Ear Taxi Festival Returns September 15-October 4

EAR TAXI FESTIVAL RETURNS SEPTEMBER 15-OCTOBER 4, CURATING A WORLD-CLASS CELEBRATION OF CHICAGO MUSIC AND CULTURE

This year’s theme HEAR CHICAGO features Spotlight Concerts (September 15-29) and

a five-day Mainstage Concert series (September 30-October 4) showcasing the artists and sounds of Chicago in the 21^st century as well as Professional Development Workshops

 Ear Taxi Festival will kick off the summer with three preview concerts - two from DePaul Art Museum - Fire Thief and Janice Misurell-Mitchell (July 17), KAIA String Quartet (July 24) and a concert from 98.7 FM, Classical WFMT hosted by Kerry Frumkin (Aug 24) featuring pianist Clare Longendyke, Fulcrum Point New Music Project and 5th Wave Collective

 Tuesday, May 18, 2021 - Chicago, IL: Ear Taxi Festival, a presentation of New Music Chicago, is returning to Chicago this autumn after last year’s postponement. Festival organizers are excited to announce this year’s theme: HEAR CHICAGO. The festival is slated to run September 15-October 4, 2021 in venues throughout local neighborhoods, celebrating Chicago as an international center for musical innovation.  

“It may appear that the pandemic silenced concert venues across Chicago, but the city’s community of performers and composers have been far from dormant. I’ve seen mind-blowing creativity as artists pivoted beyond the limits of closed stages, I’ve witnessed profound generosity as musicians encouraged and mentored one another to change paradigms and learn new skills, and despite all the forces to isolate us physically, politically, and culturally, I saw a powerful sense of community sustaining us throughout this devastating time,” says Executive and Artistic Director Jennie Oh Brown. “As the city re-awakens after the pandemic, there is no better time than now to HEAR CHICAGO, the theme of Ear Taxi Festival. From Austin to Lincoln Park, and Hyde Park to the Gold Coast, Ear Taxi Festival will be a city-wide celebration of musical innovation from Chicago’s contemporary classical musicians, composers, creative musicians, improvisers, sound practitioners and experimentalists, and more.”

Under the leadership of dedicated and farsighted Chicago-based arts leaders—Executive and Artistic Director Jennie Oh Brown, Curatorial Director Michael Lewanski, Managing Director Jessica Wolfe, Director of Community Engagement LaRob Payton, and Production Manager Justin Peters—Ear Taxi Festival will feature nearly 600 Chicago-based artists.

 “The history and present of Chicago’s new, and experimental musics is as complex as the city itself. The word ‘sprawling’ comes to mind; Chicago’s music is irregular, improvisatory, and unlikely; while it interacts with them, it ultimately evades traditional genre markers,” says Lewanski. “Sometimes we’re told that music is a universal language, but this is not quite true; we’re dealing with a multiplicity of different traditions that are interrelated in some ways and distinct in others, a sort of musical Venn diagram. Thus, while we hope you discover some music that is familiar and comfortable, there will be just as much that is new and surprising, that is nonsensical and zany, and that is—maybe most importantly—challenging and disruptive.”

Lewanski continues “while we celebrate our city's remarkable artistry, we also need some real talk—not happy talk—about the historical exclusionary practices, the bigotry, the systemic racism, and the deeply entrenched inequities in our musical discourses and industries that continue to this very day.”

 Serving both the community and the art, Ear Taxi Festival 2021 creates commissioning and performance opportunities, organizes panel discussions with industry leaders, and offers professional development workshops, educational events, and community support. 

 Before this autumn’s Ear Taxi Festival, the organizers are programming several exciting events: 

 In June, there will be an upcoming dialogue series in conjunction with StoryCorps, focused on the vibrant Chicago music scene and the complex interlocking histories of discrimination, art, and activism. Speakers and additional information will be shared soon. 

 Ear Taxi Festival presents two preview concerts in coordination with the DePaul Art Museum’s “LatinxAmerican” Exhibition. On July 17 at 2 p.m. CT Fire Thief, led by composer/instrumentalist Devin Clara Fanslow will feature pieces written by Latinx composers. Fire Thief musicians (mandolin, guitar, bassoon, tuba, and saxophones) come from diverse musical backgrounds and have everything from classical chamber works to a wide range of pop and jazz in their arsenal. This concert will open with composer Janice Misurell-Mitchell performing her solo flute piece titled “The Light that Burns” which is dedicated to the memory of her son Gabriel. 

 On July 24 at 2 p.m. CT, Chicago-based KAIA String Quartet will present a program of Mexican and Uruguayan composers from the early 20th Century to the present, culminating in the world premiere of a String Quartet by Elbio Barilari.

 Ear Taxi Festival will present a third preview concert on 98.7 FM, Classical WFMT, on August 24 at 8p.m. CT, hosted by Kerry Frumkin. Pianist Clare Longendyke, Fulcrum Point New Music Project (trumpet and percussion), and 5th Wave Collective (oboe and string quartet) will be featured in a pre-recorded broadcast from Nichols Hall at the Music Institute of Chicago.

 A full schedule of events will be announced in July 2021.

 Support

Ear Taxi Festival 2021 is supported by a generous gift from Helen Zell, contributing partners DePaul Art Museum, Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, WFMT, and StoryCorps, and grants from the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, Irving Harris Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, the National Endowment for the Arts, and New Music USA, made possible by annual program support and/or endowment gifts from Helen F. Whitaker Fund and The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Inc.

 New Music Chicago is supported by the Amphion Foundation, Inc., the Alice M. Ditson Fund, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, and the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.

ABOUT EAR TAXI FESTIVAL 2016

Spearheaded by composer and visionary Augusta Read Thomas, Stephen Burns and, Reba Cafarelli in 2016, Ear Taxi Festival was created to celebrate Chicago’s thriving contemporary music scene with concerts, lectures, marathons, webcasts, and artist receptions featuring New Music Chicago and New Music USA in venues citywide from Mana Contemporary and the University of Chicago on the South Side to the Harris Theater for Music and Dance and The Chicago Cultural Center in the loop, to Constellation on the North Side. Ear Taxi Festival presented over 350 musicians and 54 world premieres in over six days of concerts, lectures, and sound installations. Ear Taxi Festival achieved its primary objective of shining a light on Chicago artists with success beyond all expectations. Building on this momentum, New Music Chicago made the decision to present Ear Taxi Festival again, with the prospect of having it be an ongoing endeavor to be repeated in coming years.

www.eartaxifestival.com