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Chicago Shakespeare Theater and The Chicago Chamber Musicians Present

Fairy Tales by William Bolcom

With Excerpts from Simple Symphony by Benjamin Britten
January 18 and 19, 2014

Chicago—December 19, 2013—Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) collaborates with The Chicago Chamber Musicians (CCM) for their 13th annual family concert, presenting Fairy Tales by William Bolcom on Saturday, January 18 and Sunday, January 19, 2014, 10:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. at Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Courtyard Theater on Navy Pier. The one-hour concert introduces families and children ages four and up to the joys of live performance as CST actors imaginatively retell classic fairy tales accompanied by music played by CCM ensemble members. Fairy Tales is directed by Scott Weinstein.

William Bolcom’s Fairy Talesincluding The Frog Prince, Jorinda and Joringel, The Fisherman and His Wife and The Hare and the Hedgehog—give children the opportunity to discover how individual instruments are played, how they play together, and how they can interrelate with actors to create a theatrical event. Also on the program are excerpts from the Simple Symphony by Benjamin Britten, composer of the Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. Based on music from Britten’s childhood, it was used extensively in the musical score for the commercial film, Moonrise Kingdom. The CCM 2013/2014 season marks Benjamin Britten’s 100th birthday anniversary and the 75th birthday of William Bolcom.

Composer William Bolcom, Professor Emeritus of Composition at the University of Michigan, is the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music and the National Medal of Arts, the highest award in the arts bestowed by the President of the United States. The citation for this honor praised Bolcom’s contributions to many music forms, noting “from opera to ragtime to rock, his imaginative arrangements have moved countless individuals and left a lasting imprint on the world of music.” Bolcom’s setting of William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Song of Experience won four GRAMMY® awards, including Best Classical Contemporary Composition.

CCM Ensemble members Joseph Genualdi, violin and Rami Solomonow, viola are featured in the concerts, along with guest artists Mathias Tacke, violin and Douglas Johnson, double bass.

Between concerts each day at 11:00 a.m., interactive exhibits staged in the CST lobby will give children a chance to explore the instruments used in the concert. Musicians will be available to sign autographs as young performers demonstrate their craft and answer questions about the featured instruments.

Performances of Fairy Tales are Saturday, January 18, and Sunday, January 19, 2014, in CST’s Courtyard Theater at 10:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Tickets are on sale now for $15 for children age 12 and under, and $20 for adults. All patrons receive a 40% discount on guaranteed parking in Navy Pier garages. For more information or to purchase tickets or a season subscription, contact Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Box Office at 312.595.5600 or visit the Theater’s website at www.chicagoshakes.com.

About The Chicago Chamber Musicians
Founded in 1986, the Chicago Chamber Musicians (CCM) is currently celebrating its 27th season as a society of musicians and music devotees committed to building an internationally recognized chamber music institution in Chicago. Since its inception, CCM has launched a critically and popularly-acclaimed subscription series; a touring program; the annual Family Concerts; and a remarkable set of community service programs. In 2014, CCM will present a Spring Chamber Masterworks series and continue its long-running collaboration with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and 98.7WFMT to present the free First Monday Concert Series in Preston Bradley Hall at the Chicago Cultural Center. A leader in new music, CCM has commissioned 18 new works and has received two ASCAP-Chamber Music America Awards for Adventurous Programming. In 2006, CCM’s recording Chamber Works for Winds and Strings by Mozart, on the Summit label, was nominated for a 2007 GRAMMY Award®, and CCM was recognized with an ABBY Award for Arts Management Excellence. In 2011, CCM launched EncoreCCM (EncoreCCM.org), an online archive of CCM recordings and program notes, free to the public. In September 2013, CCM released its latest recording The Coming of Light on the Summit label. Annually, CCM shares the joy of chamber music with more than 300,000 radio listeners, audience members and students throughout Chicago.

About Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) believes that Shakespeare speaks to everyone. A global theatrical force, CST is known for vibrant productions that reflect Shakespeare’s genius for storytelling, language and empathy for the human condition. CST has evolved into a dynamic company, producing award-winning plays at their home on Navy Pier, throughout Chicago’s schools and neighborhoods, and on stages around the world. Chicago Shakespeare serves as a partner in literacy to Chicago Public Schools, working alongside English teachers to help struggling readers connect with Shakespeare in the classroom, and bringing his text to life on stage for 40,000 students every year. And each summer, 17,000 families and audience members of all ages welcome the free Chicago Shakespeare in the Parks into their neighborhoods across the far north, west and south sides of the city. Reflecting the global city of their Chicago home, CST is the leading producer of international work in Chicago and has toured their own plays abroad to Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe.

The Theater’s tradition of excellence and civic leadership has been honored with numerous national and international awards, including the Regional Theater Tony Award, three Laurence Olivier Awards, and seventy total Joseph Jefferson Awards. CST was the 2012 recipient of the Folger Shakespeare Library’s national Shakespeare Steward Award for innovative teaching of Shakespeare in American classrooms. Among its many international engagements, CST participated in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2006 Complete Works Festival and was selected to represent North America at the Globe to Globe festival as part of London’s 2012 Cultural Olympiad.

For a complete listing and additional information about the concert, visit www.chicagoshakes.com/fairytales.

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Contact Us
 

Hannah Kennedy
Director of Communications
hkennedy@chicagoshakes.com

Emma Perrin
Public Relations & Digital Media Manager
eperrin@chicagoshakes.com
Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Media Office
312.667.4957

Cathy Taylor
cathy@cathytaylorpr.com
Cathy Taylor Public Relations
773.564.9564

Chicago Shakespeare Theater
on Navy Pier
800 East Grand Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611

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