Irish composer Donnacha Dennehy, whose Nonesuch debut album, Grá agus Bás, was released earlier this year, is in Chicago for the performance of his 2002 piece To Herbert Brun. Musicians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor Cliff Colnot, kick off the 2011/12 season of the CSO's MusicNOW new-music series with tonight's concert, which will be held at Chicago's Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park and hosted by CSO composers in residence Mason Bates and Anna Clyne. Dennehy's piece features guest soprano Carrie Henneman Shaw. The program also include works by John Corigliano, Kirsten Broberg, Alejandro Viñao, and Paula Matthusen. Pre- and post-concert electronic music comes from illmeasures Chicago. For more information, go to cso.org.

Dennehy's label debut, Grá agus Bás, was released on Nonesuch in May to great critical acclaim. The album includes the title piece and was inspired by sean-nós "old style" Irish vocal music, as well as the composer’s song cycle That the Night Come, comprising six settings of poems by W.B. Yeats. The Dublin–based Crash Ensemble performs both works, conducted by Alan Pierson. Irish singer Iarla O’Lionáird is the soloist for Grá agus Bás; Dawn Upshaw is featured on That the Night Come. The Guardian calls Grá agus Bás "remarkable." The Los Angeles Times calls the title piece "rapturous." NPR calls the album "a revelation."

To pick up a copy of Grá agus Bás, head to the Nonesuch Store, where CD orders include high-quality, 320 kbps MP3s of the album at checkout.