Dusk Variations: A Chamber Series

Dusk Variations returns to Millennium Park for its second season with four free concerts on Monday nights in August.  Dusk Variations mixes electronica, folk, rock and the avant-garde with classical sounds challenging listeners’ perceptions and exploring ways that popular and alternative music influences classical musicians and composers.  Dusk Variations is presented by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Millennium Park, with support from WBEZ Radio and vocalo.org.

Portland Cello Project     Monday, August 2, 6:30 pm

Formed in late 2007, this indie-cello orchestra has had a meteoric rise in Portland’s vibrant music scene. “Portland Cello Project is a rotating cast of classically trained cellists known for mixing Salt ‘n’ Pepa with Bach and providing the lush backdrop for some of indie rock’s most compelling voices,” said Spin Magazine. The group has a strong community focused approach and aims to increase accessibility to international audiences. Whether playing a symphony hall or a local punk club, the Portland Cello Project continues to cross the popular-classical divide by collaborating with a veritable who’s who of local musicians across different genres. In Millennium Park, we’ll see six cellos on the stage of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, under the musical stewardship of Douglas Jenkins.

http://portlandcelloproject.com

Victoire   Monday, August 9, 6:30 pm

This chamber-rock quintet, founded by composer/pianist Missy Mazzoli in 2008, presents a stirring blend of winds, strings, keyboards and lo-fi electronics. Missy Mazzoli is noted as one of “the most consistently inventive and surprising composers now working in New York” (New York Times).  Victoire was recently dubbed “an all-star, all-female quintet” by Time Out New York and was described by Pitchfork as “… so good… a pleasingly accessible entree into the world of modern pseudo-classical music.”  The group is exclusively dedicated to performing Mazzoli’s work and offers a mix of dreamy post-rock with quirky minimalism and rich romantic sounds. Since forming in 2008, the group has shared the stage with artists such as Tortoise, Bing and Ruth, Twi the Humble Feather, and Redhooker.  Victoire will release their first full-length album in late September 2010 on New Amsterdam Records.

http://www.missymazzoli.com

http://www.myspace.com/victoiremusic

Lost In The Trees   Monday, August 16, 6:30 pm

This inventive music collective from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, helmed by composer and songwriter Ari Picker, has grown from a solo effort to a full symphonic band. Picker’s group merges the dramatic symphonic elements of classical music with the accessibility of American folk and modern pop, creating a sound that is simultaneously intimate and sonically ambitious. Lost In The Trees was recently featured at this year’s SXSW music festival and will re-release the album All Alone In An Empty House on August 10, 2010 through Anti-Records.

http://www.lostinthetrees.com

Clare and the Reasons   Monday, August 23, 6:30 pm

Brooklyn-based/chamber group Clare and the Reasons is fronted by collaborators Clare Manchon and Olivier Manchon; this band creates swirling orchestral pop and is complete with a string section. The group presents elegant arrangements infused with beautiful harmonies, full of catchy melodies and childlike vocals. “Clare and the Reasons play sweetly intricate chamber-pop that somehow mingles folk-pop, Philip Glass, cabaret oompay and the Beach Boys — for starters — behind the songwriter Clare Muldaur Manchon’s poised high voice, with an endearing quaver,” said The New York Times.  Clare and the Reasons will return from their appearance in Japan just in time to hit the stage at Millennium Park on August 23.

http://www.claremuldaur.com

http://www.myspace.com/clareandthereasons