Join us in Chicago for an extraordinary series of concerts celebrating the works of Felix Mendelssohn and other maestros. From the powerful oratorio 'Elijah' at the Symphony Center to the North American debut of violin prodigy Guido Sant’Anna, and the emotive 'Love Letters' concert by the Chicago Sinfonietta, there's something for every classical music aficionado. Don't miss the Leonkoro Quartet's performance in the UChicago Presents series, promising an evening of profound musical exploration.

Celebrating Mendelssohn in Chicago: A Year of Musical Masterpieces

From the vibrant city of Chicago to the charming town of Naperville, immerse yourself in a series of captivating musical events featuring the timeless works of Johannes Brahms. Marvel at Brazilian violinist Guido Sant’Anna’s North American debut with the Brahms Violin Concerto, be swept away by Lahav Shani's and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's performance of Brahms' First Symphony, and revel in the masterful renditions of Brahms' compositions by exceptional artists like Alexandre Kantorow, Leonidas Kavakos, Daniil Trifonov, and more.

Experience Brahms in Chicago and Naperville: A Symphony of Talent

Come join us for an evening of all of your favorite Motown hits!

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A Night of Motown

Fine Arts Building Chicago

Devised for the stage by co-directors Nicolai Khalezin and Natalia Kaliada (founders of Belarus Free Theatre), “KS6: Small Forward” is based on conversations with Katsiaryna Snytsina who competed for Team Belarus at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

KS6: Small Forward

Love, loss, and creation merge in unexpected ways as the Studebaker Theater and Fine Arts Building co-present Manual Cinema’s thrilling version of the classic Gothic tale Frankenstein. The Chicago-based performance collective imaginatively combines shadow puppetry, cinematic techniques, sound effects, and live music in haunting shows like nothing else you’ve ever seen.

Frankenstein

This fall, WBEZ is proud to present a new film & concert series – A Century of Silent Cinema. This two-part series will include an intimate screening of The Hands of Orlac with Maxx McGathey of Gramps the Vamp and Aelita: Queen of Mars with Marc Ribot. Unveil the power of cinema & music with silent films that speak volumes with their vivid imagery that will keep you on your toes the entire time. Who better to add a layer of sonic suspense than the eclectic and avant-garde McGathey and Ribot?

Aelita: Queen Of Mars

Absent Moon will feature 6 dance works, including the premiere of Winifred Haun’s acclaimed “Absent Moon” and 5 other works from Company repertory.

Absent Moon

The Camerata Chicago Orchestra is thrilled to present Brazilian violinist Guido Sant’Anna in his North American debut performing the Brahms Violin Concerto. Guido gained international recognition in 2022 when at seventeen he became the first South American violinist to win the prestigious International Fritz Kreisler Competition in Vienna.

Guido Sant’anna

Show off your creativity at the Fine Arts Building’s Open Mic! Live from the Little Studio during select Second Fridays, join us for comedy, music, and more!

Open Mic

Leonora is based on a deeply moving, true story that took place in France in the 18th century that revolves around a young woman who disguises herself as a man and under the name of Fidelio to rescue her wrongfully imprisoned husband. One of four operas inspired by the 1798 libretto Léonore by Jean Nicolas Bouilly, which was originally set to music by Pierre Gaveaux, the politically infused plot subsequently inspired not only Paër, but also composers Simon Mayr and, of course, Ludwig van Beethoven, whose opera Fidelio is frequently performed. Chicago audiences will have the extremely rare opportunity to see Paër and Beethoven’s operas side by side, as Chicago Opera Theater’s three performances of LEONORA, have been scheduled to complement the fall run of Fidelio at Lyric Opera.

Leonora

Join us for our monthly Second Fridays open studios event! Explore all ten floors of creativity and history, and meet the participating tenants who make the Fine Arts Building a home for art in all forms.

Second Fridays

The Gentlemen of Motown invite you to enjoy the music of the Temptations and the Four Tops featuring all the hits: Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone, My Girl, Just My Imagination, Get Ready, I Can’t Get Next to You, Cloud Nine, Reach Out, Can’t Help Myself, Baby I Need Your Loving, Bernadette, Walk Away Renee, Something About You, & more!

The Gentlemen Of Motown

Frank Sinatra’s recording legacy stands as the greatest of all American singers. Jeff Lindberg and the Chicago Jazz Orchestra team up with vocalist Paul Marinaro and you to honor this legacy.

A Tribute To The Recording Legacy Of Frank Sinatra

Hamlet by New York Circus Project transforms Shakespeare’s tragedy into a cutting-edge acrobatic performance. With artists from Cirque du Soleil and Broadway, Hamlet breaks artistic boundaries to create a rendition that challenges audience’s expectations of both Shakespeare and circus. Don’t miss your chance to watch Hamlet flip through hoops while Ophelia dances in the air. On stage at the Fine Arts Building’s Studebaker Theater from August 15th-18th, this unique production is bound to impress. Book your tickets now!

Hamlet by New York Circus Project

For one night only, this unique concert will be filled with intimate and funny behind-the scenes stories peppered with Rudetsky’s encyclopedic knowledge of Broadway and mixed with incredible performances from White’s Broadway career.

Seth’s Broadway Concert Series!

Norbert Leo Butz performs the Broadway tunes he sang in Wicked, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, My Fair Lady, and others. He’ll show off his pop chops (his Rent audition song was an Elton John hit), his teenage singing competition song (“Tonight” from West Side Story) and his years-long obsession with the Broadway shows Pippin, The Wiz and Dreamgirls!

Join us at the annual Rhythm World Student Showcase on July 17 to see and hear tap dancers from around the world as they share original, choreographed works and inspiring turns at improvisation! Training and emerging artists from Chicago, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Switzerland, Spain and more infuse American tap dance with global rhythms in solos and ensemble works that are often festival favorites.

Juba! Masters Of Tap And Percussive Dance

Season of Concern and She Inspires Productions presents this one night only one-night-only benefit concert for Season of Concern. Featuring the outstanding talents of Chicago’s Leading Ladies, who have been seen, and celebrated, on professional stages throughout the Greater Chicagoland area and across the country. This performance will not only showcase your favorite Chicago Divas but will also welcome the younger generation of Divas to the stage. Whether you’re a fan of Broadway classics, pop hits, or soulful jazz, this concert has it all! Don’t miss this opportunity to support Season of Concern and to enjoy a night filled with pure entertainment.

Second City Divas

The Chicago Jazz Orchestra and the incomparable vocalist Dee Alexander pay tribute to the life, music, and legacy of the great Nina Simone on the 91st anniversary of her birth.

Nina At Ninety

Witness personal redemption through public humiliation in a refreshing show that is equal parts comedic, cathartic and voyeuristic. Presented by WBEZ at the Studebaker Theater on May 18, Mortified stars everyday people reading aloud their most embarrassing and private teenage diary entries, poems, love letters, lyrics and locker notes… in front of total strangers.

Mortified Live: Summer Vacation

Celebrate the birth of the Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus in the grand finale of our 40th Season with Party Like it’s 1983! Immerse yourself in the nostalgic magic of the ’80s as we pay homage to our founding year.

Party Like It’s 1983

Porchlight celebrates the 40th Anniversary of one of Stephen Sondheim’s most celebrated works with a new special event concert staging. Audiences will experience Sondheim and James Lapine’s Pulitzer-, Tony- and Oliver-winning musical masterpiece with the original Broadway orchestrations performed by musicians live on stage with an all-star cast at Chicago’s historic and beautifully restored Studebaker Theater.

Sunday in the Park with George

The annual MAATC Exhibition presents the artwork and practices of students graduating with a Master of Arts in Art Therapy and Counseling. The educational aim of this exhibition is to provide an opportunity for students to present their own individual lived practices and collaboratively examine the clinical, ethical, and aesthetic implications of presenting the profession of art therapy through an exhibition. Deeply reflective and inquisitive, the artists present a multitude of approaches, exemplifying the program’s philosophy of integrating the emergent artist-art-therapist identity. For more information about the program, visit saic.edu/arttherapy.

The MAATC Graduate Exhibition 2024

Join The Chicago Academy for the Arts Dance Department for their final performance of the 2023–2024 school year! This year’s concert will feature choreography by Morgan Clune (Hubbard Street Dance Chicago company member and Academy alum), Randy Duncan, Patrick Simoniello, and Senior Choreographer Ashley Davis (Dance ’24.)

Spring Dance Concert

Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts (CCPA) Symphony Orchestra presents a concert under the direction of CCPA Orchestra Director Stephen Squires. This performance also features CCPA Student Solo Competition Winner, James Lee, in Tomasi’s Concerto for Alto Saxophone. For more information about CCPA, visit roosevelt.edu/ccpa.

CCPA Symphony Orchestra

Origins Dance Championship is a national competition for Indian classical dance teams across universities in the US. We provide a stage to promote and celebrate Indian dance styles while maintaining the integrity of the ancient art forms.

Origins Championship 2024

Experience Chicago’s next generation of young creators on April 19th at Encore: An All-School Showcase. Join The Chicago Academy for the Arts for a presentation of top work from all six of our arts departments. Secure your tickets today!

Encore

An intriguing, thought-provoking and enchanting soulful musical about a father, John, who guides his wayward teenage son Marquis on a journey of his ancestral history to inspire his son to accept his Greatness.

Bronzeville The Musical

Join WBEZ and the hosts of popular podcast Sound Opinions on March 29 to celebrate 40 years of the greatest concert films of all time, Stop Making Sense. Put on your dancing shoes and meet us at the venue that first brought the film to Chicago audiences, the Studebaker Theater.

Stop Making Sense

A “literary icon” (according to Oprah Daily), Pulitzer Prize finalist, and one of the most acclaimed authors of our era is bringing the book tour of his newest novel, James, to the Studebaker Theater. Please join Exile in Bookville in the Studebaker Theater on Thursday, March 28th at 7pm to help celebrate Percival Everett’s new novel, James. Percival will be in conversation with Gabriel Bump, author of The New Naturals.

Percival Everett

Be the first to be a part of Chicago’s brand new late night talk show hosted by Jeremiah Paprocki! Late Nights in Chicago is taping their very first episode at the Studebaker Theater to a live audience to experience this new era of late night entertainment.

Late Nights in Chicago

Join CCPA Opera in a riveting journey through the dark side of human desire. Poppea, a seductive and ambitious courtesan, conspires with her lover, the Emperor Nero, to ascend to the throne, plotting against Nero’s wife, Ottavia, and other political and romantic rivals.

Monteverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea

The Yale Whiffenpoofs, the world’s oldest collegiate a cappella group, will be coming to Chicago in March! Join us for a concert at the Chicago Fine Arts Building featuring Chicago native Joshua Gonzalez (Yale ’24). Come experience an unforgettable night of music and humor!

The Yale Whiffenpoofs

Dog Man: The Musical is a hilarious production based on the worldwide bestselling series from Dav Pilkey, the creator of Captain Underpants and Cat Kid Comic Club.

Dog Man: The Musical

In its 100th annual year, the Chicago Bar Show contains wackiness and fun, music and more with a bunch of talented lawyers. Come enjoy the irreverent musical comedy revue in which Chicago-area lawyers (supported by a professional band, director, choreographer, sets, lights and projections) lampoon some of the most memorable events of the past year. Trust us lawyers (this one time) when we say this show cannot be missed! The Bar Show has been entertaining audiences since 1923 when a few Chicago Bar Association members decided to liven up an annual yuletide dinner. What started out as a single sketch has grown to a full-blown musical revue all performed and written by some very talented members of Chicago’s legal community.

“It’s AI Wonderful Life”

Everyone has heard of Rosa Parks, but she wasn’t the first to refuse to move. She Who Dared recenters the spotlight on the courageous women who helped desegregate the Montgomery bus system in the 1950s. These Civil Rights pioneers pay homage to the quiet struggle for justice that has often gone unknown – further amplifying the effects of the historic case of Browder V Gayle. While often riotous and sometimes hilarious, these women demonstrate how everyday people have the power to challenge the systems around them and affect tangible change – if only they dare. She Who Dared will feature sopranos Jasmine Habersham, Jacqueline Echols, Lindsey Reynolds, and mezzo sopranos Chrystal E. Williams, Jazmine Olwalia, Leah Dexter, and Cierra Byrd. Conductor Michael Ellis Ingram and director Timothy Douglas make their COT debuts at the helm of the world premiere production.

Fine Arts Building Chicago

Jan 31 - Dec 1, 2024

Dog Man: The Musical

Sep 13 - Dec 13, 2024

Second Fridays

3 - 8 Jun, 2025

She Who Dared

2 - 3 Nov, 2024

A Night of Motown

Nov 1, 2024

KS6: Small Forward

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Fine Arts Building Chicago