PLEIN AIR CONCERT SERIES

Tonight’s program / Ce soir! 

Les Deux Oliviers : French Songs & more…

With Isabelle Olivier at the harp and Raphael Olivier at guitar and voice.

Our Plein Air Concerts return to our jewel-box courtyard! Enjoy an hour of music with your friends while sipping rosé wine in an intimate setting. We cover the range from jazz to chansons françaises, with performers from France and Chicago!

With Bastille Day coming up, this uniquely talented French duo turn their minds to the sound of freedom with a performance at the crossroads of jazz standards, French classics, originals, and improvisation. As mother and son, they combine their stringed instruments to create a unique musical palette, inviting you on a musical journey like no other.

Included in the program: 

- Les Feuilles mortes Jacques Prévert et Joseph Kosma

- C’est si bon Henri Betti et André Homez

- La Mauvaise réputation de Georges Brassens

- Sing sing song de Claude Nougaro

- La Mélancolie de Léo Ferré

Door opens at 6:00 p.m. Live music starts at 6:30 p.m. Please enter via 810 N. Dearborn. Each table of four includes one bottle of Rosé de Provence and salted nuts. Reserve early! Seating is limited in our intimate courtyard. Weather permitting otherwise the event moves indoors in our salon.

More about Isabelle Olivier:

Isabelle Olivier has collaborated with such artistic luminaries as Agnès Varda, Peter Erskine, and Norma Winstone, and developed an instantly recognizable style using her rare and fascinating instrument: the harp. Exploring both acoustic and electronic music, she composes jazz that is open to all influences. She was a Villa Albertine’s artist in residence in 2023.

Eight years ago, Isabelle Olivier came to Chicago to develop a Franco-American project. The jazz opera Don’t Worry, Be HaRpy is an adaptation of the novel Le Baron Perché by Italo Calvino bringing together American singers and French musicians.

After Olivier became the first composer to win the Villa Le Nôtre – Versailles Prize, The Art Institute in Chicago asked her to write and perform an artistic response to the exhibition Gauguin: Artist as Alchemist. Her project Oasis, with Rez Abbasi, was supported by the FACE Foundation. Olivier is passionate about exchanges between cultures and generations. 

Isabelle 11th CD, Smile, was recorded at Piano Forte in Chicago and came out in 2022. 

More about Raphael Olivier:

Singer/songwriter, guitarist and composer Raphael Olivier paints a refined musical landscape blending his inspirations as a Franco-American artist based in Chicago. He’s written scores for over 100 studios and TV networks, has collaborated with artists such as Jean Michel Jarre and Martin Gore (Depeche Mode), and continues to push boundaries with his solo indie folk solo project both in the studio and on the stage.