Katinka Kleijn is one of those forces of nature people marvel about. First and foremost, she is a world-class musician, a cellist to be exact. She has a been a member of our fabulous Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1995. But she does so much more. She is a member of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), one of the world’s leading formations specializing in contemporary classical music, the guitar-cello duo Relax Your Ears, and the progressive rock metal band District 97. Check out their new video:
Yes, that’s Katinka playing the electric cello!
To me, Katinka embodies what’s great about Chicago’s cultural scene: its excellence, openness, and can-do attitude. So I got together with her to see if she would like to get involved.
She did! And the result will be a world premiere – a piece of contemporary classical music co-commissioned by Katinka and the CHF to be unveiled during the festival in November!
The piece will be a suite for solo cello, to be titled “Oil-Free Blush.” In conversation with our festival theme of The Body, it is inspired by recent findings of the carcinogenic properties of cosmetics. It will be comprised of eight movements, each written by a different composer and titled after a chemical compound found in makeup. And people say contemporary classical music is removed from real life...
Katinka Kleijn
So we will have a world premiere. And to make it even better – several of the composers taking part in the project will share the stage with Katinka to talk about how they created their part of the score. So we will not only hear some avant-garde music but peer right behind the curtain of its very creation.
Who would have thought that a lunch with Katinka would lead to such exciting things...
Performance
#712: Sun, Nov. 14 2:30 - 3:30 PM
Tags: music, contemporary, cello, The Body, cosmetics, Katinka Kleijn
