The International Beethoven Project's annual festival, "LOVE 2013," continues in Chicago with more interdisciplinary and genre-bending performances scheduled through September 15.
The festival, inspired by the creativity and genius of Ludwig van Beethoven, is not intended merely as a showcase of Beethoven's works, though.
This year's fest will explore themes of love, religion, suffering and the path of the true artist through the music of Beethoven, his contemporaries and a number of 21st century composers. In fact, the festival will present a total of 37 world premières, including works by Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche and artist-in-residence Rachel Monosov.
Most performances take place at the Merit School of Music in Chicago. Highlights of the next few days include "Love Now," featuring percussionist Glenn Kotche, pianist Mischa Zupko and cellist Jeffrey Zeigler performing several world premières on Thursday night. Works on the program include Zupko's Love Obsession and a première by Kotche to be announced.
Israeli artist Rachel Monosov will produce a site-specific performance piece mixing video, still images and music in collaboration with guest artists during Thursday's midnight show, "STILTE (SILENCE)." This performance will incorporate text from Beethoven's famous letter to his "Immortal Beloved."
Another multimedia world première is scheduled for Friday's midnight show. Love Triangle is a performance piece integrating electro-acoustic instrumentation, analog film loop projection and digital video projection--led by Alex Rowney.
And a total of 28 classical and rock bagatelles, care of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, will receive their first performances during the "Bagatelle/Rockatelle Showcase Concert" curated by Glenn Kotche and Mischa Zupko on Saturday afternoon.
Conductor/composer Matthias Pintscher will lead the Orchestra Prometheus of Chicago in the festival's final concert on Sunday evening. Of course, Beethoven is on the program--his Pastoral Symphony, as well as Richard Wagner's "Prelude" from Tristan und Isolde and Pintscher's own take on the ultimate love story, Songs from Solomon's Garden.
A complete schedule of festival events and ticket information can be found HERE.
