Music Institute of Chicago Pianist Matthew Hagle Explores Musical Response to War on November 9, 2024, at Nichols Concert Hall
The Music Institute of Chicago will welcome faculty pianist Matthew Hagle for “Phantoms of Countless Lost,” a program exploring responses to war, on November 9, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. at Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Avenue in downtown Evanston.
Hagle’s program will explore how great composers have used the piano to explore human responses to the experience of war through a wide range of styles and genres. For example, Beethoven’s Sonata “Les Adieux” is an emotional journey of separation and reunion, based on events sparked by the Napoleonic Wars; Liszt’s “Funérailles” is a large-scale canvas filled with heroism, sorrow, and defiance, inspired by the European revolutions of 1848–49; Ravel’s “Le Tombeau de Couperin,” written between 1914 and 1917, is an elegy of a different type, evoking a lost world and culture from the years before World War I; and Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 6, one of three “war” sonatas by the composer, mixes dissonance and brutality with lyricism, imagination, and pianistic daring.
Hagle notes that, “This type of concert provides a ‘meditative space’ for processing the sounds and emotions that go with this topic—a topic that, sadly, is always relevant. While recent events have provided us with immediate and intense images of conflict, these musical images from other times and places may yet provide another set of perspectives, manifested in these beautiful sounds.”
The Music Institute of Chicago leads people toward a lifelong engagement with music through unparalleled teaching, exceptional performances, and valuable service initiatives that educate, inspire, and build strong, healthy communities. Since its founding in 1931, the Music Institute’s commitment to innovation, access, and excellence has served as an important community resource and helps to ensure music is available to everyone. Each year, the Music Institute provides personalized music instruction to more than 1,500 students, regardless of age, level of experience, or financial means, across Community Music School locations in Chicago, Downers Grove, Evanston, Lake Bluff, Lake Forest, Wheaton, and Winnetka, as well as online.
General admission tickets for Nagle’s November 9, 2024, performance are $30 and available at nicholsconcerthall.org or by phone at 847.448.8326.
