Event Type : Symphonic Concert

Love Actually in Concert

Venue: The Auditorium
Date: February 22, 2025
Time: 7:30 PM
Tickets: $69 – $104

Susie Benchasil Seiter, Conductor

Funny, irresistible and heart-warming, Love Actually is set in contemporary London in the weeks before Christmas and tells one story that weaves together a spectacular amount of love stories – sometimes romantic, sometimes sad, sometimes stupid – all funny in their own way.

With the film becoming a Christmas tradition for many, audiences attending the Love Actually Live Concert Tour will be invited to a unique way to watch the film: the full Chicago Philharmonic will perform Craig Armstrong’s evocative score at these shows, with the film being projected onto the big screen. Coming to Chicago at Auditorium Theatre on December 7, 2024!

Everywhere you look it seems love is causing chaos. From the new bachelor Prime Minister who falls in love 30 seconds after entering Downing Street to a loser sandwich delivery guy who doesn’t have hope with the girls in the UK so heads for Wisconsin; from a jilted writer who escapes the south of France to nurse his broken heart to an aging rock star trying to make a comeback at any price; from a bride having problems with her husband’s best man to a married woman having trouble with her husband; from a schoolboy with a crush on the prettiest girl in the school to his architect step-father with a crush on Claudia Schiffer.

The film features an all-star ensemble cast, including Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Laura Lioney, Bill Nigh, Martine McCutcheon, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Keira Knightley Rowan Atkinson, Martin Freeman, and many more.

Take a breathtaking tour of love’s delightful twists and turns as you fall under the spell of Love Actually and share in the laughs and charm live in concert.

Check out the trailer!

The Making of Love Actually

The Cast of ‘Love Actually’ Reflects on the Film’s Lasting Legacy

Check out the music!

Love Actually is a copyright of WT Venture LLC. Licensed by Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved..

Marvel Studios’ Black Panther in Concert — Back by popular demand!

Venue: The Auditorium
Date: January 18, 2025
Time: 7:30 PM
Tickets: $60 – $117

After an electric sold-out debut in 2022, Chicago Philharmonic brings back Marvel Studios’ Black Panther in Concert—and this time, with an exciting opening performance by the renowned Muntu Dance Theatre.

In 2018, Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther” quickly became a global sensation and cultural phenomenon, showing a new dimension of what Super Hero films could be. Rolling Stone raved, “The film lights up the screen with a full-throttle blast of action and fun. That’s to be expected. But what sneaks up and floors you is the film’s racial conscience and profound, astonishing beauty.”

Now you can relive the excitement of T’Challa becoming king and battling Killmonger all while the “one of the country’s finest symphonic orchestras” (Chicago Tribune) performs Ludwig Göransson’s Oscar® and Grammy®-winning score live to picture.

Joining the orchestra for the concert is Massamba Diop, the revered Senegalese tama drummer who recorded and co-created parts of the movie score with composer Göransson.

The Making Of “Wakanda” With Ludwig Göransson

Senegalese Drummer For ‘Black Panther’ Shares Message Of Music

About Massamba Diop

Massamba Diop is perhaps the world’s most renowned master of the Tama, a talking drum from Senegal. Massamba came into the limelight as a founding member of Daande Lenol (The Voice of the People), the band of Senegalese super-star Baaba Maal. Over the past 40 years the group has played all over the world, working with notable musical figures and releasing dozens of albums, including “Firin’ in Fouta”, which was nominated for a Grammy. Massamba has performed and/ or recorded with the likes of James Brown, Carlos Santana, and Angelique Kidjo. He appeared on Peter Gabriel’s landmark release “Passion”, which won a Grammy in 1990. He has been part of many major international events like the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony in Oslo, the 2012 Olympics in London, and joined Stevie Wonder in 2009 to perform “Happy Birthday” for Nelson Mandela. Massamba has received much acclaim for his collaboration on Marvel Studios’ Black Panther soundtrack, providing the drumming for King T’challa’s theme music.

About Composer Ludwig Göransson

In a career spanning only 12 years, Ludwig Göransson has amassed an impressive resume in both the recording and motion picture industries, earning an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, multiple Grammy Awards and countless other nominations. After working as an assistant to composer Theodore Shapiro, Göransson got his first big break writing music for the NBC television series, Community. This led to a friendship and collaboration with Donald Glover, who performs under the stage name Childish Gambino, on several studio albums including Because the Internet and Awaken, My Love. Göransson has been nominated for six Grammys with Childish Gambino, and won two in 2019 for the Billboard Hot 100 Number One hit song “This Is America,” which became a cultural phenomenon and garnered world-wide acclaim.

While pursuing his masters degree in film scoring at USC, Göransson met his other longtime collaborator, director Ryan Coogler, when he scored his short film, Locks. Over the next nine years, Göransson would score all three of Coogler’s feature films. Much like iconic filmmaking duos Hitchcock and Herrmann or Spielberg and Williams, Coogler’s diverse filmography has allowed Göransson to show his range as a composer, writing understated melodies for Fruitvale Station, hyping up audiences for Creed, and infusing African percussion into his themes for Black Panther.

In 2019, Göransson earned multiple awards and nominations for his score for Black Panther including a Golden Globe nomination, a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack, and an Academy Award for Best Original Score. He won two Grammy Awards for his song “This is America”, which he co-wrote and co-produced with frequent collaborator Childish Gambino.

Last year, Göransson composed the critically acclaimed score and produced the hit song “The Plan” (performed by Travis Scott) for Christopher Nolan’s TENET, which premiered late Summer 2020. Göransson has received many accolades for his score including a Golden Globe nomination, Broadcast Film Critics Association Award nomination and the score is a finalist on the Academy Awards shortlist for Best Score. Göransson co-wrote and co-produced the songs for DreamWorks’ TROLLS WORLD TOUR with Justin Timberlake, which exceeded expectations with its history-making digital release, racking up nearly $100 million in sales in just three weeks. This follows his unique Emmy Award winning score for THE MANDALORIAN on Disney+, LucasFilm’s first Star Wars live-action streaming series helmed by director Jon Favreau. Most recently, Göransson won his second Emmy for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series for Season 2 of THE MANDALORIAN. In 2022, Göransson scored the Star Wars live-action series THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT and Pixar’s TURNING RED, directed by Domee Shi.

About Muntu Dance Theatre

“Muntu” means “the essence of humanity” in the Bantu language. Muntu Dance Theatre strives to express the essence of humanity by preserving and embodying the African aesthetic and its influence on world cultures, through the education and professional presentation of dance, music, and folklore.

Through its performances and programs, Muntu strives to create an atmosphere of communal participation, encouraging and inspiring audiences, students, and participants to join in the celebration!

Founded in 1972, Muntu Dance Theatre is one of the oldest Black dance companies in the nation. Muntu Dance Theatre has presented authentic and innovative interpretations of contemporary and classical African and African American dance, music, and folklore in Chicago and around the world.

Muntu is more than just a performing company. Our core programs include professional performances both at home and abroad, comprehensive community arts programs, classes for the public, and professional training for emerging new young artists.

We understand that there is merit in all cultures. We seek to appreciate our differences to amplify our similarities.

Check out the music!

The Terminator In Concert — 40th Anniversary 

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Venue: The Auditorium
Date: February 22, 2025
Time: 7:30 PM
Tickets: $69 – $99

Experience the groundbreaking cult classic, The Terminator, on a vast HD screen while Brad Fiedel’s signature synthesizer – led, percussive score is performed live with the Chicago Philharmonic for the first time in sync with the 1984 motion picture. The U.S. box-office smash-hit, The Terminator sees Arnold Schwarzenegger star as the most uncompromising killing machine ever to threaten the survival of mankind. An indestructible cyborg, a Terminator, is sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), the woman whose unborn son will become humanity’s only hope in a future war against the machines. This epic sci – fi thriller from director, James Cameron , delivers an arsenal of action and heart – stopping suspense right to the end.

Gregory Alan Isakov with the Chicago Philharmonic

Venue: The Auditorium

Gregory Alan Isakov
Christopher Dragon, Conductor
Chicago Philharmonic

TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6!

$1 from the sale of each ticket purchased will be donated to the Greater Chicago Food Depository, who are providing food for those in need now and are working to end the root causes of hunger in their community.

About the Artist: Gregory Alan Isakov

Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and now calling Colorado home, horticulturist/musician Gregory Alan Isakov has cast an impressive presence on the indie-rock and folk worlds with his six full-length studio albums: That Sea, The Gambler; This Empty Northern Hemisphere; The Weatherman; Gregory Alan Isakov with the Colorado Symphony; Evening Machines (nominated for a Grammy award for Best Folk Album), and Appaloosa Bones. Isakov tours internationally with his band, and has performed with several national symphony orchestras across the United States.

Isakov’s new record, Appaloosa Bones, was released via Dualtone/Suitcase Town Music. Of the album, MOJO states, “Prime Isakov: his velvet baritone glides over elegant and shimmering Wild West mirages.” The Associated Press proclaims, “He has that magical ability to convey both urgency and grandeur at the same time…Simple. Straightforward. Utterly evocative.” And No Depression declares, “this is Isakov’s genius. He turns a short poem into a magnificent piece of music that can captivate for hours.”

When he is not on the road, he runs Starling Farm (a small farm in Boulder County), which provides produce to CSA members, restaurants, and Community Food Share (a local food bank).

About the Conductor: Christopher Dragon

Australian conductor Christopher Dragon is the Music Director of the Greensboro and Wyoming Symphony Orchestras and Resident Conductor of the Colorado Symphony. Dragon has a versatile portfolio ranging from live-to-picture performances including Nightmare Before Christmas in Concert, Toy Story in Concert and Star Wars in Concert, a wide variety of collaborations with artists such as Gregory Alan Isakov, Wu-Tang Clan, Nathaniel Rateliff, Violent Femmes, Lettuce, Cynthia Erivo, Joshua Bell, and Renee Fleming, to standard and contemporary orchestral repertoire; all areas of which he has become highly sought after.

Have a listen!

Kishi Bashi and the Chicago Philharmonic

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Venue: The Auditorium
Date: April 19, 2025
Time: 7:30 PM
Tickets start at: $59

“Edifying, moving, and musically rich…[Chicago Philharmonic with Kishi Bashi] is in a class of its own.”

—Hannah Edgar, Musical America

In April 2023, Chicago Philharmonic presented multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter Kishi Bashi’s Improvisations on EO9066, leaving a sold-out crowd wanting more. Now Chicago Philharmonic partners with The Auditorium to present another one-night-only event with Kishi Bashi.

Kishi Bashi Bio

The latest full-length from Kishi Bashi, Kantos is a work of exquisite duality: a party album about the possible end of humanity as we know it, at turns deeply unsettling and sublimely joyful. In a sonic departure from the symphonic folk of his critically lauded 2019 LP Omoiyari—a career-defining body of work born from his intensive meditation on the mass incarceration of Japanese-Americans during World War II—the Seattle-born singer/songwriter/producer’s fifth studio album encompasses everything from Brazilian jazz and ’70s funk to orchestral rock and city pop (a Japanese genre that peaked in the mid-’80s). Informed by an equally kaleidoscopic mix of inspirations—the cult-classic sci-fi novel series Hyperion Cantos, the writings of 18th century enlightenment philosopher Immanuel Kant, a revelatory trip to ancient ruins on the island of Crete—Kantos ultimately serves as an unbridled exaltation of the human spirit and all its wild complexities.

“At a time when so many people had begun to panic about AI and what it might mean for our future, I started working on this record as a way to explore the concept of grounding ourselves in our humanity,” says the Santa Cruz, California-based multi-instrumentalist otherwise known as Kaoru Ishibashi. “The album title is a nod to Hyperion Cantos and to Immanuel Kant, but it also refers to ‘canto’ meaning ‘I sing’ in Spanish. The idea is that even with so much technological advancement, songs are still something we very much rely on to connect with other people.”

Listen to Kishi Bashi!

The Goonies In Concert – 40th Anniversary

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Venue: The Auditorium
Date: April 26, 2025
Time: 7:30 PM
Tickets: $69.50-$99.50

Hey, you guys! Join a group of misfits on a search for long-lost treasure, complete with an ancient map, deadly booby traps, a ruthless crime family, and Baby Ruth candy bars. Experience one of the most-loved films of the ’80s with the Chicago Phil playing the entire Dave Grusinscore live to film. No matter the dangers—Goonies never say die!