103 / 124
7:30 PM TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2018
MARTIN THEATRE
THEO BLECKMANN,
vocalist
†
LARA DOWNES,
piano
†
In Our Time
Music of Bernstein, Ellington, Lara Downes, and Theo Bleckmann
†
Ravinia debut
*
First performance at Ravinia
THEO BLECKMANN,
vocalist
A Grammy-nominated jazz singer and compos-
er,
eo Bleckmann has a diverse discography
including albums of Las Vegas standards, Wei-
mar art songs, and popular “bar songs” with
pianist Fumio Yasuda; a recording of newly
arranged songs by Charles Ives with jazz/rock
collective Kneebody; and an acclaimed collec-
tion of reinterpretations of Kate Bush songs
entitled
Hello Earth
. He has also recently ap-
peared as a special guest on recordings by Am-
brose Akinmusire for Blue Note Records and
Julia Hülsmann’s trio for ECM Records. In
,
Bleckmann released his rst disc on ECM as
a bandleader with a new quintet,
Elegy
, which
showcased him equally as composer and sing-
er—from Sondheim’s “Comedy Tonight” to his
original vocalise “Little Elegy.” Bleckmann has
collaborated with musicians, artists, actors, and
composers such as Laurie Anderson, Uri Caine,
Philip Glass, Ann Hamilton, John Hollenbeck,
Sheila Jordan, Phil Kline, David Lang, Kirk
Nurock, Frances McDormand, Ben Monder,
Michael Tilson
omas, Kenny Wheeler, John
Zorn, the Bang on a Can All-Stars, and, most
prominently, Meredith Monk, with whom
Bleckmann worked as a core ensemble member
for over years. He has been interviewed by
Terry Gross on NPR’s
Fresh Air
and appeared on
e Late Show with David Letterman
with Lau-
rie Anderson. In
, Bleckmann premiered a
new work for the American Composers Orches-
tra at Carnegie Hall, and the following year he
brought a new work to the New York Philhar-
monic Biennial and the Los Angeles Philhar-
monic. Bleckmann has consistently appeared in
the top ve spots in the
DownBeat
Critics’ Polls
for Best Male Vocalist as well as in the top
spots in its Readers’ Polls, and his work on Phil
Kline’s
Out Cold
helped place that production
among WQXR Operavore’s best operas of
.
In
, he received the jazz ECHO award from
the Deutsche Phono-Akademie in his native
Germany. Tonight
eo Bleckmann is making
his Ravinia debut.
SEPTEMBER 10 – SEPTEMBER 16, 2018 | RAVINIA MAGAZINE
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