Bella Voce Presents ‘Lost Objects’ to Open the Ear Taxi Festival on October 3, 2025
Evanston’s Bella Voce will open the Ear Taxi Festival on October 3, 2025, with Lost Objects at University of Chicago’s Logan Center for the Arts in Hyde Park. Presented by New Music Chicago, the Ear Taxi Festival spotlights contemporary works performed by premier artists and ensembles based in Illinois.
Lost Objects is a Baroque-influenced contemporary oratorio by the composers who founded the groundbreaking ensemble Bang on a Can: Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe. The libretto, written by Deborah Artman, is a reflection on the ever-changing nature of individual and collective memory, exploring enduring themes of impermanence and loss.
The 2001 oratorio calls for an entirely amplified ensemble, including three vocal soloists, chamber chorus, DJ, Baroque orchestra, electric guitar, electric bass, percussion, and synthesizer. “Bella Voce is an ensemble that specializes in historically informed performance practice as well as new music, particularly by living composers,” says Artistic Director Andrew Lewis. “The work is scored to include a period-instrument orchestra, giving Bella Voce the rare opportunity to perform a recent work specifically written for Baroque specialists.”
The Bella Voce Chorus and Sinfonia will be joined by soprano soloist Hannah De Priest (Haymarket Opera Company, Boston Early Music Festival, Atlanta Baroque Orchestra), and countertenor soloists Luke Lemmeier (Bach in the City) and Ryan Belongie (Lyric Opera of Chicago, Haymarket Opera Company, Chicago Opera Theater).
Bang on a Can was founded in 1987 by Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe. The three composers, who oversee the organization as co-artistic directors, champion an accessible approach to contemporary classical music through commissions and avant-garde performances at their annual summer festival at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.
Visit bellavoce.org/lost-objects for additional information about Lost Objects at the Ear Taxi Festival.
