The house lights at the Harris Theater rarely dimmed on an occasion as self-assured as “Icons and Innovators.” This program, held on May 2nd, was ostensibly a tribute to Joan Harris, the philanthropist whose fingerprints are all over the Chicago cultural map and the Juilliard School. It was a night of high ceremony, featuring video testimonials from the likes of Barack Obama and J.B. Pritzker. Yet, beneath the formal tributes lay an argument about the state of American music.
The Harris Theater opened in 2003, filling a specific void in the city. It was designed as a home for mid-sized performing arts groups that were too large for intimate lofts but would be swallowed whole by the city’s larger venues. By championing this middle ground, Joan Harris created a space where the experimental could meet the established. Saturday’s concert felt like a natural unfolding of that mission.
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