The Five

Don’t-miss picks for Wednesday, June 4 through Tuesday, June 10

1 Vampire Weekend

Rock: The East Coast prepsters eschewed collegiate conundrums for weightier subject matter in their excellent Grammy-winning LP Vampires of the City. Hear them live.
6/5 at 7:30. $32.50. UIC Pavilion, 525 S. Racine. uicpavilion.com

2 Hubbard Street Dance

Dance: Featuring a world premiere by resident choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo and works by Nacho Duato and William Forsythe, this summer series brings rigor to the usually quiet dance season.
6/5–8. $25–$99. Harris Theater, 205 E. Randolph. hubbardstreetdance.com

3 Printers Row Lit Fest

Readings: The sprawling book fair, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, includes panels from local lit stars such as Stuart Dybek and Cristina Henríquez.
6/7–8. Free, though some events require tickets. Various locations. chicagotribune.com/entertainment/books/printersrowlitfest

4 Simon Starling

Art: The British conceptual artist’s first full-scale US museum retrospective features simple but elegant material metamorphoses, including new forays into film.
6/7–11/2. $12. Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago. mcachicago.org

5 Midsommarfest

Festival: One of the best festivals of the season, head up to Clark Street in Andersonville for maypole dancing and glogg.
6/6–6/8. $5–$10 donation. Clark between Foster and Catalpa. andersonville.org/events/midsommarfest

What I’m Doing This Weekend

Up next in our series of weekend plans from notable, in-the-know locals—a.k.a. people we like: Katie Ernst, bassist and vocalist in the jazz trio, Laurenzi/Ernst/Green. They perform as part of the Jazz Institute of Chicago’s NextGenJazz series at the Drake Hotel on Thursday, June 5.

“Friday, I’m going to check out Juan Pastor’s Chinchano at Andy’s Jazz Club. They just released an album full of interesting compositions. It’s not your typical Latin jazz. At Andy’s, I usually get a gin and tonic.

“Saturday, Dustin Laurenzi, who’s in our trio, is going to be playing with Marquis Hill at Constellation, which is my favorite venue in the city. It’s just a cool space. In terms of programming and atmosphere, it’s really amazing.

“On Sunday, I’ll probably go to the Logan Square Farmer’s Market. I always like to see what’s fresh and in season and they have really good apple pastries you can munch on while you shop.

“Later, the Hyde Park Jazz Society is doing this series at Room 43. The drummer Dana Hall is going to be there. It’s nice that there are so many different jazz shows this summer.” —As told to Tomi Obaro

Freebie of the Week

Beyond the Score

Classical: The Symphony Center’s informative series about the history behind famous works tackles Prokofiev’s Fifth. The series is rarely free, so take advantage.
6/4 at 8. Free. Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan. cso.org