Grant Park Music Festival 2025 Season: Guerrero Era Begins

The Grant Park has announced its 2025 season, marking the free classical music organization’s first season led by Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Giancarlo Guerrero.

Guerrero, a 6-time Grammy-winning Costa Rican conductor, was appointed to the role in October 2024, following appearances at the festival leading music by Beethoven and Shostakovich. He takes the reins from Carlos Kalmar, the artistic leader of the festival for a quarter-century.

The Grant Park Music Festival’s 10-week 2025 season spans June 11 to August 16, with most performances being held at Millennium Park’s Pritzker Pavilion.

Season Launch

Opening the season on June 11 is George Gershwin’s euphoric Rhapsody in Blue, which will be conducted from the piano by Andrew Litton. The festive opener also features works by Gabriela Lena Frank and Manuel de Falla.

Next up, on June 13 and 14, longtime festival chorus director Christopher Bell leads an evening capped by Holst’s The Planets that also features Lili Boulanger’s Psalm 24 and Jake Runestad’s Earth Symphony, in the latter work’s Illinois premiere.

Giancarlo Guerrero Residencies

Finally, on Wednesday, June 18, the festival’s new artistic director takes the podium for the first time in his new role. Giancarlo Guerrero leads music by Adolphus Hailstork and Leonard Bernstein in a program anchored by Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, with Jeremy Black as the soloist.

Later that week, Guerrero will lead Gustav Mahler’s Titan Symphony No. 1, which will be complemented by a pair of Illinois premieres from Clarice Assad and Arturo Márquez on Friday, June 20 and Saturday, June 21.

The following week, Guerrero will lead two further programs to close out the first of his two festival residencies of the summer. On June 25, he’ll welcome Imani Winds to perform the Illinois premiere of Valerie Coleman’s Phenomenal Women before leading the evening’s marquee work, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Paris Symphony. Then, on June 27 and 28, Guerrero will conduct Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10 plus works by Augusta Read Thomas and Richard Wagner, this time from the neighboring Harris Theater.

Giancarlo Guerrero returns in August to close out the festival with four programs. On August 1 and 2, he welcomes mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges for “Songs of Love and Life” (from the Harris).

Subsequently, he’ll lead performances built around Stravinsky’s Firebird (August 8 and 9) and the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony (August 13), the latter of which will feature return soloist Clayton Stephenson.

Concluding his first season as Grant Park’s artistic director and principal conductor, Giancarlo Guerrero will lead a performance of Carl Orff’s epic Carmina Burana featuring the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus and vocal soloists Jana McIntyre, John Holiday, and Troy Cook. The season finale will also feature works by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alan Hovhaness.

A Range of Works

The season is filled with high profile masterworks. Those include Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, Debussy’s La Mer, Elgar’s Enigma Variations, and Ravel’s Boléro.

The season features a world premiere by Chicago composer Stacy Garrop (a festival commission), plus the Midwest premiere of a work by 1991-born Chelsea Komschlies (a festival co-commission).

Another substantial group for 2025 is regional premieres — works by Mark Adamo, Margaret Bonds, Peter Lieberson, and Jennifer Higdon have their Illinois premieres, while music by Brian Nabors and Lera Auerbach makes up the slate’s two Chicago premieres.

Guest Appearances

The festival customarily welcomes an impressive roster of guests, and this season is no different.

The season’s artist-in-residence is cellist Inbal Segev, marking her first appearances with the festival. Both will be of contemporary concertos: first performing Mark Adamo’s 2021 Last Year on July 9 and then sharing Anna Clyne’s 2019 DANCE on July 16.

Segev will also be one of the season’s Visiting Masters, alongside festival favorite violinist Augustin Hadelich, pianist Steven Osborne, and Stacy Garrop. Two other visiting masters — Imani Winds and countertenor John Holiday — are making their festival debuts this summer as well.

Osmo Vänskä, Nicole Paiement, Anthony Parnther, and Nicole Paiement are among the conductors visiting Chicago to lead the orchestra.

Also returning are violinists Paul Huang, Jennifer Koh, pianists Clayton Stephenson and Joyce Yang, plus mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges & Chicago-born soprano Janai Brugger.

Other artists making their debuts are Pacho Flores (trumpet), Sankara Harouna (baritone), and Jana McIntyre (soprano).

Special Programming

The festival’s customary Independence Day Salute returns on July 4. Led by the Christopher Bell, the spirited show presents a program of patriotic pieces and features the festival’s principal percussionist, Josh Jones. Bell will also lead the chorus in late June in a program of Holiday Classics at the South Shore Cultural Center.

In late July, the festival welcomes conductor Lawrence Loh to honor the prolific and legendary musical theater duo Rodgers & Hammerstein with orchestral performances of music from Oklahoma!, The Sound of Music, and other beloved titles.

During the Summer, the festival will open its doors to the public for free lunchtime rehearsals. The festival’s Classical Campers musical outreach summer program for students 6-12 will return as well.

Performances on WFMT

Grant Park Music Festival and WFMT’s partnership will continue, with live performances shared for listeners around the world. Program dates and times will be announced as the season approaches.

---

For the full lineup of performances, visit gpmf.org.