3 CSO chamber music concerts announced for UChicago Presents 25/26

UChicago Presents, the University of Chicago’s performing arts series, has announced its 2025/26 season consisting of 26 performances that spotlight dynamic collaborations, pay homage to musical trailblazers, and bridge classical and contemporary styles. Three of those performances will showcase Chicago Symphony Orchestra musicians in concerts that are part of the annual CSO chamber music series.

The CSO concerts are Oct. 12, Feb. 6 and April 19 at Mandel Hall, 1131 E. 57th St., and the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E. 60th St.

Oct. 12, Mandel Hall: This performance consists of Mozart’s stormy Serenade for Winds in C Minor and Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet Suite, (arr. Tarkmann), which captures the most iconic moments of the timeless tragedy, all revitalized by a CSO wind ensemble.

The personnel will be William Welter, oboe; Scott Hostetler, English horn; John Bruce Yeh and Teresa Reilly, clarinets; Keith Buncke and William Buchman, bassoons, and David Griffin and Oto Carrillo, horns.

Feb. 6, Mandel Hall: CSO musicians perform a program inspired by the issue of climate change. Christopher Stark’s Seasonal Music, an evocative work that draws on themes from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, is paired with two pieces by Finnish composers: Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Homunculus and Sibelius’ rarely performed Piano Quintet in G Minor.

The personnel will be Yuan-Qing Yu and Simon Michal, violins; Weijing Michal, viola; Kenneth Olsen, cello, and Winston Choi, piano.

April 19, Logan Center: CSO musicians explore the art of remix in a program that showcases works by women composers, such as Annie Gosfield’s Daughters of the Industrial Revolution, a fusion of factory sounds and live instruments, and Louise Farrenc’s romantic Piano Trio No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 45. Also on the program are: Chen Yi’s Qi for flute, cello, percussion and piano; Tilmann Dehnhard’s WAKE UP! for piccolo and alarm clock, and Molly Joyce’s Light and Dark.

The players will be Cynthia Yeh, percussion; Jennifer Gunn, flute and piccolo; Kenneth Olsen, cello, and Christopher Guzman, keyboards.

Curated subscriptions start at $81 and are available across several genres, including the Classic Concert, Early Music, Jazz at the Logan, and CSO Chamber Music offerings, along with the Flex Pass, in which patrons can customize their own subscription of four or more concerts. Subscriptions offer savings of more than 25 percent off single ticket prices, free ticket exchanges, discounted guest tickets, early access to tickets before public on sale, and discounts at local businesses.

Individual tickets to all performances will become available to the public on Aug. 1. Tickets may be purchased online at chicagopresents.uchicago.edu or by phone at (773) 702-2787 or in person at the UChicago Arts Box Office, in the lobby of Court Theatre at 5535 S. Ellis Ave. All ticket sales to the three CSO concerts are handled by the UChicago Arts box office.