CHICAGO (CBS) — The sweet sounds of the orchestra filled the Pritzker Pavilion and Great Lawn in Millennium Park Wednesday evening as the Grant Park Music Festival opened for the season.
The festival is also celebrating its 90th anniversary this year.
CBS 2’s Irika Sargent was the narrator for the first night of the season, featuring Anna Clyne’s “Masquerade,” a Cello Concerto by Antonin Dvořák and Benjamin Britten’s “The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.”
Britten wrote “The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra” at the request of the British Ministry of Education for use in an educational film, and according to Brittanica it premiered in 1946 at a concert in Liverpool, England. Britten’s theme in the work is inspired by Baroque composer Henry Purcell’s rondeau from ‘Abdelazer’, according to the encyclopedia.
Carlos Kalmar, chief conductor of the Grant Park Music Festival since 2000, conducted Wednesday evening. Alban Gerhardt appeared on cello.
On Friday and Sunday evenings, violinist Christian Tetzlaff will play Edward Elgar’s Violin Concerto, and a performance of Gustav Holst’s “The Cloud Messenger” is also on tap.
On Wednesday, June 19, soprano Karen Slack will perform “Songs of Freedom,” including “The Montgomery Variations” by Margaret Bonds, “Five Freedom Songs” by Jessie Montgomery and two pieces by Beethoven. On Friday, June 21, pianist Garrick Ohlsson will perform a piano concerto by Robert Schumann.
This year’s highlights also include the Fourth of July Independence Day Salute featuring patriotic anthems and Broadway classics, and a tribute to the music of film composer John Williams with guest conductor Anthony Parnther on Friday, July 19.
On Saturday, July 20, Parnther will conduct the orchestra again – this time accompanied by singing from Common, which is a special appearance.
On Friday, July 26 and Saturday, July 27, Eric Jacobsen will conduct a performance of the circus-like bombast and majesty of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s 1888 musical interpretation of Arabian Nights, “Scheherezade.”
On Wednesday, July 31, conductor Lucas Waldin will be joined by vocalists LaKisha Jones, Chloe Lowery and Dan Domenech for “Broadway Rocks.” This event features not so much Broadway classics as pop classics that have appeared in famous musicals, from The Who’s “Pinball Wizard” to Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive,” and from Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” to Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” . ”
In addition to these and several other performances at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, concerts this summer will also be held at the South Shore Cultural Center, the Columbus Park Refectory on the West Side, the Harris Theater in Millennium Park and Lake Shore Park in Streeterville. .
This year’s Grant Park Music Festival will feature 10 weeks of performances through August 17.
This will be Kalmar’s last season as conductor.
