Turning 100 is a rare thing in this world and is definitely something to be celebrated - even if you're a piano. This September Tortoise Supper Club (TSC) owners Keene & Megan Addington will be hosting an epic celebration inspired by one very special musical instrument.
While the River North restaurant is primarily known for its critically acclaimed food and outstanding hospitality, it's also a destination for after-dinner entertainment. On weekends, the Lounge at TSC is transformed into a classic cabaret, where Sinatra-style jazz music is performed live on a beautiful Grand Piano.
The Steinway Concert Grand Piano that sits in TSC's Lounge has been in the Addington family since 1919 and, over the course of the past 100 years, become a piece of Chicago history.
Keene's grandmother, Sarah Armour, received the impressive instrument for her 10th birthday and went on to become an accomplished musician as well as passionate supporter of Ravinia Festival, Lyric Opera and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The Chicago-based family's philanthropic support of Ravinia Festival has resulted in a multi-generational friendship between the family and the organization: Welz Kauffman, President/CEO of Ravinia, actually played the family's Steinway Concert Grand Piano at the funeral of Mrs. Sarah Armour and Keene is a third-generation board member of Ravinia.
In honor of the piano's 100th birthday, Tortoise Supper Club will be hosting a week-long celebration of music, food, drinks and Windy City history. In addition to six nights of dazzling musical performances from some of Chicago's most talented artists, guests will also enjoy a variety of dinner and drink specials that hearken back to 1919 (the year the TSC piano was made.) The week's festivities will be as follows:
Monday, September 16
Entertainment: Performance by Ravinia Festival's President/CEO Welz Kauffman and Soprano Michelle Areyzaga Plus Father & Son Duo Leo Radosavljevic (baritone & Julliard Graduate) George Radosavljevic (pianist)
Show Time: 6:45pm - 9:00 pm with a 30-minute break between acts.
Menu: Three Course Prix-Fixe Menu
Cost: $89.95/person for dinner and show. Reservations required.
***A portion of proceeds benefit Ravina's Reach, Teach, Play program, which works to ensure that music education remains accessible to ALL children.***
Tuesday, September 17
Entertainment: Performance by The Ladies of Lyric Opera Stage Artists Ensemble
Show Time: 6:45pm - 9:00pm
Menu: Three Course Prix-Fixe Menu
Cost: $89.95/person for dinner and show. Reservations required.
Wednesday, September 18
Entertainment: The Marshall Vente Trio
Show Time: 6:30pm - 10:00pm
Menu: A La Carte.
Cost: A La Carte. No minimum spend.
Thursday, September 19
Entertainment: Frank Lamphere and his Trio
Show Time: 6:00pm - 9:00pm
Menu: A La Carte.
Cost: Reservations - $50/person minimum (food & beverage spend.)
Bar seats are first come, first serve with no minimum spend.
Friday, September 20
Entertainment: The Tom Muellner Trio with Jim Cox and Phil Gratteau
Show Time: 7:30pm - 11:30pm
Menu: A La Carte.
Cost: A La Carte. No Minimum Spend.
Saturday, September 21
Entertainment: The Mark Burnell Trio
Show Time: 8:30 pm - Midnight
Menu: A La Carte.
Cost: A La Carte. No Minimum Spend.
Center Stage Sponsors: First Interstate Bank, Holiday Inn Sheridan Convention Center, Kennon and Sheridan Press / Sponsored by Sheridan Arts Council and Kerry Eblen with support from Mickey & Kathy McNickle and Susan & Gary Miller
Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, one of the most internationally renowned and respected classical musicians today, will perform the European debut of American composer Adam Schoenberg's Orchard in Fog at the world-renowned George Enescu Music Festival in September. She premieres the concerto with the Romanian orchestra, 'Mihail Jora' Philharmonic Orchestra Bac?u and American conductor Jayce Ogren in two special performances.
The English Symphony Orchestra return to the Assembly Hall Theatre at 7:30 PM on the 7th of September following their packed house debut in January with a programme of Romantic masterworks featuring superstar violinist Nicola Benedetti.
New York Youth Symphony (NYYS), is proud to continue its mission of educating and inspiring young musicians through its Orchestra, Jazz, Chamber Music, Composition, Musical Theater Composition, Apprenticeship Conducting, and First Music commissioning programs. This season includes seven world premieres of new works commissioned through the First Music program, composed for the Orchestra, Jazz, and Chamber Music ensembles. The season also features renowned and up-and-coming soloists including prodigy pianist Harmony Zhu, 2019 Sphinx Competition winner cellist Sterling Elliott, and leading young pianist Michelle Cann in the Carnegie Hall premiere of Florence Price's recently re-discovered Piano Concerto in One Movement with NYYS Orchestra, as well as in-demand drummer Matt Wilson, celebrated saxophonist Steve Wilson, and trombone virtuoso Wycliffe Gordon with NYYS Jazz. The complete NYYS 2019-2020 concert calendar follows at the end of this press release.
Legendary children's musician Laurie Berkner returns with her 13th album, Waiting For The Elevator, on October 4, 2019. The album brings together a scrumptious variety oif original, interactive songs that vividly define Laurie's signature style while introducing new voices, new learning play, and even a new language!
Tony-Award-winning actress Victoria Clark will join soprano Renée Fleming and the Emerson String Quartet at the Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) on August 1 for the Aspen premiere of Penelope, a new work by the late Andre Previn and Tom Stoppard. Clark will perform the role of the narrator in a performance that will also feature pianist Simone Dinnerstein. The performance sold out within weeks of going on sale.
Twenty-five years ago in Grand Rapids, the Van Andel Arena still was on the drawing board. Meijer Gardens had opened just three months earlier, but it would be many years before an outdoor amphitheater would be built as a venue for summer concerts. At Cannonsburg Ski Area, on a steamy evening in mid-July, the Grand Rapids Symphony launched a brand new, outdoor concert experience called the Picnic Pops. This season The Grand Rapids Symphony celebrates its 25th Anniversary of its D&W Fresh Market Picnic Pops with a series of three shows that are all time favorites with Picnic Pops audiences plus a special event capping off four weeks of concerts at Cannonsburg.
Marcus L. Overton, a passionate and colorful 54-year veteran of the performing arts management world as well as an actor, director, writer, teacher, scholar, linguist and Emmy-award winning radio and TV host, died at age 75 on June 9 in San Diego after a long battle with kidney failure. He is survived by his husband Raymond A. Fluta. Overton left instructions that his ashes were to be taken to Paris, a city he visited yearly, and scattered on the graves of Oscar Wilde, Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, Marcel Proust and Francois Poulenc.
The Boston Symphony Orchestra will move forward with presenting the world premiere of Andre Previn and Tom Stoppard's Penelope at Tanglewood's Ozawa Hall on Wednesday, July 24 at 8 p.m. New to the performance lineup is Boston-born actress Uma Thurman, who will take on the newly created part of narrator, joining the previously announced performers-the Emerson String Quartet, pianist Simone Dinnerstein, and vocalist Renee Fleming, to whom the work is dedicated.
It's an annual tradition! Bestselling children's recording artist and preschool television favorite Laurie Berkner once again brings her Greatest Hits Solo Tour to the Chicago area on Saturday, August 17 with a family show at 11:00 a.m. at the Ravinia Festival, 418 Sheridan Road, Highland Park, IL.
Black Oak Ensemble, a string trio featuring three of Chicago's most enterprising chamber musicians, will make its recording debut July 12, 2019, with Silenced Voices, an album of intriguing works by six promising, early 20th century Jewish composers originally from Austria-Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and the Netherlands.
Park International Center for Music (Park ICM) announced today that their 2019-2020 Season would kick off in September with a special performance on stage in Helzberg Hall. We're kicking off our second season with THE performance not to be missed! Showcasing our best graduates, students and faculty, we will perform an intimate salon entirely on stage in the 'living room' of Helzberg Hall. We're literally bringing our best and brightest to showcase what we've accomplished in 16 short years, said Dr. Roger Kugler, Park ICM Director. Called Stanislav & Friends, the benefit concert helps underwrite student scholarships at Park International Center for Music. This premiere event will feature Park ICM's biggest stars including Behzod Abduraimov, Kenny Broberg, Igor Khukhua, Dilshod Narzillaev, Maria Ioudenitch, the Park Trio and more.
Renowned guitarist, multi-platinum-selling singer-songwriter, bandleader and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Steve Miller has opened up his voluminous archive of recordings for the first time ever to present a milestone 3CD + DVD box set. WELCOME TO THE VAULT covers Miller's genre-blurring six-decade career over 52 audio tracks, pairing a number of greatest hits and certifiable rock 'n roll classics with 38 previously unreleased recordings that span demos, rehearsals, outtakes, vintage concert performances and 5 newly uncovered original Steve Miller Band songs recorded in the 1960s and 1970s.
La Mirada Theatre For The Performing Arts presents a fascinating, stirring look at patriotism - and what it means to be an American - with YOU'RE A GRAND OLD RAG, aptly named thanks to the famous Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, celebrating the music of the legendary George M. Cohan on June 30that 2 PM. Recognized even today as the iconic Yankee Doodle Dandy, Cohan became synonymous with Americanism through his rousing songs "Over There," "You're a Grand Old Flag," "Give My Regards to Broadway" and more. Today, the national dialogue brings this Congressional Gold Medal winner front and center.
Live @ Peck Pavilion returns to the Marcus Performing Arts Center grounds this summer. The season will run from June 26 through September 5 with each day of the series featuring a different program focus. Optimist Theatre: Shakespeare in the Park returns to Peck Pavilion from June 26-July 13 with their presentation of The Comedy of Errors. Community Partners, Milwaukee Ballet's Ballet Beat, True Skool Block Party and Milwaukee Fringe Festival, also return this summer. All events in Peck Pavilion are free and open to the public.
Following a season of record-breaking audiences, an inaugural international music festival, and prestigious recognition and awards from the Illinois Council of Orchestras, the Chicago Philharmonic shines a light on family and celebrates 30 years of making beautiful music for Chicago.
Seven Chicago-area student musicians enrolled in the Music Institute of Chicago's Academy for gifted pre-college pianists and string players have graduated from high school and are moving on to prestigious institutions to continue their education.
Celebrated French conductor Lionel Bringuier returns to the Ravinia Festival to lead the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on Saturday, July 13 at 7:30 p.m. joined by pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet for Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F. Also on the program is Ravel's Mother Goose Suite, Stravinsky's The Firebird Suite (1919 version), and Gershwin's Cuban Overture.
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