Best Bets: Jazz great Arturo Sandoval performs free concert in Aurora
Jazz virtuoso plays free concert in Aurora
Ten-time Grammy and Emmy Award-winner Arturo Sandoval, the virtuoso trumpeter/composer and protégé of the legendary Dizzy Gillespie, performs at Crimi Auditorium, 1347 Prairie St., Aurora, as part of Aurora University’s Day of Generosity. Free, but a donation to the university’s Future Promise Fund for diverse learners is encouraged. aurora.edu/sandoval. 7 p.m. Thursday, April 9
Balloon exhibition extends
“EmotionAir: Art You Can Feel,” an immersive, inflatable art exhibition consisting of large works by international artists, has been extended at The Fields Studios, 2828 N. Pulaski Road, Chicago. Hours: 1-8 p.m. Monday through Thursday; noon to 10 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday; and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. Weekday admission: adults $37, teens $34, kids $28; weekend admission: adults $46, teens $43, kids $37. balloonmuseum.world. Runs through Sept. 7
A (sort of) silent film fest
Access Contemporary Music presents its 21st Sound of Silent Film Festival, pairing nine new silent film shorts by living directors with newly commissioned musical scores that are performed live at the Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave., Chicago. $25 general admission, $15 students. acmusic.org. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 8
Set sail (virtually) on the Titanic
Germania Place, 108 W. Germania Place, Chicago, presents “Titanic: A Voyage Through Time,” a virtual reality experience that allows visitors to experience life aboard the doomed ocean-liner, visit the wreck and meet some of the passengers. Timed, dated tickets start at $24.99 for adults and $19.99 for students and seniors. titanicexperiencevr.com/chicago. Thursday, April 9, through May 31
Tandem exhibitions at Intuit Art
The Intuit Art Museum, which showcases works by self-taught, experimental artists, hosts tandem solo exhibitions at 756 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. “Drawing With Metal: Sculpture by Bill Brady” features more than 40 works by the artist known for “transforming tin-plated steel and welding rods into forms that evoke figures, machines and whimsical abstractions.” The other exhibition is “Impressions of a City: Drawings by Marvin Young,” consisting of works by the lifelong Chicago resident, who uses graphite, colored pencil, crayon, pen and marker to create works reflecting his community and his life. Hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, until 8 p.m. on the third Thursday of the month. $20, free for visitors 24 and younger. art.org. “Impressions of a City: Drawings by Marvin Young” runs Thursday, April 9, through Aug. 23; “Drawing With Metal: Sculpture by Bill Brady” runs Thursday, April 9, through Oct. 4
EXPO Chicago 2026
Conversations with artist Nick Cave and musician/composer Kahil El’Zabar; a performance of “Blk Metropolis Apocalypse,” described as “an immersive, four-movement “afro-sonic sermonic suite”; text-based sculptures crafted from poems; and a display of select archival materials and art commissions from the soon-to-open Obama Presidential Center are among the events scheduled for EXPO Chicago 2026, which takes place at Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand Ave., Chicago. expochicago.com. 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 10-11, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, April 12