Lensic Presents 2025/26 Season

Renée Fleming and a panel of experts explore how the arts impact the brain, drawing from Fleming’s 2024 anthology Music and Mind and leading initiatives in music, health, and neuroscience.

Renée Fleming’s Voice of Nature: the Anthropocene blends Romantic and contemporary song with film, reflecting on humanity’s evolving relationship with nature through music and visual storytelling.

Dominique Fils-Aimé is a rising name in jazz that you’ll want to watch—since her 2018 debut full-length, she has steadily collected awards and acclaim for her music.

Julia Keefe (Nez Perce) is an acclaimed Native American jazz vocalist, actor, and educator, leading the nine-piece Indigenous Jazz Ensemble to honor and carry forward Indigenous voices in jazz—past, present, and future.

For forty-eight years, Hubbard Street has been one of the most original forces in contemporary dance, bringing top choreographers and works to Chicago and beyond.

Soul legend Booker T. Jones brings his iconic sound to the Lensic, celebrating a legacy that includes Stax Records classics, a Grammy Lifetime Award, and Rock Hall induction.

Hasta La Muerte is an enthralling new production from the imagination of Las Cafeteras that explores the stages of grief and celebrates life and death in the spirit of the Indigenous Mexican Day of the Dead tradition.

Four-time Grammy winner Stanley Clarke, a jazz-fusion pioneer and bass virtuoso, revolutionized the genre with Return to Forever and is celebrated as a living legend in global music history.

Circles: Honoring Indigenous Santa Fe is a powerful multi-arts experience that blends song, dance, spoken word, and visual storytelling into a vibrant celebration of Indigenous culture, presence, and resilience.

DakhaBrakha is a music quartet from Kyiv, Ukraine. Their music has textural, layered sounds with distinctive percussive heartbeats, thumping bass lines, distorted electric guitars, and influences of jazz, spoken word, rap, and punk.

Celebrate the holidays with The Klezmatics, the Grammy-winning klezmer superstars who revolutionized Yiddish music.

The Squirrel Nut Zippers bring their joyous, raucous Christmas Caravan tour back on the road, performing all the hits from holidays past.

The most delightful way to send off the year returns with Joe Illick and The New Year’s Eve Orchestra. This year's featured artist is acclaimed violinist Augustin Hadelich.

Storm Large: musician, actor, playwright, author, awesome. She returns to the Lensic for the fourth time, a show you won't want to miss.

Australian music ensemble The Ten Tenors returns to the Lensic for an evening of ten-part harmonies and show-stopping choreography.

Bring the whole family to see Grammy-winning folk and roots music duo The Okee Dokee Brothers!

Brazilian guitar duo Sérgio and Odair Assad blend classical, jazz, folk, and Latin styles with unmatched artistry, drawing on deep musical roots and training under Segovia’s disciple Monina Távora.

Trekking Mexico is a colorful educational show for the whole family that takes audiences on a journey through Mexico’s historic and geographic regions, featuring folkloric music and dance.

American Ballet Theatre embraces a rich tradition that seamlessly blends timeless classics with groundbreaking contemporary works.

With The Bad Plus, acclaimed artists Chris Potter and Craig Taborn revisit the formative repertoire of Keith Jarrett’s American Quartet.

It wouldn’t be St. Patrick’s Day without a visit from Lúnasa! These Irish music superstars return to the Lensic for the fourth time to bring joyous Celtic tunes to our stage.

Featuring a dozen musicians and songs in twenty-five languages, Pink Martini, Pink Martini plays a risk-taking blend of jazz, world music, cabaret, lounge, and mid-century film music.

This touching and playful show uses live sound effects, stunning interactive animation, and an abundance of theatrical imagination. Great for anyone age three and up.

The legendary bassists Christian McBride and Edgar Meyer will meld will meld McBride’s jazz and R&B fusion with Meyer’s bluegrass and classical sensibilities for what is sure to be an unforgettable performance of new compositions and timeless American standards. 

The Australian Chamber Orchestra lives and breathes its craft, making waves around the world for its explosive performances that redefine orchestral music.

Come and celebrate the fortieth anniversary of this much-loved institution on a white-knuckle shopping-trolley dash through every kind of musical genre.

Dance Theatre of Harlem stands as a dynamic force in the ballet world, captivating audiences both nationally and internationally.