Get Cultured: Fifth House Features Local Composers

By Alexander Hough in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 16, 2009 9:50PM

Taking nothing away from established powerhouses such as the CSO and the Lyric Opera, some of the city's best classical music performances take place off the beaten path. This Saturday, one of those places will be Wicker Park's Heaven Gallery, as Fifth House Ensemble performs a concert of American music, including works by a trio of young Chicagoans.

Music by older composers takes up most of the first half. Fifth House will play Katherine Hoover's "Kokopeli" for solo flute, as well as pieces by legends George Crumb (Sonata for Solo Cello) and Aaron Copland (Threnodies I and II for flute/alto flute and string trio). It's a rare chance to hear Copland's infrequently performed music from the end of his life, when he moved away from jazz and American folk influences towards his version of Schoenberg's twelve tone atonality; "Hoe-Down" from "Rodeo," this is not.

Three Chicago-based composers will also be featured. The only entirely acoustic work is String Quartet No. 2 by Seth Boggess, who, in addition to writing music for the concert hall, also composes for the stage and screen. The final two pieces on the program are Taylor Briggs's "To America: A Patriotic Song for Trumpet and Electronic Playback" and Simon Fink's "Electric Pastoral for String Quartet and Electronics."

Heaven Gallery, 1550 N. Milwaukee, (773) 342-4597‎, Saturday, April 18, 7:00 p.m., $15