CSO and The Joffrey Ballet Premiere Two Ballets

Conductor Harry Bicket Leads Performances that Feature World Premieres of Newly Commissioned Choreographies from Nicolas Blanc and Amy Hall Garner set to Music of Darius Milhaud and Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson 

CHICAGO — The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) welcomes The Joffrey Ballet and The Mary B. Galvin Artistic Director Ashley Wheater MBE for their third artistic collaboration since 2019 to premiere two newly-commissioned ballets in a program presented at Symphony Center April 10-13. The Joffrey Ballet’s Winning Works choreographer Amy Hall Garner sets her new ballet, Second Nature, to Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson’s Sinfonietta No. 1, and Joffrey choreographer Nicolas Blanc sets his new ballet, Les Bœufoons, to Darius Milhaud’s boisterous work Le Bœuf sur le toit (The Ox on the Roof). The program, led by acclaimed British conductor Harry Bicket, also includes Haydn’s Symphony No. 45 (Farewell) and the CSO’s first performances of Symphony No. 1 of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges. Tickets and more information are available at cso.org.

Cristina Rocca, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association’s Vice President of Artistic Planning, The Richard and Mary L. Gray Chair, said “The Chicago Symphony is recognized as one of the best orchestras in the world, and The Joffrey Ballet is one of the best dance companies in the world. The two organizations are a living manifest of the essential role that the arts play in our lives. It seems natural that we should collaborate to create new artworks which both look forward to the future and build on the history of our respective artforms. We are very proud of this special relationship and look forward to performing together in April.”

“Dance and live music belong together. Joffrey’s partnership with the CSO is the perfect harmony for the senses; the artistry of CSO musicians and Joffrey Company Artists elevate one another, creating an unforgettable experience,” says The Mary B. Galvin Artistic Director Ashley Wheater MBE. “We are proud to premiere new work by Amy Hall Garner and Nicolas Blanc, two choreographers with deep ties to the Joffrey. Amy, an early Winning Works honoree, and Nicolas, a longtime creative collaborator, bring fresh perspectives to their chosen compositions, offering dynamic, resonant storytelling that will captivate and inspire.”

Choreographer Nicolas Blanc joined The Joffrey Ballet in 2015 as a Rehearsal Director and Coach following a distinguished career as a dancer in companies including Nice Opera Ballet, Zurich Ballet and San Francisco Ballet, where he was a lead dancer from 2004 to 2009. As a choreographer, he was selected to participate in New York City Ballet’s New York Choreographic Institute where he created Mothership, which premiered in New York City Ballet’s 2016 gala. In 2018, he created Beyond the Shore for The Joffrey Ballet, with designs by Katrin Schnabl and music composed by former CSO Mead Composer-in-Residence Mason Bates. 

For Les Bœufoons, Blanc pays tribute to the Parisian cabaret bar, Le Bœuf sur le Toit, perhaps no single place better representing the flourishing and eclectic artistic sensibility of 1920s Paris. Artistic luminaries from Cole Porter to Igor Stravinsky met at this cultural Mecca which took its name from Darius Milhaud’s theatrical, Brazilian-inflected composition. Les Bœufoons draws inspiration from the surreal, uninhibited world of Jean Cocteau’s original choreography, and the renowned circus clowns, the Fratellini brothers, who first brought it to life.

Choreographer Amy Hall Garner was one of the first choreographers of The Joffrey Ballet’s Winning Works competition. Originally from Huntsville, Alabama, Garner is a graduate of The Juilliard School and is currently based in New York. She has created works in the ballet, modern, and theatrical genres for numerous schools and companies including The Joffrey Ballet, Ailey II, Collage Dance Collective, The Juilliard School, The Ailey School and Barnard College, among others. She has also created works for Columbia Ballet Collaborative, and personally coached Grammy Award winner Beyoncé, providing additional choreography for The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour. In 2018, she was selected to participate in Alvin Ailey’s New Directions Choreography Lab supported by the Ford Foundation. Garner is an adjunct professor at New York University’s New Studio on Broadway at Tisch School of the Arts.

For Second Nature, set to Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson’s Sinfonietta No. 1, Garner was particularly inspired by the second of the work’s three movements marked “Largo” and could see movement for dancers when listening to it for the first time. Her ballet features an ensemble of dancers in costumes of bold colors and flowing designs and aims to offer audiences an experience that is hopeful and uplifting. Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson (1932-2004) was principal conductor and Coordinator of Performance Activities at the Center for Black Music Research in Chicago. He was a composer of classical, jazz and popular music who studied composition at the Manhattan School of Music and Princeton University and also served as music director for the renowned Alvin Ailey Dance Company.

Patron Information 

Contact Patron Services for personalized assistance online at cso.org/contact or by calling 312-294-3000, Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. The walk-up Box Office at 220 S. Michigan Ave. is open Monday-Saturday 12 p.m. – 6 p.m.  

All artists and programs are subject to change. 

This performance is made possible with the generous sponsorship of Josef and Margot Lakonishok.

The Joffrey Ballet gratefully acknowledges the Bill and Orli Staley Foundation for their production sponsorship.