EVENTS

2025

Beloved Broadway Nathan Gunn & Friends

January 11 at 7:30 pm

2024

Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show: In Concert (2024)

October 31 at 10 pm & November 1 at 7:30 pm

For the first time on the Metropolis stage, we bring you the most famous cult classic ever made… The Rocky Horror Show “In Concert”! Perfect for a night out for Halloween. Sweethearts Brad and Janet stuck with a flat tire during a storm, discover the eerie mansion of Dr. Frank-N-Furter. As their innocence is lost, Brad and Janet meet a houseful of wild characters, including a rocking biker and a creepy butler. Through elaborate dances and rock songs, Frank-N-Furter unveils his latest creation: a muscular man named “Rocky.” Whether it’s your first or 1000th time seeing Rocky Horror, this “In Concert” version will definitely make you shiver with antici….. pation! Come as you are or come dressed in character to participate. “Don’t Dream It. Be It!”

Ragtime: In Concert

April 5-7, 2024 at McGrath Family Performing Arts Center

The stories of three American families intertwine against the backdrop of a towering slate of historical figures. Together, through a dazzling array of musical styles from the era, they weave a stunning tapestry that reveals both the prejudice and promise of the American experience.  We can’t wait to share with you this triumphant Tony Award-winning musical portrait of America at the turn of the 20th century!  Highland Park Players will reinvent this classic into a dazzling staged-concert featuring an expansive choir, Chicago’s best theatrical talent and a professional 27-piece orchestra that will allow you to experience this magnificent story and music like never before, at the stunning new 550-seat theater, the McGrath Family Performing Arts Center in Wilmette!  

The Music Man: In Concert

February 2-11, 2024 at Metropolis Performing Arts Center

Presented as a concert staging with more than 40 dynamic performers backed by a 25-piece orchestra, this is a rare opportunity to hear Meredith Willson’s charming, six-time Tony Award-winning musical with the power and grandeur it deserves. The Music Man follows fast-talking traveling salesman, Harold Hill, as he cons the people of River City, Iowa, into buying instruments and uniforms for a band that he vows to organize – despite the fact that he does not know a trombone from a treble clef. His plans to skip towns with the cash are foiled when he falls for Marian, the librarian, who transforms him into a respectable citizen by curtain’s fall.

2023

The Hunchback of Notre Dame: In Concert

August 19, 2023 at 2 pm & 7:30 pm

The JAM Orchestra is thrilled to be collaborating with Imprint Choir on a concert presentation of Alan Menken & Stephen Schwartz’s stunning score to The Hunchback of Notre Dame, inspired by the Victor Hugo novel and songs from the 1996 Disney animated film.

Featuring a dazzling cast of Chicagoland professionals, the vocal forces of Imprint Choir, and the 25-piece JAM Orchestra, this is a rare opportunity to hear this magnificent score performed with the full forces it deserves, in an acoustic space that will enhance the grandeur and dramatic nature of the score. This concert is partially funded by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.

2022

Dr. Seuss at the Opera!

October 15, 2022 at 10 am & 12 pm

JAM Orchestra is thrilled to announce our next concert: "Dr. Seuss at the Opera!" - the first installment of our Classics for Kids series. Featuring the wonderful voices of Desirée Hassler and Colleen Bruton, this 1-hour long concert is the perfect way to introduce kids to classical music and opera. Directed by Jen Houghton and conducted by JAM artistic director Aaron Kaplan, this is a concert not to be missed!

Marvelous Moments: The Music of Stephen Sondheim

June 25, 2022 at 7:30 pm

The JAM Orchestra is proud to present its next concert in collaboration with Blank Theatre Company - “Marvelous Moments: The Music of Stephen Sondheim” on Saturday, June 25, 2022 at 7:30pm in Nichols Concert Hall, Evanston. Featuring 10 Chicago based vocalists, this concert will celebrate the stunning music and lyrics of the late Stephen Sondheim.

2021

Music in Masks

August 7th, 2021 at 7:30 pm

The JAM Orchestra is thrilled to be offering our first post-pandemic concert! In accordance with health and safety guidelines, the concert will be presented without an intermission, with a limit of 20 musicians on stage and a capacity of 100 audience members. All audience members and performers will need to wear masks at all times and provide proof of vaccination upon entry. This concert will feature the JAM String Section, exploring different gems of the string orchestra repertoire. Selections from the Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Elgar, and Suk string serenades will be performed in addition to works by William Grant Still, Florence Price, Jessie Montgomery, Meredith Willson, Bernard Herrmann’s score to the film Psycho, and a new Gershwin arrangement by Jon Rarick.

2019

Holiday Swing 2!

December 7th, 2019 at 2:00 pm & 7:00 pm

The JAM Orchestra collaborates with Youth Choral Theater of Chicago on a unique concert featuring holiday music from film, television, Broadway, and the concert hall. Highlights include music from Home Alone, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Leroy Anderson, Broadway standards, and a world premiere arrangement of music from The Grinch, arranged by JAM Trumpet player Jon Rarick.

Summer Serenade

August 3, 2019 at 7:00 pm

In our first Summer concert, we explore music from ballet, film, and the concert hall with works by Copland, Shchedrin, and Morricone. Evan Tammen, oboe soloist, joins us to perform the Richard Strauss' evocative Oboe Concerto.

2018