Eleven live broadcasts, between June 15 and August 17 to air on WFMT, on wfmt.com, and via mobile apps
CHICAGO – June 1, 2016 – WFMT, Chicago’s classical and fine arts radio station, today announced its broadcast schedule for Grant Park Music Festival’s 2016 season, from opening night on June 15 through August 17. All broadcasts will begin at 6:30 pm on WFMT, and all concerts (except July 4 as noted below) feature the Grant Park Orchestra.
In a first for the series, on Friday, July 29, the live broadcast will originate from Chicago’s South Shore Cultural Center, led by guest conductor Thomas Wilkins, music director of the Omaha Symphony. Mr. Wilkins also serves as principal conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and is the Germeshausen Family and Youth Concert Conductor chair with the Boston Symphony.
All performances will also be live-streamed on wfmt.com, and will be available on WFMT’s mobile apps for iPhone and Android devices.
“Again this year, WFMT is proud to bring this homegrown music festival to audiences here in Chicago and around the world via the web,” said program director David Polk. “This is a vital part of WFMT’s mission: to present the best classical music and fine arts programming that Chicago has to offer, and to provide a showcase for talented local artists.”
Scheduled artists and repertoire are as follows:
Wednesday, June 15 (opening night)
Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Anne-Marie McDermott and Andrew von Oeyen, pianos
PROGRAM: Barber: Essay #2; Poulenc: Two-Piano Concerto; Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
Wednesday, June 29
Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Juho Pohjonen, piano
PROGRAM: Rimsky-Korsakov: Antar Symphony; Chopin: Piano Concerto #2; Christopher Rouse: Thunderstruck
Monday, July 4
Independence Day Salute
Christopher Bell conducts the Chicago Youth Symphony and the National Youth Choir of Scotland
Wednesday, July 13
Michal Nesterowicz, conductor
Rachel Barton Pine, violin
PROGRAM: Lutoslawski: Little Suite; Bruch: Violin Concerto in G Minor; Schumann: Symphony #4
Friday, July 15
Christopher König, conductor
PROGRAM: Haydn: Symphony #55, Schoolmaster; Bruckner: Symphony #4, Romantic
Friday, July 22
Marin Alsop, conductor
Regina Carter, violin
PROGRAM: Johnson: Harlem Symphony; Ellington: Slave Song/Come Sunday, Imagine My Frustration; Dvorak: Symphony #9, New World; Johnson: Victory Stride
Friday, July 29 (from South Shore Cultural Center)
Thomas Wilkins, conductor
PROGRAM: Berlioz: Roman Carnival Overture; Lehar: Gold and Silver Waltzes; Daugherty: Desi; Saint-Saens: Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah
Mendelssohn: Symphony #4, Italian
Wednesday, August 3
Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Stephen Hough, piano
PROGRAM: MacMillan: Britannia; Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on A Theme by Paganini; Ibert: Escales (Ports of Call)
Friday, August 5
Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Hlengiwe Mkhwanazi, soprano (Ryan Opera Center)
Janai Brugger, soprano; Hoss Brock, tenor; Daniel Eifert, bass; Grant Park Chorus (Christopher Bell, director)
PROGRAM: Michael Gandolfi: New work, world premiere; Mozart: Mass in C Minor, Great
Friday, August 12
Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Kirill Gerstein, piano
PROGRAM: Tchaikovsky: Marche Slave: Piano Concerto #1, original version; Orchestra Suite #3
Wednesday, August 17
Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Christian Tetzlaff, violin
PROGRAM: Mozart: Ballet music from Idomeneo; Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E Minor; Schubert: Symphony #4
About WFMT
WFMT is one of the nation’s most respected classical music radio stations, reaching an audience of 240,000 monthly local listeners and an ever-increasing international audience at wfmt.com/streaming, and also via Apple and Android mobile devices. WFMT showcases superlative programs, concerts, and live events you cannot hear anywhere else – broadcasts from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Metropolitan Opera, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and many more. The WFMT Radio Network is a leading producer and syndicator of a diverse selection of outstanding musical series, including Exploring Music with Bill McGlaughlin, the Beethoven Network, and the Jazz Network. Connect with WFMT on Facebook and Twitter.