By Kyle MacMillan/For Sun-Times Media
Classical music
One of the early highlights of Chicago’s fall classical music season is bound to be the 2014 Collaborative Works Festival, which will focus on the famous — and complicated — love triangle among Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms. Though selections by other composers are included, the festival’s programs will emphasize vocal works by those three inter-related musicians and composers, with masterworks by Robert Schumann being the central focus. To perform this repertory, the festival has assembled an exciting group of top-level artists, including soprano Susanna Phillips, a star of the Metropolitan Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Grammy Award winning mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor. Among the featured events are concerts by those artists at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Poetry Foundation, 61 W. Superior St., (Free) and 2 p.m. Sunday in the Performance Penthouse at the University of Chicago’s Logan Center, 915 E. 60th St. (Tickets, $35) In addition, famed mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung and pianist Kevin Murphy will present a solo recital at 7 p.m. Friday in the Pritzker Auditorium at the Harold Washington Library Center, 400 S. State. Tickets, $35. (312) 360-1334; caichicago.org.
World music
The World Music Festival Chicago, which is produced by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, returns Sept. 11-21 for its 16th year. Events will take place across the city, including concerts in Millennium Park’s Pritzker Pavilion, 201 E. Randolph: Vieux Farka Touré (Mali) and Bombino (Niger) at 6 p.m. Thursday, La Bottine Souriante (Canada) and Pablo Menendez and Mezcla (Cuba) at 6 p.m. Friday, Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 (Nigeria) and Aurelio (Honduras) at 3 p.m. Saturday and Nicolae Feraru and His Gypsy Band (Romania/U.S.) and Calypso Rose with Kobo Town (Trinidad and Tobago/Canada) at 3 p.m. Sunday. Free. (312) 744-3315; worldmusicfestivalchicago.org.
Opera
The Lyric Opera Chorus, which is usually heard only as part of Lyric Opera of Chicago’s productions, will get a couple moments in the spotlight by itself this fall. The ensemble will present a pair of concerts featuring excerpts from a range of well-known operas and musicals, including some that are on Lyric’s 2014-15 season, such as “Anna Bolena,” “Tosca,” Carousel” and “Il Trovatore.” Led by Chorus Master Michael Black, the chorus will perform the first of the two concerts at 7 p.m. Friday in the Fourth Presbyterian Church, 126 E. Chestnut. Tickets, $20. (312) 827-5600; lyricopera.org/wondrous-sound.
Visual Art
Few visual arts institutions in Chicago have a more storied history than the Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell, which played a key role in the evolution of the Hairy Who and Chicago Imagists in the 1960s and ’70s. The public is invited to celebrate that rich legacy during the art center’s 75th Anniversary BBQ Block Party Bash from noon to 9 p.m. Saturday. The free party will include workshops and children’s activities, an art sale and petting zoo, plus continuous performances by area DJs and bands. And don’t worry, with a pig roast and an assortment of food trucks, there will be plenty to eat and drink. (773) 324-5520; hydeparkart.org.
Opera
Giuseppe Verdi’s “Macbeth” might be the most famous operatic adaptation of Shakespeare’s famous play, but it is not the only one. Ernest Bloch, who is better known for such works as his “Schelomo” for Cello and Orchestra, wrote a compelling take on the play that was premiered in 1910 at the Opera-Comique de Paris. The Chicago Opera Theater will present just the third American staging of the work at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 13, Sept. 17 and Sept. 19 and 3 p.m. Sept. 21 in the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph. Tickets, $35- $125. (312) 704-8414; chicagooperatheater.org.
