Afterwork Masterworks

Explore epic masterpieces with the world’s best orchestra in four concerts perfectly designed to fit your schedule. These midweek programs feature glorious orchestral music, an early start time and no intermission. Concert length is approximately 75 minutes.

Extend your experience after each concert with complimentary wine and an engaging Q&A session with the guest artists in the Grainger Ballroom. There’s no better way to spend your weekday evenings than with the CSO!

Top four photos, clockwise from upper left: Vasily Petrenko, Semyon Bychkov, Paul Lewis, Jennifer Koh

Wednesday, November 12

DEBUSSY AND BOULEZ

Chicago Symphony Orchestra Pablo Heras-Casado conductor Alice Sara Ott piano Boulez Figures-Doubles-Prismes Bartók Piano Concerto No. 3 Debussy Ibéria Pablo Heras-Casado conducts a colorful program of 20th-century works, including Debussy’s sinuous Ibéria. Honoring the upcoming 90th birthday of CSO Helen Regenstein Conductor Emeritus Pierre Boulez, the CSO plays the musical maverick’s first work for full orchestra alone, FiguresDoubles-Prismes, while Alice Sara Ott joins the CSO for Bartók’s explosive Third Piano Concerto.

Wednesday, January 7

LEWIS PLAYS BEETHOVEN EMPEROR

Chicago Symphony Orchestra Vasily Petrenko conductor Paul Lewis piano Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor) Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances “One of the finest Beethoven interpreters of his generation” (The New York Times), Paul Lewis returns to the CSO for Beethoven’s most beloved and charming piano concerto. Vasily Petrenko has equally been acclaimed for his performances of 20th-century Russian repertoire, and this performance of Rachmaninov’s wryly apocalyptic Symphonic Dances is sure to be a roof-raiser.

Thursday, April 23

Bruckner 8

Chicago Symphony Orchestra Semyon Bychkov conductor Bruckner Symphony No. 8 Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony is imbued with mystical passions and aesthetic glories. It rises from a doom-laden opening to a third movement containing the noblest, most ecstatic music the composer ever created. Semyon Bychkov, one of today’s most esteemed conductors, guides us through Bruckner’s final and most profound symphony.

Tuesday, June 2

CLYNE and BEETHOVEN 3

Chicago Symphony Orchestra Ludovic Morlot conductor Jennifer Koh violin Clyne Violin Concerto [World premiere, CSO commission] Beethoven Symphony No. 3 (Eroica) Chicago native Jennifer Koh, acclaimed for her “penetrating sound, myriad colorings and commanding technique” (The New York Times), returns to the CSO for the world premiere of a violin concerto by Mead Composer-inResidence Anna Clyne. Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony moves from its famous funeral march to a brilliant scherzo and extraordinarily inventive set of variations.