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, with a libretto by Deborah Artman. 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.

A dynamic afternoon of new music featuring bold performances and thought-provoking works. Baritone Brad Jungwirth joins the Chicago Composers’ Consortium for Talking to Heart, a program of vocal and instrumental premieres. Caroline Jesalva’s Out of Context redefines solo violin with five experimental works. Pianist Shannon McGinnis and soprano Corrine Costell present Anything But A Dream, a moving set of modern art songs. Constellation Men’s Ensemble presents “Pouring From Empty Cups” which includes “Man Up/ Man Down” by Robert Maggio - an unflinching choral exploration of masculinity in America.

Quintet Attacca perform five world premieres by Illinois composers. Gillian Rae Perry writes “Three Months (after)”: the passage of time in relation to grief and loss. Marybeth Kurnat’s music creates echoes of wisdom from the Holocaust, based on words from child survivors of Terezin. Alex Taylor writes about the Orpheus myth told from Eurydice's perspective. Shane Cook reminds us that ...try as you might, we can't turn back to seed.

Celebrate contemporary music with powerful performances from Crossing Borders Music, La Caccina, and Holocene. Crossing Borders’ program Chicago Composers: The Next Generation features new works by youth composers from North Lawndale and Garfield Park, alongside premieres by emerging African-American composers including Jessica T. Carter and AJ Isaacson-Zvidzwa. Vocal ensemble La Caccina presents Weird Sisters, exploring the stories of mythological and historical witches through music. Holocene offers Expanding, an immersive sound experience that shifts focus beyond the human perspective.

Sonic Speculations in the Documents of Postwar Japanese Art introduces a sound world little known outside Japan: Japanese artists working with sound in galleries and public spaces to interrogate artistic practice and social relations during the cultural and political upheavals of postwar Japan from the 1950s to 1970s.

Join Alyssa Arrigo and Leila Bowie McClenahan as they present works by four brilliant local composers, many inspired by Chicago’s rich history and poetry. Chicago: Living History brings together compositions that reflect the city’s dynamic stories. The Black Moon Trio performs Convergence: Health Equity in a Changing Climate, exploring environmental racism and health inequities through music, illustration, and videography, highlighting the resilience of affected communities.

Aśe presents Revolt for Freedom, a powerful reimagining of history, flipping the narrative by empowering enslaved Africans to reclaim their humanity from Europeans. Nick Zoulek’s Worlds of Brass, Breath, and Reeds explores the saxophone as a biofeedback mechanism, blending voice, breath, and technology for a maximalist solo performance. Ty Boque’s Nestbuilder weaves six works into intricate, luminous soundscapes, where breath, voice, and body create delicate, ethereal worlds.

Grammy award-winning composer Christopher Tin will talk to local students about work as a composer, including his piece “The Lost Birds” being performed by the William Ferris Chorale and DePaul University Ensemble 20+.

Libraries are excellent partners for the entrepreneurial composer. In this collaborative discussion, librarians Marci Cohen and Greg MacAyeal will describe the many benefits of library/composer partnerships.

KAIA String Quartet premieres new works by Illinois composers. Rosśa Crean writes music for the tender moments between collapse and beginning again. Lee Kesselman’s musical meditation is a search for the personal side of prayer. Justin Weiss writes an exploration of our relationship with nature, time, and memory. Graham Meyer uses Sappho's poetic fragments, both in words and wordless song.

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.

Fonema Consort’s Desire Paths features experimental works by contemporary Latin American composers, blending noise-driven textures with expressive chamber music. Works by Darlene Castro, Carlos Zarate, Michele Abonado, and Juan Campoverde highlight dynamic, raw soundscapes. Emigre and Exile by Arcomusical and Krissy Bergmark explores global migration through dance music rooted in African aesthetics, with music by Matt Ulery and others. Midwestern Tongues by Stare at the Sun uncovers underappreciated choral works from composers across the American Midwest.

Join the music community for some fun pre-show networking. Get to know your fellow composers, performers, and music lovers.

Paul Novak’s youth is an exploration of ghost stories as an inherently queer genre, imagining haunting as a metaphor for queer trauma. Liza Sobel Crane's Worth demonstrates how handling hardships creates character. Blair Boyd writes about being apart from the place you know. Eric Malmquist sets Illinois Poet Laureate Mark Turcotte's "Hawk Hour.” Asher Sizemore writes Everyone Dies in the Gender Reveal Apocalypse. Paradoxical Ode, from Andrei Skorobogatykh, is a poem about science, universe and death. Bliss, from Bradley Robin transforms from wanting to having and from innocence to wisdom, through a lyrical and musical journey inspired by Sondheim, Scriabin, Salvador Dali, and Santa Claus.

Join the Ear Taxi Festival Artistic Director LaRob K. Rafael in another great discussion in the series “Dissolving Paradigms”.

Ear Taxi Festival and Pleiades join forces to present a specially curated house band for the event, followed by our signature Pleiades Jam Session. The jam is open to all participants, with advance sign-up available to ensure space and avoid exceeding capacity.

Lawyers for the Creative Arts joins Ear Taxi Festival for a special discussion all about contracts for creatives. Odell Mitchell III brings his expertise to present best practices for artists when contracting or being contracted.

Hammer & Bow features the Flannau Duo and Quijote Duo, bringing together viola, cello, piano, and percussion in a unique exploration of co-creation and unifying musical forces. Awakening by Picosa, inspired by James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake, delves into themes of death, rebirth, and renewal across political, historical, and social dimensions, offering a transformative musical journey into emergence and change.

Lakeshore Rush premieres new works by Illinois composers. Natasha Bogojevic writes a meditation on the effects of gun violence. Xavier Beteta weaves songs in an ancient Mayan language.  Angel Bat Dawid writes about the Catacombs. Ethan Dymit’s “Child’s Play” uses nursery rhymes as a starting point.

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.

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.

Dal Niente opens its 20th Chicago Season with the return of Hard Music, Hard Liquor. Have a cocktail (or a mocktail, ‘cause it’s 2025) and enjoy some virtuosic music by some of the ensemble's favorite composers, including George Lewis, Hilda Paredes, Roscoe Mitchell, and more. Founding clarinetist Alejandro Acierto will perform the solo from which the group derives its name: Dal niente (Intérieur III).

A 75-minute celebration of Argentinian American composer Gustavo Leone featuring works for trumpet, electronics and string quartet with Artistic Director trumpeter Stephen Burns

The members of Rising are realizing a dream of performing in an all-female quartet and presenting a sampling of wide-ranging styles of music by women, from the complex harmonies mixed with music derived from Black idioms in one of Florence Price’s most adventurous and emotionally-charged works, to Caroline Shaw’s vision of a Haydn minuet and trio through “Alice’s looking glass”.

The prime objective of my work is to create grass roots-level conversations that can lead to building bridges and creating communities to address critical societal issues. I believe our country is suffering from an ever-increasing wealth gap, a politically divided nation, and an overall feeling of uncertainty. I hope my piece stimulates thought and inspires action. Collectively, people have a stronger voice than individuals and can improve our civic life. Now is the time to bring people together, especially reaching out to those who have been underrepresented in the past.

“Überhip” (Entertainment Weekly) 20-member band Alarm Will Sound takes on music from the arch-modernist to the pop-influenced. Committed to innovative performances and recordings of today’s music, Alarm Will Sound has been associated since its inception with composers at the forefront of contemporary music, premiering pieces by the likes of Steve Reich, Meredith Monk, and David Lang. The group itself includes many composer-performers, giving them an unusual insight into the creation and performance of new works. This “stylistically omnivorous” (The Log Journal) ensemble returns to Logan Center this October to perform and record two works by UChicago Professor of Composition, Hans Thomalla.

Vox femina - The Woman's Voice, presents works that reflect ideas and images of particular women but have a universal view. Regina Baiocchi's pieces, Nourish, Things Change, and I've Got a Mother, reflect African American culture and traditions. Kyong Mee Choi's video, Quietly, is based on a poem by the composer on the death of her father. Janice Misurell-Mitchell's O Sapientia, for flute/alto flute and electronics uses a recording of the antiphon by Hildegard von Bingen to reflect on humanity's loss of wisdom. Patricia Morehead's Altered Reality,for oboe, bass oboe, and electronics uses visual images created by her late sister, Sheryl Ann Noonan, a talented painter and sculptor. Her piece will also feature Alex Klein, former principal oboe in the Chicago Symphony. Ester Hana's piece, Untitled is brings a jazz inflection to our program. Our guest composer Africa Brown presents an upbeat celebration of womanhood through song and percussive dance.

The first concert of the 2025 Dunbar Festival of Early Music. The Festival celebrates the works of Orlando Gibbons and John Dowland. In addition to works by these two composers, BCE offers contemporary riffs on their music, including a world premiere by Chicago composer Stacy Garrop.

This concert follows the September 12 release of the CD Myths and Accidents by Divine Art/Diversions Records. It features three Lofstrom song cycles, Myths and Accidents, All Must End and Three Sandburg Songs, the last of which will be a world premiere. Several of the songs are based on lyrics by Alan Robert Day, a longtime Lofstrom collaborator and Chicago native. Other songs are based on poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay, Thomas Traherne, Herman Melville and of course, Carl Sandburg.

Enjoy all-new repertoire for our trio, the pNeXT Ensemble. New music outside of the academic mold is performed by a trio of horn, cello, and piano. The performers studied at DePaul and New England Conservatory.

The CCPA Contemporary Ensemble presents a bold evening of recent works that explore sound, texture, and atmosphere in strikingly original ways. From Tim Corpus’ shimmering A Light Divided and Kyong Mee Choi’s evocative Im Nebel, to Matt Mason’s visceral Downhill from Breathing, the program highlights diverse voices shaping today’s musical landscape. Clarice Assad’s Lemuria brings a driving energy with its unique scoring for cello choir and percussion, while Ben Zucker’s Grass Has Grown Into Your Cities offers a powerful reflection on environment and community. The program also features a movement from Jonathan Hannau’s Three Pieces for Orchestra, showcasing the imaginative artistry of a CCPA alumnus.

cosmia opera collective presents "moth songs ii: thresholds", a continuation of our fundraiser concert series premiering art songs written by northwestern composers for northwestern vocalists. these works, written for voice, piano and/or electronics, have the option of using an original text written by the composer/singer/both, or a public domain text that resonates with both artists and fits this year's themes of thresholds and liminality.

The world premiere of Chicago Bagatelles Project features twelve short works for solo saxophone performed by Phil Pierick and commissioned by Chicago-based composers who have drawn inspiration from the arts, science, nature, and the city itself. Contributing composers are Carlos Bandera, Baldwin Giang, Jonathan Hannau, Molly Jones, David Clay Mettens, Osnat Netzer, Paul Novak, Shawn Okpebholo, Phil Pierick, Sean Shepherd, Augusta Read Thomas, and Ania Vu. Alongside the Bagatelles, the program is completed with chamber works featuring soprano Kristina Bachrach (the Chicago premiere of Rädda mig ur dyn by Karin Rehnqvist), flutist Sasha Ishov (in Marcos Balter’s Strohbass), and the other half of Isotope Duo, percussionist Kyle Flens (in Amy Williams’ Child’s Play) as well as an audience-participation "sing-along" version of Luciano Berio's Sequenza VIIb filling acoustic of the museum’s Hall of Immortals.

Loyola University Chicago has the pleasure of inviting you to a concert featuring pianist David Kalhous and violinist Benjamin Sung on Friday, October 31, 2025, at 7:00 PM at Skowronski Music Hall, Mundelein Center for Fine and Performing Arts.
The program will include works by JS Bach, Franz Schubert, György Kurtág, alongside the world premiere of The Ci(r)cadian Tree by Dongryul Lee, commissioned by Sung and Kalhous. Inspired by the rare 2024 dual emergence of periodical cicadas in Illinois and the dazzling Northern Lights, Lee’s piece explores cycles of nature, life, and impermanence through vivid musical storytelling, through a Borgesian narrative.

Threads of Time brings together pianists Ayse Celasun, Cacie Miller, and Maya Galperin for an evening that bridges contemporary and Romantic sound worlds. The program features works by Reena Esmail, Lera Auerbach, and Cynthia Papierniak alongside masterpieces by Frédéric Chopin, Leopold Godowsky, Alexander Scriabin, and Sergei Rachmaninov. From lyrical meditations to dazzling virtuosity, the concert highlights connections across centuries, revealing how composers continue to inspire, challenge, and echo one another through the piano.

Trio Accord (oboe, viola, piano) explores repertoire for different combinations of their instruments and are featuring Accord by Chicago-area composer Zae Munn. Also included are works by Tann, Glinka, and Loeffler.

University Chorale presents a program confronting the calculated devastation wrought by war and violence through a collection of powerful choral works by Judith Weir, Toivo Tulev, Ted Hearne, Heinrich Schütz, Caroline Shaw, and Veljo Tormis.

Mucca Pazza performs selections from its ever-evolving repertoire in a theatrical performance at Evanston's SPACE. Chicago's most colorful composers collective will present works from Mucca Pazza's stylistically eclectic and extensive 21-year catalog (composed by the band) in perhaps the only Ear Taxi concert featuring cheerleaders.