2018 in Music Photos

December 29, 2018 in Concerts, Music

A year of big performances, big venues, big voices, and big ovations. Here’s a look at my favorite music photos from 2018. Applause to all!

Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano and pianist Shannon McGinnis open the 2018 Collaborative Works Festival (Sept 5, 2018).

Cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han celebrate the Harris Theater’s 15th Anniversary (Oct 3, 2018)

Pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard accepts the ovation at University of Chicago (March 6, 2018).

Jane Glover leads Music of the Baroque in its Millennium Park debut (Sept 12, 2018).

Kurt Elling in full voice at a packed Green Mill (June 22, 2018).

Chicago Children’s Choir belting it out in Millennium Park (May 24, 2018).

Fourth Coast Ensemble opens its 5th season in Frank Lloyd Wright’s stunning Unity Temple (Nov 2, 2018).

Soprano Nicole Cabell and pianist Craig Terry melt all the hearts Beyond the Aria (May 17, 2018).

Bella Voce stand and sing as one during their annual gala at the Museum of Contemporary Art (May 19, 2018).

Axe-slingin’ at the annual Bitter Jester Music Festival (July 4, 2018).

Victor Yampolsky and the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra after a blistering Mahler 5 (Feb 3, 2018).

I found a neat little corner at the Copernicus Center for this angle on Scott Speck and the Chicago Philharmonic’s season opening concert (Nov 10, 2018).

Eric Snoza is the bassist in blue for Daren Hagen’s “Orson Rehearsed” (Sept 14, 2018).

Stephen Burns and the Fulcrum Point New Music Project’s annual Concert for Peace at Harris Theater (Dec 19, 2018).

The Zukerman Trio headlines the Music Institute of Chicago’s gala weekend (May 20, 2018).

Maestro Stanley Sperber leads the masses in the International Music Foundation’s DIY Messiah (Dec 17, 2018), though one face stood out from the crowd…

…Applause for Mr. Claus. (Dec 17, 2018).

Supermoon and Symphonies: Early Highlights of 2018

April 04, 2018 in Music, Concerts

If there's a way to sum up the start of 2018, it's that I photographed some pretty awesome and beautiful things. The year started off with a Supermoon in sub-zero temps. After the feeling returned to my fingers, I drove out to the Mississippi River to watch the bald eagles before concert season picked up again. I spent a dress rehearsal with the Lake Forest Symphony; covered the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra's final concert before its China tour; and shot the Chicago Philharmonic (with two pianos!). The Northwestern University Jazz Orchestra - with Victor Goines and Don Vappie - blew out the best Mardi Gras tunes north of New Orleans. I shot my first concert for the Harris Theater on the stage of the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, and watched in amazement while pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard performed Ligeti and Beethoven before a rapt audience at the University of Chicago. Fulcrum Point New Music Project closed March with a rollicking performance of music by Wynton Marsalis. Now, on to spring!

A Supermoon rises over Lake Michigan on January 1, 2018.

A bald eagle hunts over the Mississippi River in Davenport, IA, January 13, 2018.

Vladimir Kulenovic leads the Lake Forest Symphony, January 24, 2018.

Victor Yampolsky leads the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra before a packed house at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, February 3, 2018.

Victor Yampolsky and the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra, February 3, 2018.

Scott Speck leads the Chicago Philharmonic in Saint-Saens' "The Carnival of the Animals," March 4, 2018.

Victor Goines leads the Northwestern University Jazz Orchestra on Mardi Gras, February 13, 2018.

New Orleanian Don Vappie performs with the Northwestern University Jazz Orchestra on Mardi Gras, February 13, 2018.

NUJO leads the second line parade on Mardi Gras, February 13, 2018.

Harris Theater presents "Beyond the Aria" with Heidi Stober, Lindsay Metzger, Andrew Stenson, and Craig Terry at Millennium Park, March 1, 2018.

Pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard takes a final bow after his solo recital for University of Chicago Presents, March 6, 2018.

Stephen Burns and Fulcrum Point New Music Project perform music by Wynton Marsalis at The Promontory in Hyde Park, March 28, 2018.

Season finale with the Chicago Philharmonic

May 04, 2015 in Concerts, Music

Part 2 of a two-day concert shoot, in which I shot the Chicago Philharmonic's season finale at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Maestro Scott Speck conducted vibrant performances of Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun and La Mer, and pianist Jorge Federico Osorio played with commanding power and intensity in De Falla's Nights in the Gardens of Spain and Ravel's Piano Concert for the Left Hand. What a thrill to shoot this concert up close.