Concert Performance

Third Wednesday: AWE Festival Chicago 2026 - Prism

Wednesday, March 18, 2026

Featuring one of the most beloved and profound works in the chamber repertoire, AWE Chicago 2026 reaches its finale at the Driehaus Museum’s Murphy Auditorium with Schubert’s sublime String Quintet. The Quintet is the last work Schubert completed, steeped in lyricism, intimacy, and the spirit of the Vienna he adored. Some say its echoes can still be heard from one of his favorite haunts, the Red Hedgehog inn, where he went to hear folk musicians from Hungary, Romania, and beyond.

Opening the program are two captivating violin duos by celebrated New Zealand composers Eve de Castro-Robinson and John Psathas, setting the stage before we are swept into Schubert’s expansive masterpiece; a work that continues to inspire and move listeners across generations and continents.

Third Wednesday: AWE Festival Chicago is generously sponsored by Abby McCormick O’Neil and D. Carroll Joynes.

Program:

Prism

Eve De Castro-Robinson (NZ), Bird Sung Sky for two violins, AWE Commission

John Psathas (NZ), The Fall for two violins, AWE Commission

Franz Schubert, String Quintet in C Major, D 956

Musicians:

Benjamin Baker - violin
Risa Hokamura - violin
Jordan Bak - viola
Julia Yang - cello
Alice Yoo - cello

This event is free and open to the public, with donations gratefully accepted in support of the Museum’s ongoing cultural programming and community days.

About At the Worlds’ Edge Festival Chicago | AWE Festival Chicago

Each year, AWE presents a spring festival within the Northern Hemisphere. The AWE Festival Chicago forges new creative pathways between Aotearoa, New Zealand and Chicago, USA, from the great lakes of Central Otago to the shores of Lake Michigan.

Across four programs, AWE Chicago 2026 will follow music shaped by landscape and city, by migration and belonging, and by personal and collective history.