“The Chicago Sinfonietta hosted a stellar Martin Luther King Jr. tribute concert at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra On Monday, Jan. 18 Music director Mei-Ann Chen was brilliant as she conducted the Sinfonietta with her signature charismatic style.”
Read more about our 2016 Martin Luther King Tribute Concert in Rollingout’s full review!
“Mei-Ann Chen never misses an opportunity to try something new. During one Chicago Sinfonietta performance, for example, a Chicago-based punk marching band, Mucca Pazza, emerged from below stage wearing mismatched uniforms for Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. As a toy cannon shot confetti, younger listeners tried to grab handfuls. According to Chen, imaginative touches like these draw otherwise reluctant people to try classical music.
“Since 2011 Chen has led the Sinfonietta, an ensemble that prides itself on inclusiveness and innovation in classical music. Under Chen’s guidance, last year the orchestra’s “Project Inclusion Conducting Fellowship” saw its first graduates secure assistant-conducting posts at the Minnesota Orchestra and San Diego Symphony.”
Read more about Chen’s innovations during her tenure as the music director of the Chicago Sinfonietta and the Memphis Symphony in MusicalAmerica’s article!
“Daring. Defiant. Different. That’s how the Chicago Sinfonietta markets itself.
It’s no empty assertion.
“For 27 seasons the mid-sized orchestra has made it its niche mission to promote ethnic diversity among its players, staff, board and audience. It prides itself on the sometimes outrageous eclecticism of its programs. It has been a role model for groups seeking to remove the intimidation factor from classical concerts and get down with the entire community.”
Read more about the Chicago Sinfonietta’s commitment to diversity in the Chicago Tribune’s full feature article!
“The singular community spirit of Chicago Sinfonietta was on proud display March 23 at Orchestra Hall in a stylish, disciplined and roundly entertaining performance of Orff’s “Carmina Burana” conducted by the organization’s music director, Mei-Ann Chen.
“Featured with Chen’s chamber-size ensemble were two Chicago choruses, both prepared to a fare-thee-well: the choir of Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts and the Anima Young Singers of Greater Chicago.”
Hear more about the Sinfonietta’s performance of Carmina Burana in Chicago on the Aisle’s full review of the concert!
“The Libretto for Carmina Burana in Latin and English was contained in the program and illuminated the music. All of the performances were outstanding and included the Roosevelt University CCPA Conservatory Choir, Anima Young Singer of Greater Chicago, Kimberly Jones, Soprano, Jonathan Weyant, Tenor (expressing the agony of a dying swan) and Joseph Lattanzi, Baritone. The music was so powerful it was hard to sit in one place and as the piece concluded the audience almost flew out of their seats to applaud long and loud. It was a fantastic evening.”
Read more about our concert “Primal Instincts” in Splash Magazines’ review!
“I see Dr. King’s dream personified in the mission and vision of the Chicago Sinfonietta, the country’s most diverse symphonic orchestra, which hosted their annual MLK Concert on yesterday. It was more than serendipity that Maestro Paul Freeman, the Sinfonietta’s founder, met Dr. King in an airport and the idea to form the organization was born. Maestro Freeman’s work has been hailed both nationally and internationally since the organization’s founding in 1987.
“…I wonder if Dr. King could even, in his wildest imaginings, see how his legacy grows and continues to yield amazing fruit.”
Read more about our annual tribute concert to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Chicago Now’s review!
“If this great man would be alive today, he would look at the performances of those young talented people of color with great satisfaction and pride.”
“This triumph of equity and freedom demonstrated by young and talented people of different races and nationalities was presented by one of the most incredible symphony orchestras in the Mid-West.”
Hear more about this year’s Martin Luther King Tribute Concert in the Chicago Tribune’s full review!
“When Chicago Sinfonietta coined it’s new logo – ‘Daring, Defiant, Different’—they mistakenly left out ‘Delightful’. That was abundantly clear by the end of their joint concert with seeming kindred spirit Mucca Pazza, the punk marching band that has bottled joy in its shtick-on-steroids marching band persona.
“…With cheerleaders carrying pom-poms made from crime scene caution tape, band members wearing ill-fitting marching band suits in varied colors, and every gesture shouting “don’t take this seriously please”—Mucca Pazza brought everyone in the audience to ear-to-ear smiles. Just in case you didn’t think that this was possibly the most delightful time you had ever spent in Symphony Center, cannons shot out confetti during the 1812 Overture.”
Hear more about our performance with Mucca Pazza in Splash Magazines’ review!
“That performance was just one way that Chicago Sinfonietta and its hard-working volunteers for its annual ball certainly met their mission of “Rethink, Redefine and Imagine”. Along the way they helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Chicago Sinfonietta Orchestra—with style and panache as exquisite as some of the fashion statements on display at this black tie event.
“…Arguably, Chicago’s Sinfonietta is the hippest orchestra in town. Without a doubt, it is the most diverse and inclusive classical music orchestra in the nation, and one that never fails to titillate your senses as they stretch the boundaries of what classical music can be. If any orchestra is helping to generate new audiences for generations to come, it surely is Chicago Sinfonietta.”
Read more about our 2014 ball in Splash Magazines’ review!
“This time, as many times before, the Chicago Sinfonietta demonstrated its high professionalism and devotion to the musical art and as always impressed the audience by its excellent performance.”
Read more about our season-ending concert “Identities” in Patch’s review!
