Fall’s most unusual cultural alliance is between Access Contemporary Music—a collective of classical composers—and the Chicago Architecture Foundation. The result: four new pieces of music based on four famous buildings, each to be played onsite during Open House Chicago. Here the composers offer a sneak peek. openhousechicago.org. Oct. 13 and 14

Poetry Foundation
Eric Malmquist intends his piece for cello and soprano to reflect the same spareness as the John Ronan–designed River North building. “There are a lot of clean lines,” he says. “It isn’t ornate.” Listen to a sample below:

Bridgeview Bank
Jude Mathews channeled Rhapsody in Blue, written in 1924, the same year the Uptown bank was built. “People will think Gershwin, but also the time it evokes in our history,” she says of her work for clarinet and violin.

Arts Club
Tim Corpus based his work for cello and clarinet on Golden Bird, the beloved sculpture the Arts Club sold to finance its Streeterville space. “The liquid movement of the sculpture allows for movement with the sound,” he says.

Driehaus Museum
Katherine Young plans a guided tour of the restored Nickerson House. “It has this monolithic exterior, and inside is this explosion of textures, details, and materials.” Young, a bassoonist, will perform her composition.

Photography: (Poetry Foundation Center) Courtesy of Poetry Foundation; (Bridgeview Bank) David Suarez; (Arts Club) courtesy of The Arts Club of Chicago; (Nickerson House) Alexander Vertikoff