Wednesdays at 6:30 pm
The Grant Park Music Festival is back, and so are WFMT’s live broadcasts!
WFMT is bringing you the very best that the Grant Park Music Festival has to offer this summer, giving you a front-row ticket to the Chicago summertime institution. With live broadcasts featuring scintillating solo performances, rousing choral opuses, and beloved orchestral landmarks, WFMT is your ticket to a whole summer’s worth of great music.
There are no upcoming broadcasts at the moment.
Mahler Symphony No. 2
August 16, 2019
The Grant Park Music Festival’s 2019 season comes to a close with Mahler’s colossal Symphony No. 2. Soprano Amanda Majeski and mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges join Carlos Kalmar and the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus for this performance of the Resurrection Symphony.
Flight of the Bumblebee
August 14, 2019
Maestro Carlos Kalmar leads the Grant Park Orchestra in a mixed program featuring works by Amy Beach, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Morton Gould.
Copland Rodeo
July 31, 2019
Pianist Conrad Tao joins Carlos Kalmar and the Grant Park Orchestra for a performance of Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Also featured in this program are works by MacDowell and Copland.
Dvořák Symphony No. 7
July 26, 2019
Brothers Anthony, clarinet, and Demarre McGill, flute, who hail from Chicago, join guest conductor David Danzmayr and the Grant Park Orchestra to perform Saint-Saëns’ Tarantelle and Joel Puckett Concerto Duo, which was written for them by Joel Puckett. Also featured in this performance are works by Jimmy López and Dvořák.
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3
July 19, 2019
Conductor Martyn Brabbins makes his US debut as pianist Stephen Hough returns to the Grant Park Music Festival to perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3. This program also features works by Vaughan Williams and James MacMillan.
Ravel Mother Goose
July 17, 2019
Works by Ravel, Ginastera, and Bizet are featured as Emmanuel Villaume leads the Grant Park Orchestra and guest harpist Yolanda Kondonassis in this week’s program.
Independence Day Salute
July 4, 2019
Conductor Christopher Bell leads the Grant Park Orchestra and guest artists Mary Stolper, flute, and John Orduña, baritone, in a program of lively and patriotic music celebrating Independence Day.
Brahms Violin Concerto
June 21, 2019
Violinist Augustin Hadelich makes his Grant Park Music Festival debut with this performance of Brahms’ Piano Concerto. The program also features a Shostakovich symphony and the world premiere commission of a work by GPMF composer-in-residence Stacy Garrop.
Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23
June 19, 2019
Pianist Inon Barnatan joins conductor Carlos Kalmar and the Grant Park Orchestra in a performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23. The program also features works of Weber and Busoni.
Opening Night: Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 2
June 12, 2019
The Grant Park Music Festival’s season — and WFMT’s series of 10 live broadcasts from the festival — begins with this mixed program. Conductor Carlos Kalmar leads the Grant Park Orchestra in works of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich and Tchaikovsky, and violinist Benjamin Beilman performs Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1.
Carmina Burana, Closing Night
August 17, 2018
Carlos Kalmar leads the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus; Claire de Sevigne, soprano; Michael Maniaci, countertenor; John Brancy, baritone; members of the Anima – Glen Ellyn Children’s Chorus.
Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1
August 8, 2018
Carlos Kalmar conducts the Grant Park Orchestra and pianist George Li in a program of works by Vincent and Chopin.
Tchaikovsky “Romeo and Juliet”
August 1, 2018
Carlos Kalmar conducts the Grant Park Orchestra in an evening of opera highlights.
Liszt Piano Concerto No. 2
July 25, 2018
Guest conductor Gemma New leads the Grant Park Orchestra in a performance of Piano Concerto No. 2, by Liszt featuring pianist Kirill Gerstein.
Beethoven Symphony No. 2
July 18, 2018
Roderick Cox, guest conductor, leads the Grant Park Orchestra in a performance that features Jeremy Black, violin; Walter Haman, cello; Eric Hall, bassoon; and Nathan Mills, oboe.
Music of the Silver Screen
July 11, 2018
Guest conductor Vinay Parameswaran leads the Grant Park Orchestra in favorites from An American in Paris, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Citizen Kane, Ben Hur and more
Independence Day Salute
July 4, 2018
Christopher Bell leads the Festival’s annual Independence Day tradition, featuring an evening of patriotic favorites, plus George Gershwin’s triumphant Rhapsody in Blue featuring pianist Emily Bear.
Schubert Symphony No. 3
June 27, 2018
Carlos Kalmar conducts the Grant Park Orchestra in a program featuring flutist Adam Walker.
Mozart Violin Concerto
June 15, 2018
Carlos Kalmar conducts the Grant Park orchestra and violin soloist William Hagen.
Opening Night – Haydn and Walton
June 13, 2018
Carlos Kalmar conducts the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus in a program that features baritone soloist Dashon Burton from the Grammy Award-winning group Roomful of Teeth. Below, Michael San Gabino interviews Grant Park audience and artists before the opening night concert.
