Scratch That: Chicago's Weekend Update

Scratch That: Chicago’s Weekend Update

Despite the nip in the Chicago air, there are plenty of shows this weekend hot enough to leave the house for.

Written By

Ellen McSweeney

Scratch doesn’t want to make anybody jealous or anything, but we’re typing this column on a plane whose nose is aimed directly at the state of Florida. While we’re looking forward to reacquainting ourselves with that yellow orb in the sky, there are some exciting Chicago concerts we wanted to tell you about. If you’re in town—bravely enduring gray skies, icy sidewalks, and people who play low-quality radios aloud on the train—you deserve this fantastic weekend of shows.

On Friday night at the Merit School of Music, hometown heroes Third Coast Percussion will play works by Steve Reich and George Crumb, alongside guest artists Timothy Andres and David Kaplan.

Also on Friday—forcing a very painful choice for some of you—respected Northwestern composers Chris Fisher-Lochhead and Eliza Brown welcome German duo Noise-Bridge in a performance of new works. Fascinating composer and bassoonist Katherine Young will open the show with a solo set, as if you needed another reason to check it out. This is part of the always-lively programming at Elastic Arts.

NOISE-BRIDGE

The German-based soprano/clarinet duo NOISE-BRIDGE (Christie Finn and Felix Behringer)

On Saturday night on the stage of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Fifth House Ensemble presents their latest narrative chamber-music program, which includes some very exciting new works from Caleb Burhans and John Zorn.

Fifth House Ensemble

Fifth House Ensemble

Don’t feel like leaving the house? Every musician everywhere has probably seen Amanda Palmer’s TED Talk, but it’s worth mentioning here, since our first article for NewMusicBox dissed her pretty emphatically. Scratch believes that Palmer is about 10% insane, but that this talk is valuable for anyone who’s interested in funding a project, building a professional network, or growing an audience base. Yup, pretty sure that’s everyone.

If you need anything else—which, given the excitement of the above, you probably won’t—we’ll be reclining in the sun with a book.