Clef Notes

When you think of classical music appropriate for the Thanksgiving holiday, the first thing that probably comes to mind is the Shaker song “Simple Gifts,” made famous by Aaron Copland’s ballet Appalachian Spring. We thought we’d dive into some lesser-known pieces that will make great additions to your Thanksgiving playlist, whether you play it in the background during your festive meal or listen to it while cooking—that is, of course, if you’re not already tuned into Illinois Classical! 

On Saturday, November 14, the Heartland Festival Orchestra will feature Evan Tammen in two concertos. Tammen, HFO’s principal oboist, will perform Tomaso Albinoni’s Oboe Concerto No. 2 in D minor and J. S. Bach’s Concerto for Oboe d’amore in A Major in a program of all Baroque music. The concert at Universalist Unitarian Church in Peoria will also include Bach’s Suite for Orchestra No. 3 in D Major and Handel’s Water Music. We spoke to Tammen to learn more about the two concertos and his approach to performing Baroque music.

On November 7 and 8, MIOpera joins forces with the Baroque Artists of Champaign-Urbana (BACH) to present George Frideric Handel’s Semele. This production marks the first collaboration between the Bloomington-Normal-based professional opera company and the Baroque ensemble. BACH will provide the chorus, orchestra, and continuo, while MIOpera will provide the soloists, set pieces, and costumes. To learn more about the show, we spoke with Tracy Koch, MIOpera’s artistic director and stage director, and BACH Music Director Sarah Riskind, who will conduct the production. 

On October 3, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Steve Reich celebrates his 90th birthday. A pioneer of the minimalist movement in the 1960s, his influence can be felt across genres, from contemporary classical music to electronic dance music and film scores. His creative voice is so singular, The New Yorker dubbed him “The most original music thinker of our time.” Read on to learn why and to hear a sampling of his most important works.

The University of Illinois School of Music will mount its second annual New Music Festival this fall. Running October 18–20, the festival welcomes composers Shulamit Ran and Arlene Sierra for a series of concerts at Smith Memorial Hall and the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. We spoke with Dr. Joshua Graham, the festival’s director and assistant professor and coordinator of the percussion program, to learn more about the festival and what he hopes students and the community will gain from it.

This past June, the Vienna Philharmonic gave its annual Summer Night Concert, a free, open-air performance in the landscape park and gardens of Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria. Under the baton of Swiss conductor Lorenzo Viotti, Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel was featured in selections from opera and musical theater. Among this illustrious international company was a local name: Elaine Fine, a Charleston resident, composer, teacher, multi-instrumentalist, and longtime member of the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra. The Vienna Philharmonic included Fine’s orchestral arrangement of Florence Price’s Adoration in the concert, which will be broadcast on PBS Great Performances this Friday, August 28 at 8 pm. Read on to learn more about how Fine’s arrangement has brought the once-obscure piece back into circulation.

NOTE: This article was originally published in March 2026. “I Hear America Singing” will be repeated at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts on September 10 and 11.

As part of its commemoration of America 250, the Peoria Riverfront Museum presents “I Hear America Singing,” an original performance curated by Julie and Nathan Gunn and their production company, Shot in the Dark Productions. The inaugural concerts will run on Friday, March 27, and Saturday, March 28, at the Peoria Riverfront Museum, with plans to tour to other locations, including the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts this fall. Read on for our interview with Julie Gunn about the project and its resonance in contemporary America.

One of the oldest surviving works of literature and a bedrock of Western culture, The Odyssey continues to move and enthrall audiences nearly 2,700 years after its supposed composition by the blind poet, Homer. Christopher Nolan’s recent film is just the latest take on a text that has inspired countless adaptations and works of art. Since The Odyssey seems to be the only thing anyone can talk about this summer, let’s look at musical adaptations of the Homeric epic, from operas and oratorios to intimate art songs. 

The Krannert Center for the Performing Arts can always be counted upon to bring exciting, world-class arts programming to the Champaign-Urbana community. The 2026–27 season is shaping up to be no different. With the season officially kicking off on September 3 in grand style with a punk marching-band parade across campus, we thought we’d highlight our picks for each month of the season so you can mark your calendars and secure your tickets in time. Of course, we encourage you to attend as many concerts and shows as you can, but if you can only choose one performance per month, we’ve got you covered.

“What have teachers got to do with music?” Leonard Bernstein asks in a New York Philharmonic Young Person’s Concert in 1963. “The answer is: everything,” he continues. “It is almost impossible to imagine a professional musician who doesn’t owe something to one teacher or another. The trouble is that we don’t always realize how important teachers are, in music or in anything else.” To right this wrong, we’ve highlighted four pieces dedicated to music teachers in anticipation of the upcoming school year.