CHICAGO – Chicago Sinfonietta’s penultimate concert of the season examines the most primal element of music: the beat in BYOB: Bring Your Own Beat, featuring renowned Chicago Symphony Orchestra principal percussionist Cynthia Yeh and Alcides Rodriguez of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Chicago Sinfonietta performs BYOB: Bring Your Own Beat twice: first, in the western suburbs at Wentz Concert Hall of North Central College, Naperville, Saturday, March 12 at 8 pm, and then again in its downtown Chicago home, Symphony Center, Monday, March 14 at 7:30 pm.
This rhythmic performance begins fittingly with William Grant Still’s infectious Festive Overture, followed by Ricardo Lorenz’s Maracas Concerto featuring Alcides Rodriguez playing this unusual solo instrument. Sinfonietta Music Director Mei-Ann Chen, a fierce proponent for and mentor of young conductors, then welcomes the talented Roger Kalia, a Project Inclusion Freeman Fellow, to the podium as to tag team on Chadwick’s Symphonic Sketches, with Chen conducting Jubilee and Kalie guest conducting for Noel. The second half kicks off with Jennifer Higdon’s Percussion Concerto performed by Cynthia Yeh, and concludes with the audience joining the orchestra on the fast-paced, indigenous sounds of the 4th Movement (Malambo-Final Dance) of Ginastera’s Estancia: Four Dances. To play along, audience members will either bring their own small percussion instruments or create new instruments in the lobby pre-concert and during intermission, which can then be played back in their seats during the concert’s raucous, crowdsourced grand finale led by Maestro Mei-Ann Chen.
Additional pre-concert and intermission activities include the opportunity to take a spin on Chicago artist Dave Ford’s Swing Set Drum Kit installation, an interactive sonic sculpture that invites audience members of all ages to create rhythmic sounds simply through the act of swinging. Additionally, El Jimador tequila will provide patrons (21+) with complimentary tequila tastings.
Title: Chicago Sinfonietta presents BYOB – Bring Your Own Beat
Dates: Saturday, March 12 at 8:00 p.m. at Wentz Concert Hall of North Central College
Monday, March 14 at 7:30 p.m. at Orchestra Hall of Symphony Center
Tickets: Single tickets range from $18-$60 for concerts at Symphony Center and $48-$60 for concerts at Wentz Concert Hall, with special $10 pricing available for students at both concerts. Tickets can be purchased by calling Chicago Sinfonietta at 312.284.1554 or online at www.chicagosinfonietta.org.
Program:
| STILL | Festive Overture |
| ORENZ | Pataruco: Concerto for Venezuelan Maracas and Orchestra performed by Alcides Rodriguez |
| CHADWICK | Symphonic Sketches: Jubilee and Noel (Noel guest conducted by Roger Kalia) |
| HIGDON | Percussion Concerto performed by Cynthia Yeh |
| GINASTERA | Estancia: Four Dances, 4th Movement, Danz final (Malambo-Final Dance) with audience participation |
Mei-Ann Chen, conductor
Roger Kalia, Project Inclusion Conducting Freeman Fellow and special guest
conductor
Alcides Rodriguez, maracas
Cynthia Yeh, percussion
Chicago Sinfonietta is grateful to its season sponsors including Nicor, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, Southwest Airlines, Fairmont Hotel, and Hotel Arista. Special thanks to concert sponsor, Aon and tequila sponsor, El Jimador. Chicago Sinfonietta also thanks its concert media sponsors including WXRT, Chicago and Naperville Magazines, and Chicago Reader.
In its 28th season, Chicago Sinfonietta has pushed artistic and social boundaries to provide an alternative way of hearing, seeing and thinking about a symphony orchestra. Led by Music Director Mei-Ann Chen since 2011, each concert experience blends inventive new works with classical masterworks, each from a diverse array of voices, to entertain, transform and inspire. Learn more at www.chicagosinfonietta.org.
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