St. Michael Concert Series

05/09/2024

Join us for our series finale tomorrow evening at 7pm at St. Francis Church, located at 15050 Wolf Rd! Formed in 2009, the "superb Chicago-based ensemble" (Gramophone Magazine) has become known for its vibrant and nuanced performances, “crisp precision" (Palm Beach Daily News), "superlative artistry" (CVNC Arts Journal), and unique penchant for exploring the folk roots of classical music. Kontras’s "enjoyable musical personality" (Fanfare Magazine) and welcoming, friendly approach to the recital stage have attracted audiences near and far for over a decade. Kontras means ‘contrasts’ in the Afrikaans language - fitting for a string ensemble whose colorful repertoire spans centuries, genres, and continents.

On the program tomorrow:

Quincy Porter (1897 - 1966): In Monasterio (1927)
Stacy Garrop (1969 -): String Quartet No. 1 (1992)
Caroline Shaw (1982 -): Entr’acte (2011)
Johannes Brahms piano quintet in f minor Op. 34
(with Michael Finlay at the piano).

Please join us for an evening of wonderful music making!

03/19/2024

A couple of changes to announce in our Spring lineup:

The recital planned for April 21st featuring cellist Dane Johansen of the Cleveland Orchestra has been postponed until next season. In his place, SMCS artistic director Michael Finlay will be performing a solo recital featuring Mozart Sonata K. 333, Chopin Ballade No. 4, and Liszt Sonata in b minor. We were so excited to see so many of our regular concertgoers at his recent concerto performance with the Southwest Symphony Orchestra on March 3rd, so if you enjoyed that performance make sure to mark your calendars for April 21st at 4:30 to hear him again!

Our season finale will be Friday, May 10th, at 7pm at St. Francis of Assisi - Orland Park, IL. Please note the different day, time, and venue! We will be hosting the marvelous Kontras Quartet, who will play an exciting program including a performance of the magnificent Brahms Piano Quintet in f minor, once again featuring pianist Michael Finlay.

Finally, we initially scheduled a piano recital featuring pianist Natalia Kazaryan for June 2nd. This has also been postponed until next season, so we are making May 10th our season finale.

03/14/2024

Looking for something to do this St. Patrick’s day? Consider making a stop at St. Michael around 4:30! This Sunday we are joined by the outstanding Rita Rovenskaya, a marvelous pianist who will play an all Czech program this Sunday at St. Michael Concert Series. Rovenskaya is a Ukrainian-American pianist who has performed extensively in the
US and abroad, with performances in Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, Merkin Hall at the Kaufman Center, Zim-
merli Museum, Ukrainian Museum, Teatro Machiavelli in Sicily, and Salmagundi Art Gallery, among others. Prizewinner of the
WPTA Finland International Competition, Constantine the Great International Competition, American Music Talent Competition, Mary Smart International Concerto Competition, and Chopin
Society Malaysia Competition, Margarita has also performed and studied internationally. She recently presented her research and performance of Dvořák's Poetic Tone Pictures at the Czech Center NYC and continues to champion the music of the Czech Republic.

St. Michael Concert Series is excited to host award-winning concert pianist Margarita Rovenskaya on Sunday, March 17 at 4:30 PM in the Church. Born in the Ukraine and a champion of music by Czech composers, Margarita will perform “Music of Czechia,” including works by Smetana, Dvorak, Janacek an...

02/21/2024

March 3rd!

02/04/2024

Following last weekend's spellbinding recital by pianist Alex McDonald you may be wondering who on earth could follow an act like that! Well, it is a tall order, but you could hardly do better than our next pair of performers, Amanda Pabyan and Julia Siciliano! Pabyan is a bona fide opera star, best known for her triumphant run of performances as Queen of the Night with the Metropolitan Opera in NYC under the baton of James Levine. She has toured the world in this and many other dramatic roles. The New York Times describes her as "a brilliant coloratura", and she was praised in the New York Observer as "a soprano of fearsome agility and power." She will be joining us at the St. Michael Concert Series on February 25th at 4:30. For full her complete biography and to hear her sing, check out her website at www.amandapabyan.com

Joining her on piano will be the marvelous Julia Siciliano, who veteran SMCS concertgoers may recognize from her previous appearances on our series. Siciliano is known for her "fabulous creative power" (Bonn General-Anzeiger) and her "fine technique and natural musicality” and "masterful delicacy, harmonic motion, and timing" (Gramophone Magazine). She maintains a very active performing schedule and has performed all over the world, most recently at the Teatro Victoria Eugenia in San Sebastián, Spain in October, on tour in Cincinnati, New York City, and Washington DC in November, and at Chicago's own Dame Myra Hess series just 2 weeks ago. You can learn more about Julia at her website, www.juliasiciliano.com

We are delighted to welcome both of these world-class artists to our stage! Don't miss it!

02/01/2024

https://www.southwestsymphony.com/event/the-romantics/

Come hear our artistic director Michael Finlay on March 3rd in a performance of Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto with the Southwest Symphony Orchestra! Click the link for details.

01/12/2024

If you missed Miriam K. Smith’s incredible recital at our series, you have another chance to hear her this Wednesday on the Dame Myra Hess Series with fellow SMCS veteran Julia Siciliano, who will return to our stage next month with superstar soprano Amanda Pabyan. Tune in on WFMT or head downtown to catch these two wonderful musicians!

10/03/2023

In two weeks!

09/30/2023

Here is Michael Schneider, coming to the St. Michael Concert Series this Sunday Oct. 1st, playing one of the most romantic pieces ever written. Widmung is a ravishing piece that was written by Robert Schumann as a wedding gift for his beloved Clara. It was wonderfully arranged for solo piano by the great Franz Liszt. Liszt takes center stage this Sunday in a very special concert/theatrical presentation featuring concert pianist Michael Schneider. Come hear him play this piece and much more! You may even meet the composer...

09/30/2023

This Sunday! Trust me, you want to see this one!

You've never been to a classical concert quite like this! St. Michael Concert Series is proud to present “Franz Liszt: A Legacy,” a very special theatrical presentation and concert dedicated to the life story of the great composer Franz Liszt. You are guaranteed to be dazzled (and perhaps to learn a thing or two)! Liszt is the star of the show, portrayed by powerhouse concert pianist Michael Schneider, who has long been a champion of this repertoire. Schneider has performed in such venues as the legendary château of George Sand in Nohant, France, performing an all-Chopin recital as a guest artist in the International Chopin Festival, Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall as a prizewinner of the Frinna Awerbuch International Piano Competition, the Library of Congress (Washington DC), and the Liszt Museum in Budapest. Trust us, folks, you want to see this one! October 1st, 4:30pm, only at St. Mike's.

09/15/2023

We are pleased to welcome the wonderful soprano Christine Steyer to our stage in just a few short weeks, October 22nd at 4:30! Steyer will be joined by our own artistic director, Michael Finlay on piano and award-winning cellist Brian Hoffman in a unique program of seldom performed music by Florence Price, Sergei Prokofiev, Andre Previn, and Ernst Bacon. Here she is performing one of Puccini's most beloved arias, "Vissi d'Arte" from Tocsca. See the whole performance here: https://youtu.be/RztA-xb7vA0?list=PLWmoUxfDkNTTdTpngcihXCwGn87m18EXQ

Steyer is the 2020 Honored Artist of The American Prize for outstanding contributions to the arts. The soprano has received acclaim for her portrayals of Madame Butterfly and Violetta, and has sung in 40 productions at Lyric Opera of Chicago. She shared the stage with Lawrence Brownlee, members of the Chicago Symphony and Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestras, and was featured on WFMT’s program Music Notes: Music of Healing and Peace.

Steyer is an avid recitalist and producer, showcasing unique works by contemporary and by women poets and composers. In 2021, she premiered the role of the Rio de Janeiro Health Care Worker in On Call: COVID-19 and in 2022 premiered the role of Flanna in Future Perfect. Steyer served as librettist for these award-winning operas.

​Steyer has brought music to 24,000 youths in underserved areas with Bellissima Opera's In the Classroom. She is President of the vocal alliance Working in Concert, and Artistic Director of its Bellissima Opera initiative. She is on the music faculty at Concordia University in River Forest and teaches music at Ascension Catholic School in Oak Park, IL.

She is thrilled to share her deep love of music with a new generation of young people. She lives in Oak Park with her husband Paul and their beloved rescue dog Huckleberry. In her free time she loves to garden, paint and travel around the world.

09/15/2023

Save the dates! Here is our concert lineup for the 2023-2024 season! We could not be prouder of the season we have put together for you; it is truly an all-star cast!

09/15/2023

You've never been to a classical concert quite like this! St. Michael Concert Series is proud to present “Franz Liszt: A Legacy,” a very special theatrical presentation and concert dedicated to the life story of the great composer Franz Liszt. You are guaranteed to be dazzled (and perhaps to learn a thing or two)! Liszt is the star of the show, portrayed by powerhouse concert pianist Michael Schneider, who has long been a champion of this repertoire. Schneider has performed in such venues as the legendary château of George Sand in Nohant, France, performing an all-Chopin recital as a guest artist in the International Chopin Festival, Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall as a prizewinner of the Frinna Awerbuch International Piano Competition, the Library of Congress (Washington DC), and the Liszt Museum in Budapest. Trust us, folks, you want to see this one! October 1st, 4:30pm, only at St. Mike's.

09/06/2023

Just a tiny taste what we have in store for the 2023-2024 season! We are so excited to host all of these artists and MANY more this season! Stay tuned for more previews, we are SUPER excited for this all-star lineup! St. Michael Concert Series

09/06/2023

https://cellomuseum.org/inspired-by-miriam-k-smith-a-modern-cello-prodigy/

Read all about Sunday's artist! We are so lucky to host Miriam K. Smith and Julia Siciliano this Sunday at 4:30 as part of the St. Michael Concert Series!

Miriam has soloed with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Louisville Orchestra, and the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, among others.

07/24/2023

VENUE CHANGE: St. Michael Concert Series is pleased to partner with St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Orland Park to present a very special concert for children, featuring the two beloved story-based pieces "Peter and the Wolf" and "Carnival of the Animals." To say this will be a blast would be a huge understatement!

07/04/2023

Check out our stellar summer lineup! June 4th, we hosted the wonderful Bianca Ciubancan in an amazing recital featuring works of Bach, Beethoven, and Saint Saens. This Sunday, concert pianist Alex Wasserman will take the stage, presenting a virtuosic and dynamic program of works by Chopin, Debussy, Ravel, and Babadjanian.  This August, we will have a very special concert for children, featuring Carnival of the animals and Peter and the Wolf. This concert features an all star chamber orchestra, with some members traveling from as far away as Cleveland and Denver, and will be narrated by our very own Gary Patin.  Finally, to wrap up the Summer season, we will host 16 year old superstar cellist Miriam K. Smith, who will be joined by Julia Siciliano at the piano.  All of these concerts are free and open to the public,  and will take place at Saint Michael Church right here in Orland Park, IL!

07/03/2023

Don’t miss this Sunday’s St. Michael Concert Series recital featuring concert pianist Alex Wasserman! Prepare to be dazzled as he performs a colorful and dashing program of works by Babadjanian, Chopin, Debussy, and Ravel. Join is this Sunday, July 9th at 4:30, for a wonderful afternoon of great music!

05/08/2023

Don't miss the chance to witness the incredible talent of 16-year-old violin prodigy Bianca Ciubancan as she takes the stage with concert pianist Michael Finlay. She will begin with Bach's haunting Sonata for Solo Violin in a minor, after which she will be joined by Finlay in Beethoven's Sonata no. 7 for violin and piano in c minor and Saint-Saens Rondo Capriccioso. Bianca's youthful energy and incredible skill are certain to bring you to the edge of your seats! Don't miss this FREE concert (free will donation encouraged)!

05/05/2023

TOMORROW! Just WAIT until you hear these two play! Dmitri Makhtin is an incredible violinist who has soloed with the Cleveland Orchestra under Leonard Slatkin, among many other orchestras such as the St Petersburg Philharmonic and Symphony Orchestras, Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, and Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. He has performed with conductors such as Evgueny Svetlanov, Leonard Slatkin, and Yuri Temirkanov. Julia Siciliano is no stranger to the St. Michael Concert Series; she gave our inaugural recital in March and brought the house down. She has won top prizes in many competitions, including the Sicily International Piano Competition, Heida Hermanns International Competition, Iowa Piano Competition, and MTNA National Competition. She tours all over the world giving solo and chamber recitals. We cannot recommend this concert highly enough, it is going to be amazing!