Still looking for that
unique, yet fun Halloween party to show off that creative costume you have been
working on for weeks? Then check out the
Spektral Quartet’s Costumed Soiree at the
Downey Mansion on Friday, October 27 beginning at 8:00 pm. This event may well be the most bewitching – and
the most sophisticated – Halloween party of the season. The event will be a
heady concoction of Downton Abbey-era dress-up, 1900’s-era drinks, and some of
the choicest classical music in all of Chicago.
Held at the Berger Park Cultural Center (formerly Downey Mansion), guests
are invited to role-play as their favorite Modernist (Frank Lloyd Wright,
Virginia Wolf, Pablo Picasso, Carl Sandburg), Downton Abbey (the Dowager
Duchess, dead Matthew Crawley), or early 19th-century celebrity
(Charlie Chaplin, Florence Nightingale, Douglas Fairbanks, Lotte Lenya, Al
Capone) while sipping on absinthe.
As the centerpiece of the
evening, the Grammy-nominated Spektral Quartet takes the stage for selections
from Arnold Schoenberg’s breathtaking Quartet No. 1 and Johannes Brahms stormy
Quartet in C minor, OP 51. No 1. In addition to showing off their inner Dowager or Modernist, audience members, too, can be part of the entertainment. Between musical numbers, a mystery Chicago improv luminary acting as Sigmund Freud will invite
willing audience members onto the onstage couch to perform 100% unlicensed
psychoanalysis. Complementing the music by
Schoenberg and Brahms, the evening’s festivities will include free drinks,
games, and a costume contest.
 |
| Spektral Quartet
“The classical music world
tends to be pretty insular,” explains Spektral Quartet’s Doyle Armbrust. “We are working hard to change that, so we
are reaching out beyond our usual crowd with a new series, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS.” The latest series put together by the
quartet, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS is chamber music as it was intended to be heard: in
an intimate space with food and drink, with friends, and no shortage of
whimsy. In previous programs, such as In Search of Futures Past program, these
events incorporate extra-musical elements, such as a 19th-century-themed
costume party, a custom beer brewed from a 1908 Viennese recipe, the
architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, and a painting party – all in stunning
venues around Chicago. Earlier this year,members of the Spektral Quartet took up the challenge of playing a live performance of Morton Feldman's formidable String Quartet No. 2 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago that lasted nearly six hours continually on stage without breaks.
|
Spektral Quartet actively
pursues a vivid conversation between exhilarating works of the traditional
canon and those written this decade, this year, this week. Their mission is to cultivate a love of, and
curiosity for, unfamiliar sonic territory and exceptional works of the past
among the next generation of string players. The quartet is made up of Clara
Lyons (violin), Maeve Feinberg (violin), Doyle Armbrust (viola), and Russel
Rolen (cello). At home both in and out
of the concert hall, Spektral Quartet enthusiastically seeks out vehicles to
bring classical music into the sphere of everyday life, prioritizing immersion
and inclusivity through close-proximity seating and intimate, unconventional
venues.
The quartet released their
most ambitious recording to date, Serious
Business, for which they received a 2017 Grammy nomination. Despite the
pressure resulting from their Grammy nomination and growing fame, the members
of Spektral Quartet remain Chicago-centric.
They are currently ensemble in-residence at the University of
Chicago. The foursome also helped
develop the Dove Tail Series, where
they collaborate with artists from the Rebuild Foundation. “Chicago is our home and the City is very
important to us,” says Armbrust.
Costumed Soiree at the Downey Mansion will be held on Friday, October 27, 2017, at the
Berger Park Cultural Center (formerly Downey Mansion), 6205 N. Sheridan Road,
Chicago, IL, 60660. The soiree begins at
8:00 pm and runs through 10:30 pm.
Tickets are $75 and space is limited.
To learn more about the most unique Halloween event in town, visit
www.spektralquartet.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment