Turokovic, Haque, Writers’ Theater – and Chicago Chamber Musicians!

I’m kicking off this blog fresh off an amazing Chicago Chamber Musicians concert I attended Monday night that included a fresh approach to collaboration — the kind of collaboration that can help attract new audiences. The concert included guest appearances by Milan Turkovic, the international bassoon virtuoso, performing Mozart’s Serenade No. 10 in B-Flat Major with the CCM ensemble, and Fareed Haque, the international jazz and classical guitarist, performing Kurtag’s The Little Predicament with CSO members Jennifer Gunn and Michael Mulcahy. If that wasn’t interesting enough, the concert was preceded by “Serenade with Salieri,” But what’s more unusual was the pre-concert presentation of “Serenade with Salieri,” a theater piece using selections from Sir Peter Shaffer’s play Amadeus and featuring William J. Norris of Chicago’s Writers’ Theatre. Turkovic created the piece as part of the 2006 celebrations in Austria commemorating Mozart’s 250th birthday, calling upon composer Antonio Salieri to explore Mozart’s Gran Partita with CCM artists. These kinds of collaborations are not only exciting for audiences to experience, but also can help a classical music organization reach out to theater (or dance) audiences, and vice versa. The challenge for arts organizations is to find compatible organizations with which to partner–and managing the logistical details that accompany this kind of cross-fertilization. Here’s to hoping these collaborations expand audiences on all sides.