by Jean I. Anderson
On Saturday, March 7, an adventurous audience was transported from the 18th Century to the 21st Century in about two hours through a delightful Magical Musical Time Machine (the beer, served by the local brewery Lagunitas, could have helped).
We started out in the 18th Century with Franz Josef Haydn’s London Symphony No. 104, performed by the Oistrakh Symphony of Chicago under the baton of Mina Zikri, a DePaul-trained musician with an impressive resume as a young conductor.
Perhaps you recognize the unique name of the famous Soviet classical violinist David Oistrakh, who died in 1974 at the age of 66; or his son, Igor, born 1931, following under his father’s bow.
We then leaped into the 21st Century with the folk-rock band Distant Brothers, who may lay claim to being Haydn’s “Distant Cousins.” There may have been some hanky-panky going on, but that’s not for me to comment upon. The Distant Brothers had the audacity — oh, I meant inspiration — to do a take-off number on Haydn’s 104th, about Josef’s being an ardent player of ”‘Haydn’ Seek.” (Here’s the program.)
What a wealth of musical offerings we have in this area, not necessitating a wealth of outlay. Be on the look-out. This performance was offered at Luther Memorial Church, with its stunning acoustics.
Forward Chicago 
