The Grant Park Music Festival at Millennium Park (Photo: Christopher Neseman)
Today, the Grant Park Music Festival announced its 2019 season of concerts. The eighty-fifth annual season opens June 12 and will run through August 17, with most performances taking place at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park.
New this year is the Festival Next initiative, designed to nurture the next generation of artists and audiences. Festival Next will feature recitals and master classes with guest artists among other projects. Grant Park also will continue Festival Connect, to increase music education and engagement opportunities for audiences and young musicians, via Project Inclusion, in partnership with the Chicago Sinfonietta.
Musical highlights include Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, the annual Independence Day Salute, a Classic Movie Night featuring The Wizard of Oz, a Broadway-and-Hollywood tribute, the Mambo Kings with Hot Latin Nights, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2. Guest soloists this season include soprano Susanna Phillips, pianists Stephen Hough and Inon Barnatan, violinists Augustin Hadelich and Vadim Gluzman, and harpist Yolanda Kondonassis.
The festival will present four world-premiere commissions, including a new work by Chicago’s Stacy Garrop.
WFMT will present live broadcasts of ten Grant Park concerts, including opening night, the Independence Day Salute, and the concluding Mahler symphony. You can listen to these live WFMT broadcasts on 98.7 FM, wfmt.com, or the WFMT app.
Grant Park Music Festival 2019 Season
* indicates WFMT live broadcasts
Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 2*
Wednesday, June 12 at 6:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra; Carlos Kalmar, conductor; Benjamin Beilman, violin
Jubilation, by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich
Violin Concerto No. 1, by Prokofiev
Symphony No. 2, Little Russian, by Tchaikovsky
Beethoven Symphony No. 8
Friday, June 14 at 6:30 pm
Saturday, June 15 at 7:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus; Carlos Kalmar, conductor; Christopher Bell, chorus director
Karelia Overture, by Sibelius
Symphony No. 8, by Beethoven
World Premiere, by Kareem Roustom
Symphony No. 6, Choral Symphony, by Carl Vine
Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23*
Wednesday, June 19 at 6:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra; Carlos Kalmar, conductor; Inon Barnatan, piano
Overture to Preciosa, by Weber
Piano Concerto No. 23, by Mozart
Symphonic Suite, by Busoni
Brahms Violin Concerto*
Friday, June 21 at 6:30 pm
Saturday, June 22 at 7:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra; Carlos Kalmar, conductor; Augustin Hadelich, violin
World Premiere, by Stacy Garrop
Symphony No. 1, by Shostakovich
Violin Concerto, by Brahms
A Night in Vienna: Emperor Waltzes and More
Wednesday, June 26 at 6:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra; Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Waltzes, polkas, and other popular favorites by the Strauss family
Beethoven Missa Solemnis
Friday, June 28 at 6:30 pm
Saturday, June 29 at 7:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus; Carlos Kalmar, conductor; Christopher Bell, chorus director; Susanna Phillips, soprano; Siena Miller, mezzo-soprano; Andrew Owens, tenor; Michael Sumuel, bass
Missa Solemnis, by Beethoven
Independence Day Salute*
Thursday, July 4 at 6:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra; Christopher Bell, conductor; Alicia Hall Moran, vocalist
An evening of patriotic favorites and a Grant Park Music Festival tradition!
Gershwin Piano Concerto
Friday, July 5 at 6:30 pm
Saturday, July 6 at 7:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra; Carlos Kalmar, conductor; Jeffrey Kahane, piano; Alicia Hall Moran, soprano; Holland Andrews, Holcombe Wailers, Gabriel Kahane, vocalists
Piano Concerto, by Gershwin
emergency shelter intake form, by Gabriel Kahane
Copland Appalachian Spring
Monday, July 8 at 7:00 pm; South Shore Cultural Center, 7059 S. South Shore Drive
Thursday, July 11 at 7:00 pm; Columbus Park Refectory, 5701 W. Jackson Boulevard
Members of the Grant Park Orchestra; Jeremy Black, conductor and violin; Anne Bach, oboe
St. Paul’s Suite, by Holst
Concerto for Two Violins, by J.S. Bach
Suite from Appalachian Spring, by Copland
Classic Movie Night: The Wizard of Oz
Wednesday, July 10 at 8:00 pm
Grant Park Orchestra; Norman Huynh, conductor
The Grant Park Orchestra provides the live soundtrack to one of the greatest films in cinema history, on the large Millennium Park screen.
The Envelope Please: A Tribute to Broadway and Hollywood’s Best
Friday, July 12 at 8:00 pm
Saturday, July 13 at 8:00 pm
Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus; Larry Loh, conductor; Susan Egan and Doug LaBrecque, vocalists
An evening of Grammy, Tony, and Academy Award-winning music, including songs from The Lion King, Wicked, The Phantom of the Opera and more, plus tributes to Marvin Hamlisch and John Williams. Featuring the Grant Park Chorus and stars from Broadway.
Ravel Mother Goose*
Wednesday, July 17 at 6:30 pm
Emmanuel Villaume, conductor; Yolanda Kondonassis, harp
Suite from Mother Goose, by Ravel
Harp Concerto, by Ginastera
Symphony No. 1, by Bizet
Grant Park Chorus in the Parks
Thursday, July 18 at 7:00 pm; Columbus Park Refectory, 5701 W. Jackson Boulevard
Monday, July 22 at 7:00 pm; South Shore Cultural Center, 7059 S. South Shore Drive
Christopher Bell, conductor
An evening of a cappella works, including a world premiere by Lori Laitman
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3*
Friday, July 19 at 6:30 pm
Saturday, July 20 at 7:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra; Martyn Brabbins, conductor; Stephen Hough, piano
Stomp, by James MacMillan
Piano Concerto No. 3, by Beethoven
Symphony No. 2, A London Symphony, by Vaughan Williams
Tchaikovsky Swan Lake
Wednesday, July 24 at 6:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra; Christian Măcelaru, conductor; Edgar Moreau, cello
Cello Concerto, by Gulda
Suite from Swan Lake, by Tchaikovsky
Dvořák Symphony No. 7*
Friday, July 26 at 6:30 pm
Saturday, July 27 at 7:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra; David Danzmayr, conductor; Anthony McGill, clarinet; Demarre McGill, flute
Fiesta!, by Jimmy Lopez
Concerto Duo, by Joel Puckett
Tarantelle, by Saint-Saëns
Symphony No. 7, by Dvořák
Copland Rodeo*
Wednesday, July 31 at 6:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra; Carlos Kalmar, conductor; Conrad Tao, piano
Suite No. 2, Indian, by MacDowell
Piano Concerto No. 2, by Shostakovich
Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo, by Copland
Mozart Prague Symphony
Friday, August 2 at 6:30 pm; Harris Theater, 205 E. Randolph Street
Saturday, August 3 at 7:30 pm; Harris Theater, 205 E. Randolph Street
Grant Park Orchestra; Carlos Kalmar, conductor; Vadim Gluzman, violin
blue cathedral, by Jennifer Higdon
Serenade, by Bernstein
Hommage à Stravinsky, by Ole Schmidt
Symphony No. 38, Prague, by Mozart
The Mambo Kings: Hot Latin Nights
Wednesday, August 7 at 6:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra; Carlos Kalmar, conductor; Mambo Kings
The Mambo Kings join the Grant Park Orchestra to share a program of Latin America and the US featuring music by Gershwin and arrangements of The Beatles, Dave Brubeck, Tito Puento, and more.
A Mass of Life: A Celebration of the Human Spirit
Friday, August 9 at 6:30 pm
Saturday, August 10 at 7:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus; Carlos Kalmar, conductor; Christopher Bell, chorus director; Melody Moore, soprano; Ewa Plonka, mezzo-soprano; Andrew Staples, tenor; Nathan Berg, bass-baritone
A Mass of Life, by Delius
Flight of the Bumblebee*
Wednesday, August 14 at 6:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra; Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Variations on a Balkan Theme, by Beach
Suite from The Tale of Tsar Saltan, by Rimsky-Korsakov
Cowboy Rhapsody, by Morton Gould
Mahler Symphony No. 2*
Friday, August 16 at 6:30 pm
Saturday, August 17 at 7:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra; Carlos Kalmar, conductor; Christopher Bell, chorus director; Amanda Majeski, soprano; J’Nai Bridges, mezzo-soprano
Symphony No. 2, Resurrection, by Mahler
