Maestro Kirk Muspratt and New Philharmonic, the professional orchestra in residence at the McAninch Arts Center (MAC), are pleased to announce their 2020-2021 season. In addition to its reputation for extraordinary performances, New Philharmonic is also known for making classical music accessible through innovative programs, and in fact was recently honored with the Illinois Council of Orchestras’ 2020 ICO Award in the category Programming of the Year.
“Our audiences have continued to grow with each season, and we know now, more than ever, they are waiting with great anticipation for our new season to begin,” said Muspratt. New Philharmonic opens its 2020-2021 season Oct. 24-25 with an exhilarating program of works from Academy Award-winning American icon John Williams, one of the greatest film composers of our time.
For the holidays, audiences will have the opportunity to enjoy a classical staging of holiday favorite “The Nutcracker” performed by Salt Creek Ballet, with Tchaikovsky’s beloved score played live by New Philharmonic Dec. 12-13. Alysa Jordheim (soprano) and Jesse Donner (tenor) join Maestro Muspratt and New Philharmonic to ring in 2021 with three celebratory New Year’s Eve Concert performances Dec. 31.
New Philharmonic opens 2021 with “An Intimate Night of Opera and Broadway” featuring four guest vocalists to be announced in a program of some of the best loved and most popular opera and Broadway musical works ever composed Jan. 23-24. “Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos” follows March 13-14, featuring Russian-born guest pianist Yana Reznik performing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concertos No. 1 and No. 2, and Egyptian-born guest pianist Wael Farouk, performing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.3. Next, “West Side Story in Concert” features guest vocalists and the 90-voice Northwest Indiana Symphony Chorus performing Leonard Bernstein unforgettable score and Stephen Sondheim’s lyrics April 17-18; and, in anticipation of the summer 2021 “Frida Kahlo: Timeless” exhibition, “A Salute to Frida,” featuring soloists Michelle Areyzaga (soprano), Jesse Donner (tenor) and Ben Bogart (bandoneon) and the Northwest Indiana Symphony Chorus rounds out New Philharmonic’s season May 15-16.
As part of New Philharmonic’s ongoing effort to bring attention to the talents of local youth, young musicians secured in this spring’s video audition competition will be showcased in Youth Performance Spotlight segments in select concerts. Details and additional information is available at AtTheMAC.org.
Tickets are currently on sale by subscription only. For a limited time (through May 23), subscribers receive a 25% discount off individual show ticket prices for New Philharmonic’s six-concert season, plus the first chance to purchase tickets to “The Nutcracker.” Those subscribing after May 24 receive a 20% discount. Please note: The MAC box office is currently working remotely in light of COVID-19 distancing directives. Anyone wishing to subscribe, should email nporders@cod.edu or call 630.942.3008 to leave a message for the MAC box office staff who will call them back to take their order. They may also visit www.AtTheMAC.org to download an order form and mail it back to The McAninch Arts Center, P.O. Box 630, Glen Ellyn, IL, 60138 or fax it to 630.942.3905. Tickets for individual concerts go on sale Aug. 1. For more information about the season, including extra seating and audience service protocols for the 2020-2021 season updates visit AtTheMAC.org.
* Events, dates, artists and prices subject to change.
About New Philharmonic
New Philharmonic, the only professional orchestra based in DuPage County, Ill., has inspired classical music enthusiasts in Chicago and the suburbs for more than 40 years. It continues to thrive with the goal to give innovative treatment to both classic compositions and modern works while striving to make the music accessible to new audiences and youth through a variety of educational efforts. Today, under the direction of Kirk Muspratt, named 2018 Conductor of the Year (Professional Orchestra) by Illinois Council of Orchestras, New Philharmonic consists of more than 60 professional musicians and performs more than a dozen concerts a year, reaching more than 7,500 from the greater Chicago area annually. New Philharmonic was recently honored with the Illinois Council of Orchestras’ 2020 ICO Award in the category Programming of the Year.
About the MAC
McAninch Arts Center (MAC) at College of DuPage is located 25 miles west of Chicago near I-88 and I-355, and houses three indoor performance spaces (the 780-seat proscenium Belushi Performance Hall; the 236-seat soft-thrust Playhouse Theatre; and the versatile black box Studio Theatre), an outdoor venue, the Lakeside Pavilion, plus the Cleve Carney Museum of Art and classrooms for the college’s academic programming. The MAC has presented theater, music, dance and visual art to more than 2 million people since its opening in 1986 and typically welcomes more than 100,000 patrons from the greater Chicago area to more than 230 performances each season.
The mission of the MAC is to foster enlightened educational and performance opportunities, which encourage artistic expression, establish a lasting relationship between people and art, and enrich the cultural vitality of the community. For more information about the MAC, visit AtTheMAC.org, facebook.com/AtTheMAC or twitter.com/AtTheMAC.
Special MAC 2020-2021 Season Protocols
The MAC staff is working hard in multiple capacities to ensure the MAC is a safe place for the community. Special procedures include offering the option of an empty seat between parties, and providing all subscribers with a cloth mask; rigorous cleaning and sanitizing of the theaters, lobby and restrooms before and after each show; providing hand sanitizer stations positioned throughout the facility; scanning patron tickets so no touching is required to tear tickets; emailing digital versions of the handbills to audience members in advance; allowing patrons to pre-order concessions and installation of safety screens at the box office and concessions and marked spots in lobby to encourage social distancing. For more information visit www.AtTheMAC.org.
Support for New Philharmonic is provided in part by ST|G|P Sullivan Taylor, Gumina & Palmer, P.C., the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; WFMT 98.7 FM, WDCB 90.9 FM and the College of DuPage Foundation.
Established as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization in 1967, the College of DuPage Foundation raises monetary and in-kind gifts to increase access to education and to enhance cultural opportunities for the surrounding community. For more information about the College of DuPage Foundation, visit foundation.cod.edu or call 630.942.2462.
Programs at the MAC are partially supported through a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.
New Philharmonic’s 2020-2021 Season
The following performances all take place in the MAC’s Belushi Performance Hall. Tickets are currently on sale by subscription only. For a limited time (through May 23), subscribers receive a 25% discount off individual show ticket prices for New Philharmonic’s six-concert season, plus the first chance to purchase tickets to “The Nutcracker.” Those subscribing after May 24 receive a 20% discount. Please note: The MAC box office is currently working remotely in light of COVID-19 distancing directives. Anyone wishing to subscribe, should email nporders@cod.edu or call 630.942.3008 to leave a message for the MAC box office staff who will call them back to take their order. They may also visit www.AtTheMAC.org to download an order form and mail it back to The McAninch Arts Center, P.O. Box 630, Glen Ellyn, IL, 60138 or fax it to 630.942.3905. Tickets for individual concerts go on sale Aug. 1. For more information about the season, including extra seating and audience service protocols for the 2020-2021 season updates visit AtTheMAC.org.
New Philharmonic: John Williams
7:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 24 and 3 p.m., Sunday, Oct 25
$53
With a cinematic career spanning more than six decades and honors including 24 Grammy Awards, five Academy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards, John Williams is regarded as one of the greatest American composers of his time. This thrilling concert will include selections of his music from popular films ranging from “ET: The Extra-Terrestrial;” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind;” “Jaws;” plus the Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, Superman and Star Wars series.
Salt Creek Ballet’s “The Nutcracker”
with New Philharmonic, Kirk Muspratt Conductor
2 & 7 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 12 and 1 & 5 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 13
Tickets $45 Adult | $35 Youth
Salt Creek Ballet, under the artistic direction of Sergey Kozadayev, returns to the MAC with their magical full-scale production of the gorgeous holiday classic featuring accompaniment from New Philharmonic – a rare opportunity to see this magnificent ballet set to live music.
New Philharmonic: New Year’s Eve Concerts
2, 5:30 and 8:30 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 31
Featuring Alysa Jordheim (soprano) and Jesse Donner (tenor)
Tickets: $69; Gold Circle Table seating $79 (includes table seating and a glass of champagne)
Soloists Jordheim and Donner, who won hearts in New Philharmonics production of “The Merry Widow” this past January, join Muspratt and New Philharmonic to say a hearty goodbye to the old year and look to the new in a program featuring Strauss waltzes and polkas, arias, light classical works, pop tunes, movie music and secret surprises. These performances are sponsored by ST|G|P Sullivan Taylor, Gumina & Palmer, P.C.
New Philharmonic: “An Intimate Night of Opera and Broadway”
7:30 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 23 and 3 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 24
$59
Maestro Kirk Muspratt and New Philharmonic, joined by four soloists to perform a program of grand opera overtures, intermezzo cavalleria rusticana and arias from the masters, plus light opera and Broadway stage melodies from “Wicked,” “Sunset Boulevard,” “Jekyll & Hyde” and “The Man of La Mancha.”
New Philharmonic: Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos
7:30 p.m., Saturday, March 13 and 3 p.m., Sunday, March 14
Featuring Guest Pianists Yana Reznik (No. 1 and No. 2) and Wael Farouk (No. 3)
$53
Russian-born Reznik, host of Piano Forte’s “Playful Talk” YouTube program, makes her New Philharmonic debut performing Rachmaninoff’s Concerto 1 in F-sharp minor and Concerto 2 in C minor. Concerto 2 is one of Rachmaninoff’s most enduring works while Concerto 1 was actually Rachmaninoff's second attempt at a piano concerto and is very different from his later works. Egyptian-born Farouk, last seen at the MAC in “Beethoven: Five Piano Concertos | One Pianist” (2018) will be performing Rachmaninoff’s Concerto 3 in D-minor which builds to what has been described as the Everest of piano concertos.
New Philharmonic: “West Side Story” in Concert
Featuring Music by Leonard Bernstein and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
7:30 p.m., Saturday, April 17 and 3 p.m., April 18
$59
Guest soloists and the Northwest Indiana Symphony Chorus join New Philharmonic for a spectacular concert experience of the unforgettable songs including “Maria,” “Tonight,” “America,” “Cool,” “One Hand, One Heart,” “I Feel Pretty" and “Somewhere” in a concert performance of the two-time Tony Award-winning musical.
New Philharmonic: “Salute to Frida”
7:30 p.m., Saturday, May 15 and 3 p.m., Sunday, May 16
Featuring soloists Michelle Areyzaga (soprano), Jesse Donner (tenor) and Ben Bogart (bandoneon) and the Northwest Indiana Symphony Chorus
$51
In anticipation of the summer 2021’s “Frida Kahlo: Timeless” exhibition, New Philharmonic presents a concert celebrating the Hispanic heritage of Frida Kahlo. Guest soloists Michelle Areyzaga (soprano), Jesse Donner (tenor) and Ben Bogart (bandoneon) and the 90-voice Northwest Indiana Symphony Chorus join New Philharmonic in a program of works including “Granada” by Agustín Lara, Arturo Márquez’s “Danzon,” “Noche de Encantamiento” by Silvestre Revueltas Sánchez, plus Argentine-born Luis Bacalov’s “Misa Tango.”
* Events, dates, artists and prices subject to change.