Photo: Christopher Neseman
This morning, artistic director and principal conductor Carlos Kalmar announced the Grant Park Music Festival 2020 season, running June 10 through August 15, with performances centered at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park.
Showcasing their participation in the Year of Chicago Music, the Grant Park musicians will welcome back violinist Rachel Barton Pine for the world premiere, festival commission of a concerto by Billy Childs. The summer’s other world premiere — a work by Chicago composer Mischa Zupko — is also a festival commission. Grant Park will also give several Midwest premieres this summer, by Christopher Theofanidis, Arvo Pärt, Judith Weir, and several others.
Kalmar and the orchestra will pay tribute to the 250th birth anniversary of Beethoven, including a week in July featuring the Eroica Symphony, the Piano Concerto No. 4 with Andreas Haefliger, and the Mass in C Major with the Grant Park Chorus directed by Christopher Bell.
Bell will also conduct the annual Independence Day Salute on Saturday, July 4.
Guest artists throughout the summer will include violinist Christian Tetzlaff, pianist Simon Trpčeski, conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya, singers Lauren Decker and Eric Ferring from the Ryan Opera Center, the Polonia Ensemble, Tango 21 Dance Theater, the Soul Children of Chicago, and the Anima — Glen Ellyn Children’s Chorus.
WFMT will continue a longstanding summer tradition of bringing you live concerts from the Grant Park Music Festival. Stay tuned for the announcement of WFMT’s live Grant Park Music Festival 2020 broadcasts.
Grant Park Music Festival 2020 Season
Unless otherwise noted, performances will take place at Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millenium Park.
Beethoven Triple Concerto
Wednesday, June 10 at 6:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra; Carlos Kalmar, conductor; Tempest Trio
Price: Concert Overture No. 1
Beethoven: Triple Concerto
Wagner: Excerpts from Die Meistersinger von Nűrnberg
Brahms Symphony No. 3
Friday, June 12 at 6:30 pm
Saturday, June 13 at 7:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus; Anima – Glen Ellyn Children’s Chorus; Carlos Kalmar, conductor; Christopher Bell, chorus director
Brahms: Symphony No. 3
Judith Weir: We Are Shadows
Mischa Zupko: World Premiere
A World of Dance
Wednesday, June 17 at 6:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra; Carlos Kalmar, conductor; Polonia Ensemble; Tango 21 Dance Theater
Kilar: Polonaise from Pan Tadeusz
Moniuszko: Mazurka from Haunted Manor
Chopin/Douglas: Les sylphides
Villoldo: El Choclo
Gardel: Por una cabeza
Matos Rodríguez: La cumparsita
Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique
Friday, June 19 at 6:30 pm
Saturday, June 20 at 7:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra; Carlos Kalmar, conductor; Janice Carissa, piano
Holmès: Andromède
Ravel: Piano Concerto for the Left Hand
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique
Orpheus In the Underworld
Wednesday, June 24 at 6:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra; Carlos Kalmar, conductor; The Percussion Collective
Offenbach: Overture to Orpheus in the Underworld
Christopher Theofanidis: Drum Circles
Fuchs: Symphony No. 2
Britten Spring Symphony
Friday, June 26 at 6:30 pm
Saturday, June 27 at 7:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus; Carlos Kalmar, conductor; Christopher Bell, chorus director; Anima – Glen Ellyn Children’s Chorus;
Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Overture
Arvo Pärt: In principio
Britten: Spring Symphony
The Soul of Chicago: A Gospel Celebration
Wednesday, July 1 at 6:30 pm; Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Thursday, July 2 at 6:30; South Shore Cultural Center, 7059 S. South Shore Drive
Grant Park Orchestra; Charles Floyd, conductor; Soul Children of Chicago; Walt Whitman, Chorus Director
A program honoring the city’s rich tradition and history of gospel music with the Soul Children of Chicago.
Independence Day Salute
Saturday, July 4 at 7:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra; Christopher Bell, conductor
An evening of patriotic favorites and a Grant Park Music Festival tradition!
Classic Movie Night: Singin’ In The Rain
Wednesday, July 8 at 8:00 pm
Grant Park Orchestra; Norman Huynh, conductor
See the Hollywood classic with live orchestra presented in Technicolor on the huge Millennium Park screen.
Broadway Tonight!
Friday, July 10 at 8:00 pm
Saturday, July 11 at 8:00 pm
Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus; Lawrence Loh, conductor; Madison Claire Parks, vocals; Bronson Norris Murphy, vocals
Stars from Broadway join the orchestra and chorus in songs from Hamilton, West Side Story, Wicked and more.
Sibelius Finlandia
Wednesday, July 15 at 6:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra; David Chan, conductor; Alban Gerhardt, cello
Sibelius: Finlandia
Barber: Cello Concerto
Khachaturian: Suite from Spartacus
Beethoven Eroica Symphony
Friday, July 17 at 6:30 pm
Saturday, July 18 at 7:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra; Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor; Rachel Barton Pine, violin
Victor Agudelo: La Madre de Agua
Billy Childs: Violin Concerto No. 2 (World Premiere)
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3, Eroica
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4
Wednesday, July 22 at 6:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra; Nicole Paiement, conductor; Andreas Haefliger, piano
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4
Dvořák: Symphony No. 8
Haydn Surprise Symphony
Friday, July 24 at 6:30 pm
Saturday, July 25 at 7:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus; Markus Stenz, conductor; Christopher Bell, chorus director
Joey Roukens: Chase
Haydn: Symphony No. 94, Surprise
Beethoven: Mass in C Major
Peter and the Wolf
Wednesday, July 29 at 6:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra; Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Poulenc: The Story of Babar, The Little Elephant
Saint-Saëns: Carnival of the Animals
Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 4
Friday, July 31 at 6:30 pm; Harris Theater, 205 E. Randolph Street
Saturday, August 1 at 7:30 pm; Harris Theater, 205 E. Randolph Street
Grant Park Orchestra; Carlos Kalmar, conductor; Simon Trpčeski, piano
Elena Kats-Chernin: Mythic
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 4
Sibelius: Symphony No. 5
Handel Royal Fireworks
Wednesday, August 5 at 6:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra; Carlos Kalmar, conductor; Simone Lamsma, violin
Handel: Royal Fireworks Music
Bruch: Scottish Fantasy
Davies: An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise
Grant Park Chorus in the Parks: From Ireland with Love
Thursday, August 6 at 6:30 pm; South Shore Cultural Center, 7059 S. South Shore Drive
Monday, August 10 at 6:30 pm; Columbus Park Refectory, 5701 W. Jackson Boulevard
Grant Park Chorus; Christopher Bell, conductor
Christopher Bell and the Grant Park Chorus return to the South Shore Cultural Center and the Columbus Park Refectory for an a cappella concert saluting Chicago’s vibrant Irish community.
Mozart Jupiter Symphony
Friday, August 7 at 6:30 pm
Saturday, August 8 at 7:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra; Carlos Kalmar, conductor; Christian Tetzlaff, violin
Elgar: Violin Concerto
Mozart: Symphony No. 41, Jupiter
Tchaikovsky Sleeping Beauty
Wednesday, August 12 at 6:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra; Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Weber: Overture to Oberon
Tchaikovsky: Suite from Sleeping Beauty
Suk: Fairy Tale
Mendelssohn Elijah
Friday, August 14 at 6:30 pm
Saturday, August 15 at 7:30 pm
Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus; Carlos Kalmar, conductor; Christopher Bell, chorus director
Mendelssohn: Elijah
