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New Philharmonic, the professional orchestra in residence at the McAninch Arts Center in Glen Ellyn, opens 2021 with “A Night of Broadway and Opera,” premiering at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 23. The concert, conducted by Maestro Kirk Muspratt and pre-recorded outdoors this past October at the MAC’s Lakeside Pavilion, will feature four acclaimed guest artists performing works from some of the best-loved Broadway musicals and operas.
“A Night of Broadway and Opera” will continue to be available on demand through Feb. 28, as one of several offerings.
“The program begins with some of the most popular and loved opera tunes of the late 19th century,” Muspratt stated in a news release. “We then work our way into the early 20th century with operetta, the genre that eventually became our American musicals, and end up on ‘The Great White Way’ of Broadway with fantastic music of Richard Rogers, Marvin Hamlisch and Andrew Lloyd Webber.”
Joining New Philharmonic for “A Night of Broadway and Opera” are guest artists Alisa Jordheim (soprano), Kate Tombaugh (mezzo-soprano), Jesse Donner (tenor) and Bill McMurray (bass/baritone). The first half of the program will feature selections from Bizet’s “Carmen,” Puccini’s “Gianni Schicchi” and “La Boheme,” Saint-Saëns’ “Samson and Delila,” Lehar’s “Merry Widow” and Herbert’s “Mlle. Modiste.”
The second half will include works from Berlin’s “This Is the Army,” Rogers and Hart’s “Allegro,” Herman’s “Hello Dolly,” “I Have a Dream” from Schönberg’s “Les Misérables,” Webber’s “Phantom of the Opera” and “Sunset Boulevard,” and Hamlisch’s “The Way We Were” and “A Chorus Line.” This concert is presented with the support of an anonymous Soloist Sponsor.
New Philharmonic season concerts for spring 2021 include “Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos,” featuring Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concertos No. 1, No. 2 and 3, performed by guest pianist Wael Farouk; and “A Salute to Frida,” a concert celebrating the Hispanic heritage of Frida Kahlo. Both spring concerts will be pre-recorded for streaming beginning at 7:30 p.m. Saturdays, April 17 and May 15, respectively. Both then will be available to view on demand from their premiere date through June 15.
Due to popular demand, New Philharmonic is making its season opener, “The Music of John Williams,” available on demand now through Feb. 28. With a cinematic career spanning more than six decades and honors including 24 Grammy Awards, five Academy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards, Williams is regarded as one of the greatest American composers of his time. This pre-recorded concert, originally streamed Oct. 23, includes selections of his music from popular films “ET: The Extra-Terrestrial,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “Jaws,” as well as music from the “Harry Potter,” “Superman” and “Star Wars” series. The concert is sponsored by the JCS Fund of the DuPage Foundation.
Tickets
Events, dates, artists, prices and venues are subject to change.
On sale now are tickets for “A Night of Broadway and Opera,” premiering at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 23 (on demand through Feb. 28); “Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos,” premiering at 7:30 p.m. April 17 (then on demand through June 15); and “A Salute to Frida,” premiering at 7:30 p.m. May 15 (then on demand through June 15). Tickets for individual concerts cost $40 per concert per household. The three concerts also may be purchased as a special three-concert package for $99.
For tickets or to purchase the three-concert package, visit AtTheMAC.org, email themac@cod.edu or call 630-942-4000.
“The Music of John Williams,” on demand now through Feb. 28, costs $40 per household.
About New Philharmonic
New Philharmonic, the only professional orchestra based in DuPage County, 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. New Philharmonic recently was honored with the Illinois Council of Orchestras’ 2020 ICO Award in the category Programming of the Year.
About the MAC
McAninch Arts Center at College of DuPage is at 425 Fawell Blvd. It 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.