Lira Ensemble Opens Jubilee Season with a Holiday Concert of Polish Music & Dance

The acclaimed Lira Ensemble, which specializes in Polish music, song and dance, celebrates the opening of its 50^th anniversary with a holiday concert:

This new production offers favorites from the five decades of Lira performed by the Lira Singers, Dancers and Symphony.

The first half of the concert includes Polish carols of various styles and the rare opportunity to hear Polish carols played by a symphony orchestra. The Lira Ensemble will also perform works by Polish master composers such as Frederic Chopin, Stanislaw Moniuszko, and Witold Lutoslawski, one of the most respected Polish composers of the 20^th century.

The second act is devoted to Polish folk song and dance from various regions, presented in colorful, authentic folk outfits. Familiar American works and folk songs are also included in the program.

A celebratory reception at the Harris Theater follows the concert—with canapés and cocktails. Reception tickets, at $35 each, are available only at the Lira office, by calling 773-508-7040.

The Chicago Tribune is among the many metropolitan newspapers that have given high praise to the Lira company. The Tribune wrote: “the Lira Ensemble is booming…trying to bring Polish song and dance into American life, a cultural gift from people who emigrated to this country from Poland” and loved Lira’s “goregeous music and sharply choreographed folk dance.”

The concert will be conducted by resident conductor Mina Zikri. Born in Cairo, Egypt, Zikri came to the United States in 1999. In addition to his duties with Lira, he is guest conductor for the Cairo Symphony Orchestra in Egypt and is founder and music director of the Oistrach Symphony Orchestra of Chicago. Mr. Zikri, who is a violinist, has been a member of Daniel Barenboim’s West Eastern Divan Orchestra since 1999.

Lucyna Migala of WCEV/1450am, artistic director and general manager of the Lira Ensemble, will narrate the concerts in English, demonstrating some Polish holiday traditions and offering a bit of the history and tradition behind the music and dance performed.

The Lira company has been artist-in-residence at Loyola University Chicago since 1995 and is the nation’s only professional performing arts company specializing in Polish music, song and dance. The mission of the company is to bring the best of Polish culture into American life.

The concert is sponsored by the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Chicago and by the Lira Society-Group 816 of the Polish Women’s Alliance of America. This event is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency. The work of the Lira Ensemble is also supported by grants from the Alphawood Foundation and the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation.

Indoor parking is adjacent to the Harris Theater – just a few steps from the lobby. Theater doors open at 2:30pm. Lira recordings will be available for purchase in the lobby.

Tickets for “Joyous Jubilee! Polish Carols, Song & Dance” are very reasonably priced so that families can attend—from $25 to $50—with discounts for groups of 10 or more. Half-price tickets for children under age 16 in all price ranges are available only through the Lira office. All seats are reserved.