SPIRIT: the 249th Beethoven Birthday Bash
The International Beethoven Project is excited to announce the 10th annual Beethoven Birthday Bash celebration in honor of the composer’s 249th birthday. This multi-day event based in Chicago, and online throughout the world, will honor Beethoven the musician and the man through this season’s chosen theme: SPIRIT.
To celebrate Beethoven’s 249th birthday, this Beethoven Birthday Bash includes four exciting days of music, art, and merrymaking, and serves to kick-off the official world-wire Beethoven Year in celebration of the composers’s upcoming 250th birthday.
SCHEDULE & VENUES
The Logan-square based Hairpin Arts Center will serve as the festivities’ primary venue from Friday December 13th through Sunday December 15th.
Preston Bradley Hall at the downtown Chicago Cultural Center will serve as the closing concert venue on Beethoven’s actual birthday, Monday December 16th, from 4-7pm.
Educational outreach, Tuesday Dec. 10th, 2019
In addition to IBP is continuing its tradition of introducing the Beethoven Birthday Bash week with a free presentation at the Lincoln-Belmont branch of the Chicago Public Library on Tuesday, December 10th, from 6:30-7:30pm.
Find out more here.
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SPIRIT: The 249th Beethoven Birthday Bash
Chicago, December 13-16
The International Beethoven Project is proud to have been celebrating Beethoven’s birthday every December since his 240th birthday, when the first Beethoven Birthday Bash was launched on December 16th, 2010!
The International Beethoven Project is excited to announce the 10th annual Beethoven Birthday Bash celebration in honor of the composer’s 249th birthday. This multi-day event based in Chicago, and online throughout the world, will honor Beethoven the musician and the man through this season’s chosen theme: SPIRIT.
To celebrate Beethoven’s 249th birthday, this Beethoven Birthday Bash includes four exciting days of music, art, and merrymaking, and serves to kick-off the official world-wide Beethoven@250 Year in celebration of the composer’s upcoming 250th birthday.
RSVP & BUY PASSES HERE
The Logan-square based Hairpin Arts Center will serve as the festivities’ primary venue from Friday December 13th through Sunday December 15th, as well as the SPIRIT ART SHOW venue.
Preston Bradley Hall at the downtown Chicago Cultural Center will serve as the closing concert venue and Beethoven Spirit Award presentation on Beethoven’s actual birthday, Monday December 16th, from 4-7pm. A VIP Afterparty will take place in Lincoln Park from 7:30-10pm for donors and All Bash Pass ticket holders.
The 249th Beethoven Birthday Bash: SPIRIT
Tonika Todorova, Artistic Director
Ainsley Klug, Visual Art Curator
Schedule and Program
Friday December 13th – Monday December 16th 2019
Venue 1 - Dec. 13, 14 & 15: Hairpin Art Center, 2810 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago
Venue 2 - Dec. 16: Preston Bradley Hall, Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington, Chicago
DAY 1 – “OPENING NIGHT”
Drinks, Heavy Hors-d’œuvres and Birthday Cake
Friday, December 13th – 8PM-MIDNIGHT @ THE HAIRPIN ARTS CENTER
8:30pm George Lepauw, introduction and piano performance
9pm Jean Claudio, dance
9:20pm Bach48 Documentary Film premiere: Voyage Into the Well-Tempered Clavier
10pm Brett Richardson, multi-genre piano
10:30pm The Jeremiah Review, multi-genre instrumental quartet
DAY 2 – “ALL OUT!”
Saturday, December 14th – 3pm-1am @ THE HAIRPIN ARTS CENTER
3:45pm Elliot Taggart, piano with Silent Theatre
4pm Sammy Tramp & Darling Violet with Silent Theatre
4:15 Airs from Beethoven’s Fidelio: Jenna Schroer, Soprano & Jonathan Cebreros, Tenor
5pm Beloved Variations, ASL theatre with Hannah Burt, Phillip Lewis and Sar Cohen
5:15pm Matt Griffo, piano and Leyla I. Royale, cello, music and comedy
5:30p Jacob Mayfield: Mind Reader
6pm Anastasia Royal’s multi-disciplinary Exclusion Park
7pm Isaiah Collier, Saxophone and The Chosen Few featuring Kennedy Banks
7:30pm Dashing and Darling
8pm Greg Spero, jazz piano
9pm Joel Styzens, piano & Gina Hoch-Stall, dance
9:30pm Matt Massaro and Jamie Budzic, stand-up comedy
10pm Brett Richardson, multi-genre piano
10:30pm ODE, Rock Band
11:30pm – 1am Jam Sessions & Dance Party
DAY 3 – “CHILL, PLAY, LEARN”
Sunday, December 15th 3pm-8pm @ THE HAIRPIN ARTS CENTER
3pm Bach48 documentary film: Voyage Into the Well-Tempered Clavier
3:45pm Vibrate the Cosmos with Stevenson Valentor (Mehtab Kirtan), music & meditation
4:30pm Dr. Charles Smith plays Beethoven, piano
4:45pm Beethoven’s Irish Songs with Kathleen Monson, soprano and Riko Higuma, piano
5:15pm The Ludwig van Game Show!
6:30pm The Aleksandra Jovanovic Student Showcase & Teacher Award to Yana Reznik
7:30pm George Lepauw, piano
DAY 4 – “BEETHOVEN’S BIRTHDAY CONCERT FOR CHICAGO”
Monday, December 16th, 4pm-7pm @ PRESTON BRADLEY HALL @ Chicago Cultural Center
4pm Musical Introduction
4:15pm Welcome by 2018 Beethoven Spirit Award laureate Mark Kelly, Commissioner
City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events
4:30pm George Lepauw, piano, and friends concert
6pm 2019 Beethoven Spirit Award presentation to Chaz Ebert
6:30p Happy 249th Birthday, Beethoven! Isaiah Robinson, Rashada Dawan, Greg Spero
6:45pm Closing Thoughts and Musical Conclusion
7:30pm-10pm VIP HOUSE AFTERPARTY (Lincoln Park)
Available to Donors and All Bash Pass Ticket Holders.
Inquire at ibp{at}internationalbeethovenproject.com
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The SPIRIT Art Show
Hairpin Arts Center, December 13th, 14th and 15th
This year the International Beethoven Project examines SPIRIT as the inspiration for the Beethoven Birthday Bash. SPIRIT gives us the opportunity to examine our current state of life, where we’ve been, and where we’re going. With this in mind I wanted to find artworks that embody movement in one way or another. From haunting materials to whimsical brush strokes, from undulating images to stoic sculptures that give us the sense of past movement. By mixing mediums and materials this year’s exhibition outlines a story of movement that is, was, and will be.
Each of the selected artists bring something different to the exhibition. Li Zhu’s video work speaks to a more contemporary or modern medium while Abena Motaboli’s installation and works on paper used more organic and antiquated materials to evoke feelings of Lesotho and South Africa. Samuel Schwindt will showcase sculptural work made of industrial materials to contrast both Zhu and Motaboli. Finally, our photographers, Tristine Walker and Céline Oms show fantasy and serenity respectively with themes of nature and emotion.
Ainsley Klug, Curator, Beethoven Birthday Bash Spirit Art Show
RSVP & BUY PASSES HERE
VIP Options:
$150 for All-Bash Access (includes opening night, closing night private party, daily open bar, priority seating)
$75 for Opening Night Only
Saturday General Admission:
Wet Package (1 Spirit Cocktail + wine/beer open bar): $30
Dry Access: $20
Sunday General Admission:
Wet Package (wine/beer open bar): $25
Dry Access: $15
Monday Admission: FREE
Or buy tickets on line here
