Grant Park Music Festival Pritzker Pavilion Red View

The Grant Park Symphony Orchestra or simply the Grant Park Orchestra is a publicly sponsored

symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...

that provides free performances in the

Grant Park Music Festival The Grant Park Music Festival (formerly the Grant Park Concerts) is a ten-week classical music concert series held annually in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It features the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra and Grant Park Chorus along with guest ...

during the summer months in

Millennium Park Millennium Park is a public park located in the Loop community area of Chicago, operated by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. The park, opened in 2004 and intended to celebrate the third millennium, is a prominent civic center near ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. Its sister organization is the Grant Park Chorus; the orchestra and

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

hold both joint appearances and separate performances. The orchestra was founded in 1944 and the chorus in 1962. In 1944, the orchestra was formed under the direction of Walter L. Larsen and

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenure ...

manager George Kuyper.

Rudolph Ganz Rudolph Ganz (24 February 1877 – 2 August 1972) was a Swiss-born American pianist, conductor, composer, and music educator. Career Early career as a pianist and conductor Born in Zurich, Ganz studied cello with Friedrich Hegar and piano w ...

conducted the first concerts. In 1978, when the

Petrillo Music Shell The Petrillo Music Shell (sometimes referred to as the Petrillo Bandshell or formally as the James C. Petrillo Music Shell) is an outdoor amphitheater in Grant Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United Stat ...

was relocated, the Orchestra became part of a tradition of

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Man ...

Eve concerts accompanied by

fireworks Fireworks are a class of Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a l ...

and attended by well over 100,000 spectators. Their rendition of

Pyotr Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

's ''

1812 Overture ''The Year 1812, Solemn Overture'', Op. 49, popularly known as the ''1812 Overture'', is a concert overture in E major written in 1880 by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to commemorate the successful Russian defense against Napoleon ...

'' marked the culmination of the event and was choreographed to be synchronous with

howitzer A howitzer () is a long- ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like ot ...

blasts and a

crescendo In music, the dynamics of a piece is the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Dynamics are indicated by specific musical notation, often in some detail. However, dynamics markings still require interpretation by the performer dependi ...

of fireworks.

Chicago Mayor The mayor of Chicago is the chief executive of city government in Chicago, Illinois, the third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsible for the administration and management of various city departments, submits proposals and ...

Jane Byrne Jane Margaret Byrne (née Burke; May 24, 1933November 14, 2014) was an American politician who was the first woman to be elected mayor of a major city in the United States. She served as the 50th Mayor of Chicago from April 16, 1979, until April ...

wanted to put an end to the large Independence Day Eve concert in order to reduce costs and differentiate herself from her predecessors, but was convinced not to by Grant Park Music Festival concert manager Steven Ovitsky. One year, Byrne celebrated the event with

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...

at her side. In 2000, the Festival reached an agreement with

Cedille Records Cedille Records () is the independent record label of the Chicago Classical Recording Foundation. History In 1989, James Steven Ginsburg, James Ginsburg, the son of Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice of th ...

to record the Grant Park Orchestra. It produced six CDs during the decade:Macaluso, p. 204 * ''American Works for Organ and Orchestra'' (with organist

David Schrader David Schrader (born September 15, 1952 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American harpsichordist, organist, and fortepianist. He is a professor at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University where he teaches music history and conduct ...

), released June 18, 2002 * ''Robert Kurka: Symphony No. 2; Julius Caesar; Music for Orchestra; Serenade for Small Orchestra'' (

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

-nominated), released January 1, 2004 * ''Portraits (with violinist

Jennifer Koh Jennifer Koh (born 1976) is an American violinist, born to Korean parents in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. Life and career Koh earned a B.A. in English Literature from Oberlin College, as well as a Performance Diploma from the attached Oberlin Conservat ...

)'', released May 30, 2006 * ''American Orchestral Works'', released June 27, 2006 * ''Royal Mezzo'' (with mezzo-soprano

Jennifer Larmore Jennifer Larmore (born June 21, 1958) is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer, particularly noted for her performances in coloratura and bel canto roles which she has performed in the world's major opera houses.Slonimsky, Nicolas and Kuhn, ...

), released June 10, 2008 * ''Symphony in Waves: Music Of Aaron Jay Kernis'', released August 12, 2008 At the end of the Grant Park Music Festival season in August, the Orchestra and

Carlos Kalmar Carlos Kalmar (born February 26, 1958, in Montevideo) is a Uruguayan conductor.Macaluso, p. 194 Biography Kalmar began violin studies at age six. At age fifteen, he enrolled at the Vienna Academy of Music where his conducting teacher was Karl ...

presented

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

-winning composer

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

' ''

On the Transmigration of Souls ''On the Transmigration of Souls ''is a composition for orchestra, chorus, children's choir, and pre-recorded tape by the American composer John Adams (born 1947). It was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center's Great Per ...

'', which was written at the request of the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

to honor the victims of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

. Adams won the Pulitzer Prize in 2003 for that particular work.Macaluso, p. 215

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control Musical groups from Chicago Musical groups established in 1944 Orchestras based in Illinois 1944 establishments in Illinois Cedille Records artists