Full Schedule
The Ear Taxi Festival 2025, themed "The Composer’s Voice," is a landmark event showcasing contemporary concert music across Chicagoland from October 3 through November 2, 2025. ETF ‘25 will highlight over 500 artists in over 50 hours of programming, including large-scale Anchor Performances, Composer Showcases, Taxi Performance Series, and Accent Concerts.
Ear Taxi Festival and Bella Voce present “Lost Objects”
Bella Voce opens the 2025 Ear Taxi Festival with Lost Objects, a genre-defying oratorio by Bang on a Can founders Gordon, Wolfe, and Lang. Combining choir, period-instrument orchestra, soloists, electronics, and modern themes, this performance launches the festival’s theme—The Composer’s Voice—by exploring what “new music” truly means today.
Ear Taxi Festival, Ensemble 20+, and William Ferris Chorale present “The Lost Birds”
A stunning choral-orchestral elegy by Christopher Tin, The Lost Birds honors extinct species and the fragile beauty of nature. Featuring William Ferris Chorale and DePaul’s Ensemble 20+, this concert blends musical storytelling with environmental reflection—perfect for educators, composers, and all who believe in music's power to move and inspire.
Ear Taxi Festival and Chicago Fringe Opera present Soper, Baiocchi, and Barnes
Chicago Fringe Opera presents powerful works by Kate Soper, Regina Harris Baiocchi, and Jasmine Barnes. Myth, memory, and community come alive in this genre-defying evening of short operas that amplify the voices of women composers and celebrates storytelling through bold, inclusive, and emotionally rich new music.
Ear Taxi Festival and Chicago Philharmonic present Invictus & An African American Requiem
This culminating concert of the 2025 Ear Taxi Festival features the world premiere of Stacy Garrop’s Invictus and Midwestern premiere of Damien Geter’s powerful An African American Requiem. These works reflect the festival’s theme The Composer’s Voice, showcasing bold, contemporary perspectives through piano, chorus, and orchestra for a moving, modern musical experience.