermo Palermo

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE 2019-20 HTP MAINSTAGE SEASON:

A Celebration of Lar Lubovitch
October 5, 2019 / 7:30PM
October 6, 2019 / 2:00PM

The Joffrey Ballet Othello
Martha Graham Dance Company Legend of Ten
Ballet Austin Dvorak Serenade
Jonathan Alsberry Little Rhapsodies

Two performances honoring Lar Lubovitch's 50 years of contributions to the dance field. In the spirit of Chicago Dancing Festival, which Lubovitch co-founded and which became an anchor in Chicago dance for a decade, the program will feature local and visiting companies performing repertoire from his prolific career.

Max Richter + ACME

October 19, 2019 / 7:30PM

Max Richter, musically incredible and conceptually spot on truly a modern-day musical genius (The New Yorker) brings his American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME) to the Harris stage for the first time. Widely recognized as the most influential composer of his time, Richter has combined his classical training with modern technology to create genre-defying concert music, operas, ballets, art and video installations, and scores for film, television, and theater.

Bangarra Dance Theatre Australia

November 22, 2019 / 7:30PM
November 23, 2019 / 7:30PM

Bangarra is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organization and one of Australia's leading performing arts companies, widely acclaimed around the world for its powerful dancing, distinctive theatrical voice, and utterly unique soundscapes, music, and design. Led by Artistic Director Stephen Page, Bangarra's work is forged from over 65,000 years of culture, embodied with contemporary movement. Each of Bangarra's dancers has a proud Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander background, and each piece in the company's repertoire draws on stories gathered from respected community elders.

Sir John Eliot Gardiner
Orchestre R volutionnaire et Romantique
The Complete Beethoven Symphonies
February 27, 2020 / 7:30PM Symphonies 8 and 9
February 28, 2020 / 7:30PM Symphony 1 and Prometheus
February 29, 2020 / 7:30PM Symphonies 2and 3
March 2, 2020 / 7:30PM Symphonies 4 and 5
March 3, 2020 / 7:30PM Symphonies 6 and 7

Following 2017's triumphant Monteverdi 450 project (including three sold-out performances at the Harris), Sir John Eliot Gardiner embarks on another international tour of monumental works, infusing historically-informed performance of the highest quality with vital energy and style. This time, Gardiner brings the complete Beethoven symphonies, performed in their entirety by ORR over five days, in celebration of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth. The tour will include just two U.S. stops New York City's Carnegie Hall and the Harris Theater.

Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch
Palermo Palermo

May 1, 2020 / 8:00PM

May 2, 2020 / 7:30PM

May 3, 2020 / 2:30PM

Tanztheater Wuppertal, the company founded in 1973 and led by the late Pina Bausch for over 30 years, makes its long-awaited Chicago debut with Palermo Palermo. The work one of 46 created by Bausch before her death in 2009 features Tanztheater's multigenerational, international company of dancers, their experiences enlarged by the choreographer's artistic imagination, everyday reality transformed by an unfamiliar context (The New York Times).

***Programs, prices, and dates are subject to change***