By KYLE MACMILLAN | FOR SUN-TIMES MEDIA
Some cultural arts event worth checking out this week:
Children’s music
Talk about a musical fairy tale come true for children. “Princess Power: A Disney Concert Celebration,” will be presented at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in Northwestern University’s Ethel M. Barber Theatre, 30 Arts Circle, in Evanston. The audience sing-along, which is part of the school’s Imagine U series, features 12 tunes from movies such as “Cinderella,” “Snow White,” “The Little Mermaid” and the recent animation hit, “Frozen.” Tickets, $15 adults and $10 children 12 younger. (847) 491-7282; wirtz.northwestern.edu.
Multimedia astronomy
“Life Out There” combines eye-grabbing, never-before-seen scientific visualizations of outer space with musical interpretations by the House Band of the Universe. Serving as guides are astrobiologist David H. Grinspoon and astrophysicist Ka Chun Yu, who call the event a “psychoastrobiofunkiliscious” immersive virtual experience. The band, which includes Grinspoon and members of the experimental music project, Perry Weissman 3, and Dressy Bessy, will perform original music ranging from jazz and funk to tunes tinged with the sounds of Africa and Jamaica. The 90-minute show will take place at 9 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday in the 70-foot domed Grainger Sky Theater at the Adler Planetarium, 1300 South Lake Shore. Tickets, $20. (312) 922-7827; adlerplanetarium.org.
Renaissance music
King Solomon’s Singers will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I in a highly unusual and fascinating way by traveling even further back in time. The four-year ensemble, which is composed of professional and semi-professional singers from across the Chicago area, will confront the momentous event through the lens of Renaissance choral music. They will explore themes such as separation, fear, loss and death, which have been around as long as humanity and wars have existed. Featured will be works by such composers as William Byrd, Josquin Desprez, Heinrich Isaac, Thomas Tallis and Tomás Luis de Victoria. The concert titled, “Recordare: A Renaissance Portrait of Remembrance and Loss,” will take place at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the University of Chicago’s Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, 5850 S. Woodlawn Ave. Suggested donation, $20. (773) 702-2100; rockefeller.uchicago.edu.
Tap and percussion
Rhythm World bills itself as the oldest and most comprehensive festival of American tap and contemporary percussive arts in the world. The 24th annual edition of the event concludes this week with a range of offerings, beginning today at 8 p.m. with Rhythm World faculty and students performing with musicians at the Jazz Showcase, 806 S. Plymouth Court. Tickets, $10-$25. (312) 542-2477; chicagotap.org. “JUBA! Masters of Tap and Percussive Dance” features a range of foot drummers and percussive arts masters performing at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday in the Edlis Neeson Theater at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, 220 E. Chicago. Tickets, $25-$35. (312) 397-4010; mcachicago.org.
Visual art
Glitch art is a wide-ranging term that refers to artists finding ways to capitalize on accidental glitches or the deliberate manipulation of digital code or electronic devices. Chicago happens to be a center for such work, and the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, 2320 W. Chicago, has organized an exhibition, “glitChicago,” to showcase the phenomenon. The show opens with a public reception from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday and runs through Sept. 28. On view will be works by 24 artists, including Melissa Barron, Curt Cloninger, Theodore Darst, Alfredo Salazar-Caro and Lisa Slodki. In addition, there will also be an on-line display of glitch art at 0p3nR3p0.net, to which anyone can contribute. Suggested donation, $5. (773) 227-5522; uima-chicago.org.
Children’s music
