NewCity: Music 45 – Who Keeps Chicago In Tune 2020

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Spektral Quartet

Since we last profiled the indefatigable chamber ensemble, they’ve earned three additional Grammy nominations (for 2019’s “Yo Soy La Tradición” with Miguel Zenón and 2020’s “Fanm d’Ayiti” with Nathalie Joachim) and made its NPR Music Tiny Desk concert debut, all while keeping a full (pre-pandemic) calendar of tour dates and hometown concerts. One of its most memorable Chicago gigs was an event at the Music Box Theatre. “We presented an evening of queer voices through music and film,” says founding member Doyle Armbrust, “including Alex Temple’s ‘Behind the Wallpaper’ with vocalist Julia Holter, a commission by composer-performer Gene Knific, and the short ‘Uzi’s Party’ (shot in Chicago) by Lyra Hill (in partnership with the Chicago Film Society). It was an absolutely magical evening.”

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