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.
Beethoven’s First Symphony
July 14, 2021
Carlos Kalmar conducts this program of music by Beethoven, Haydn, and Anna Clyne.
William Tell Overture
July 7, 2021
Carlos Kalmar conducts the Grant Park Orchestra and guest soloist Joyce Yang, piano, in music by Bizet, Grieg, Rossini, and Perry.
Independence Day Salute
July 2, 2021
The Grant Park Music Festival’s 2021 season premiere is also one of its hallmark programs: the perennial Independence Day Salute, which samples celebratory and quintessentially American music. This year, the concert will be conducted by Christopher Bell and Carlos Kalmar and will feature music by Tchaikovsky, Price, Walker, and Sousa.
Mahler ‘Resurrection Symphony’
August 12, 2020
2020 season finale: The Grant Park Music Festival’s 2019 season came to a close with Mahler’s colossal Symphony No. 2. Soprano Amanda Majeski and mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges joined Carlos Kalmar and the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus for this performance of the Resurrection Symphony.
100 Years of Empowerment
August 5, 2020
In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, the Grant Park Music Festival presents a program of music composed by women, featuring Clara Schumann, Jennifer Higdon, Chicago composer Stacy Garrop, and more.
Latin Nights
July 29, 2020
Guitar virtuoso Pablo Sáinz Villegas joins Carlos Kalmar and the Grant Park Orchestra for a performance of Rodrigo’s Fantasia para un gentilhombre.
Pianist Conrad Tao
July 22, 2020
The rising pianist takes the Pritzker Pavilion stage to perform Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2.
Beethoven Violin Concerto
July 15, 2020
James Ehnes takes the stage for a performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. Carlos Kalmar conducts.
Mozart’s ‘Jupiter Symphony’
July 8, 2020
Carlos Kalmar conducts this program, which also features Nielsen’s Flute Concerto.
An American Celebration
July 1, 2020
A program of American music for Independence Day, featuring James Carter, saxophone. Carlos Kalmar conducts.
Brahms Double Concerto
June 24, 2020
Brother-sister duo Christian and Tanja Tetzlaff share the stage for this performance of Brahms’s Double Concerto. Also featured in this program are works by Weber and Carpenter.
Debussy’s ‘La mer’
June 17, 2020
Carlos Kalmar conducts Debussy’s stirring La mer, plus selections by John Adams and Richard Strauss.
Rachmaninoff Rhapsody
June 10, 2020
Renowned pianist Stephen Hough performs Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Plus, festival principal conductor Carlos Kalmar conducts contemporary composer Sean Shepherd‘s Magiya and Walton’s oratorio Belshazzar’s Feast with bass-baritone Dashon Burton.
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.
