Ear Taxi Festival/Photo: Forestt Strong LeFave

1
Mäkelä Conducts Symphonie fantastique
(Symphony Center)
See the symphony orchestra’s music director designate for his first shows of the season, conducting a Berlioz work bursting with “love, witchcraft [and] murder.” And while you’re at it, read Dennis Polkow’s wide-ranging introduction to the conductor in our October issue.
October 16-18

2
An Evening With David Byrne
(Auditorium Theatre)
Like Mäkelä’s performances, these appearances precede a much bigger presence for the artist in the city. The legendary Talking Heads frontman will open an immersive theater in the Reid Murdoch Building next spring.
October 28-November 1

3
Ear Taxi Festival
(Various Venues)
The first edition since 2021, this year’s contemporary music festival is called “The Composer’s Voice,” featuring over twenty-four performances and “the world premieres of twenty-seven new commissions, most created by Illinois composers.”
October 3–November 2

4
Damon Locks’ Black Monument Ensemble
(Harris Theater)
The Chicago artist and activist leads an ensemble that builds his sample-based sound collages into a collective, monumental sonic performance.
October 24

5
Jacques Greene & Nosaj Thing
(Metro)
A collaboration between two pioneers in the ethereal electronic scene, with Jacques Greene’s “sublime and enigmatic” shaped house music contrasting Nosaj Thing’s “boundary-less architecture of sound.”
October 2