Photo: Sandy Morris | Sally Blood Photo
Sarah Curran represents the city’s forward-facing curatorial impetus. Named executive director of UChicago Presents in 2023, she also served as consulting curator for the Experimental Performance Initiative (eXp) at the University of Chicago. With prior curatorial leadership at Stanford, Wesleyan and the Tribeca Film Festival, Curran offers a broad interdisciplinary vision. “The Chicago music scene continually reinvents itself—whether it’s site-specific concerts in unexpected places or collaborations between vastly different disciplines.” She is especially excited to spotlight Indigenous artists in the months ahead, with a planned performance of Raven Chacon’s “American Ledger, No. 3” and a performance from Julia Keefe’s Indigenous jazz ensemble early next year. For Curran, UChicago Presents is a chance to provide “accessible, innovative, world-class performances to audiences on campus, in the community and beyond.”