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Press Releases
Chicago’s Grant Park Music Festival
CHICAGO (May 14, 2010) – Chicago’s Grant Park Music Festival, comprised of the Grammy®-nominated Grant Park Orchestra and the award-winning Grant Park Chorus led by Principal Conductor Carlos Kalmar and Chorus Director Christopher Bell, will present its 76th season of classical music concerts at the state-of-the-art Frank Gehry-designed Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, June 16 – August 21, 2010. The concerts, which are always free and open to the public, generally take place on Wednesday and Friday evenings at 6:30 p.m., and Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m. Additional concert program times and locations are noted.
Under the leadership of new Executive Director Elizabeth Hurley, the Festival will embark on an ambitious ten-week season of 31 concerts. “The Grant Park Music Festival plays an extraordinary role in making classical music as well as other music and art forms accessible to all Chicagoans and visitors. One of the most important roles the Festival plays is finding innovative ways of partnering with other art organizations on projects that stretch the boundaries. This year we are delighted to be working with the Goodman Theatre, Lyric Opera Center’s Ryan Opera Center, Pink Martini, the BBC, the Mexican and Polish Consulates of Chicago, Music Without Borders, in addition to dozens of stellar guest artists,” said Hurley.
Other important new initiatives include the ability for groups to reserve seats behind the orchestra in the choral risers for selected programs and the creation of the Impresario Society, an organization to honor major donors to the Festival which provides access to a variety of exclusive pre- and post- concert events and offers recognition to those individuals who seek to play a leading role in supporting the Festival.
This summer the Festival also celebrates Principal Conductor Carlos Kalmar’s 10th Anniversary with a series of special events, including a pair of season finale performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 during which Kalmar’s leadership will be commemorated.
The Grant Park Music Festival launches its 76th Season with violinist Elina Vähälä who makes her Grant Park Music Festival debut alongside the Grant Park Orchestra with Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, on a program also including Berlioz’s Roman Carnival and Respighi’s Feste Romane, June 16. The Grant Park Chorus performs its first concert of the season with the Orchestra with Beethoven’s Mass in C Major and Haydn’s Te Deum, featuring soprano Amber Wagner, mezzo soprano Kathryn Leemhuis, tenor Bryan Griffin, and bass Paul Whelan, in two performances, June 18 & 19. Pink Martini makes its swinging Millennium Park debut under the baton of Maestro Kalmar, June 23, while the Orchestra and Chorus perform works by three Pulitzer Prize-winning composers – William Schuman, Leo Sowerby and Aaron Copland – at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, June 25 & 26. Closing out the month is a celebration of Chopin’s 200th birthday with a performance of his Piano Concerto No. 1 with guest pianist, Krzysztof Jablonski and guest conductor Krzysztof Urbanski in a Polish music-themed program entitled Muzyka Polska, June 30.
Grant Park Music Festival June Schedule: June 16 – 30, 2010
* All concerts take place at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion unless otherwise noted *
VIVALDI: FOUR SEASONS Wednesday, June 16 at 6:30 p.m. Grant Park Orchestra; Carlos Kalmar, Conductor; Elina Vähälä, violin
BERLIOZ Roman Carnival VIVALDI Four Seasons RESPIGHI Feste Romane
The 2010 Grant Park Music Festival season marks Maestro Kalmar’s 10th Anniversary as Principal Conductor of the Grant Park Orchestra. Carlos Kalmar is also the Music Director of the Oregon Symphony, a position he’s held since 2003, and in September 2011, he will take on additional duties as the Music Director of the Spanish Radio/Television Orchestra in Madrid. This past spring, Kalmar was also honored to have been asked to guest conduct the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Kalmar has served in artistic leadership roles for the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra, the Opera House and Philharmonic Orchestra in Dessau, Germany and the Tonkünstler Orchestra in Vienna, while also traveling the world as a Guest Conductor appearing with the world’s most important orchestras. He has recorded six CDs with the Grant Park Orchestra.
Joining Kalmar and the Grant Park Orchestra is guest violinist, Elina Vähälä, from Finland, whose versatility has allowed her repertoire to range from the baroque to the contemporary. She has served as a soloist and a chamber musician on five continents since her orchestra debut with Sinfonia Lahti in 1987at the age of 12. In December 2008, she performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony and Concert which was broadcast to millions of television viewers across the world. Vähälä has recently launched Violin Academy, an educational project for young Finnish violinists and her quartet, QUADRION, is making its season debut in November in Finland.
This program is sponsored by ComEd. BEETHOVEN: MASS IN C MAJOR Friday, June 18 at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, June 19 at 7:30 p.m. Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus; Carlos Kalmar, Conductor; Christopher Bell, Chorus Director; Amber Wagner, Soprano; Kathryn Leemhuis, Mezzo Soprano; Bryan Griffin, Tenor; Paul Whelan, Bass
HAYDN Te Deum HINDEMITH Nobilissima Visione: Suite BEETHOVEN Mass in C Major, op. 86
This concert marks the first performance of Nobilissima Visione: Suite by the Grant Park Orchestra.
The critically-acclaimed Grant Park Chorus, recipient of the prestigious “Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence for 2006” from Chorus America, was formed in 1962 by Thomas Peck, who led the group until his death in 1994. His protégé, Michael Cullen, then led the chorus until his untimely passing three years later. Christopher Bell was named the Chorus Director in 2002, rounding out the Festival’s current artistic leadership roster. Bell also serves as Chorusmaster of the prestigious Edinburgh International Festival, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) Junior Chorus and the Belfast Philharmonic Choir. He continues to work with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and recently made debuts in Namibia and Scandinavia.
Amber Wagner has been a member of the Patrick G. and Shirley Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago since 2007, and was featured in the documentary “The Audition” which opened to audiences nationwide in 2009. She recently played the role of Feklusa in Katya Kabanova under Markus Stenz, among many others. Kathryn Leemhuis, also a member of the Ryan Opera Center, has covered roles such as Marguerite in Berlioz’s La damnation de Faust and Marcellina in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. She performed the role of Amaltea in Rossini’s Mosè in Egitto at the Chicago Opera Theater this past spring, and she will assume the role of Paquette in Bernstein/Mauceri's Vocal Suite from Candide at the Ravinia Festival this summer.
Tenor Bryan Griffin, a recent graduate of the Ryan Opera Center, has performed roles at the Lyric Opera including Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Fenton in Falstaff, and Tybalt in Roméo et Juliette. His past engagements include performances with the Austin Symphony, Nashville Symphony, and the Phoenix Symphony. Bass, Paul Whelan, who originally started out as a baritone, has performed with many major companies throughout the world. His recent engagements in included a return to the Metropolitan Opera and a performance as Valens in Handel’s Theodora with the Northern Sinfonia at Gateshead and bass soloist in Mozart’s Coronation Mass with Eugene Symphony Orchestra.
PINK MARTINI Wednesday, June 23 at 6:30 p.m. Grant Park Orchestra; Carlos Kalmar, Conductor; Pink Martini
Under the direction of bandleader/pianist Thomas Lauderdale, the popular Portland, Oregon-based Pink Martini is a self-proclaimed “little orchestra,” crossing genres of classical, jazz and old-fashioned pop music. In 2011 Pink Martini will release a new album which will feature the collaboration of Carlos Kalmar conducting the Oregon Symphony.
Pink Martini, founded by Lauderdale in 1994 to provide musical soundtracks for political fundraisers for progressive causes, has grown to perform its multi-lingual repertoire on concert stages and with symphony orchestras around the world. Its debut album Sympathique was released in 1997 on the band’s own label Heinz Records (named after Lauderdale’s dog), and quickly became an international phenomenon, garnering the group nominations for “Song of the Year” and “Best New Artist” in France’s Victoires de la Musique Awards in 2000. Two more recordings followed, selling more than 2 million copies worldwide. In partnership with Public Television, the band filmed and in 2009 released a live concert DVD entitled “Discover the World.” This special concert collaboration with the Grant Park Orchestra marks Pink Martini’s Millennium Park debut. THE PULITZER PROJECT Friday, June 25 at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, June 26 at 7:30 p.m. *Harris Theater for Music and Dance Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus; Carlos Kalmar, Conductor; Christopher Bell, Chorus Director
SCHUMAN A Free Song, Secular Cantata No. 2 COPLAND Appalachian Spring: Suite SOWERBY The Canticle of the Sun
This unique program highlights works composed by three Pulitzer Prize winners: William Schuman, Leo Sowerby and Aaron Copland. William Schuman (1910-1992) won the first Pulitzer Prize ever awarded for music for his A Free Song in 1942, which takes its texts from Drum Taps, Walt Whitman’s powerful response to his observations and feelings while volunteering for much of the Civil War in the hospitals of Washington, D.C. A Free Song, which had its debut in Boston under the direction of Sergei Koussevitsky, will be performed for the first time by the Grant Park Orchestra. Leo Sowerby (1895-1968) was recognized with a Pulitzer Prize in 1946 for his work, The Canticle of the Sun, a setting of the hymn Caticum Solis that St. Francis of Assisi was said to have composed in late 1224 while recovering from illness.
Sowerby’s work continues to be performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra and New York Philharmonic; this performance of Canticle of the Sun marks the first by the Grant Park Orchestra. Aaron Copland’s (1900-1990) Appalachian Spring was part of his dance series “Americana” that won him both a Pulitzer Prize and a New York Music Critics' Circle Award in 1945. The composition was originally commissioned to accompany a work by dancer/choreographer Martha Graham, and proved a perfect match for Copland’s direct, quintessentially American style.
This program is sponsored by JP Morgan Chase.
MUZYKA POLSKA Wednesday, June 30 at 8:00 p.m. Krzysztof Urbanski, guest conductor; Krzysztof Jablonski, piano
KILAR Krzesany CHOPIN Piano Concerto No. 1, op 11 LUTOSLAWSKI Concerto for Orchestra
The final concert in the month of June honors Chopin’s 200th Birthday with a gala celebration of Polish music entitled “Muzyka Polska.” This concert will be dedicated to the memory of the President of the Republic of Poland, his wife and other dignitaries who tragically lost their lives on April 10, 2010.
This program is being broadcast live on WFMT 98.7 FM and being sponsored by LOT Airlines.
Its centerpiece- Frédéric Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1- was composed in 1830 and was first performed in Warsaw, as one of Chopin’s "farewell" concerts before leaving the country. Soon after its debut, Chopin left Poland for Vienna as his music acquired recognition throughout Western Europe. As one of his first piano concertos to be published, it contains three movements: Allegro maestoso, Romance – Larghetto, Rondo –Vivace.
Wojciech Kilar’s Krzesany, self-described as a “symphonic poem for orchestra,” begins the program. Krzesany, translated as “highland dancing,” received its premiere in 1974 by the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, and this performance marks its first by the Grant Park Orchestra. Kilar, since scoring his first movie in his native Poland in 1958, has contributed to more than 150 feature films and television shows while maintaining a parallel career as one of his country’s most respected concert composers. The final piece of this program, Witold Lutoslawski’s Concerto for Orchestra, was first performed in 1954 and was dedicated to Warsaw Philharmonic artistic director, Witold Rowicki. Lutoslawski was known for his folkloric style, and this piece has been called his “crowning achievement.” Concerto for Orchestra will be performed for the first time by the Grant Park Orchestra.
Guest conductor Krzysztof Urbanski was recently named Chief Conductor of Trondheim Symfoniorkester. Before landing this position, Urbanski graduated from the Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw in 2007, the same year he won First Prize Winner of the Prague Spring International Conducting Competition. He currently works with major Polish orchestras, including Sinfonia Varsovia, the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra. Guest violinist and Poland native, Krzysztof Jablonski has been playing the piano since the age of five. After receiving his Ph.D. at the Academy of Music in Katowice, Poland, Jablonski closely collaborated with Grand Theatre - National Opera in Warsaw. As a recognized Chopin expert, he has been a Professor of the F. Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw since 2004. Jablonski also performed the music for a ballet entitled Fortepianissimo, developed around the music of Chopin in the 1999-2000 season.
Membership Information, Ticket Prices and Additional Programming
All Grant Park Music Festival performances are free to the public. Open lawn and pavilion seating are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Season memberships to the Festival are available, starting at $135 for more than 30 concerts, which include reserved seating or access to reserved sections for all concerts. Reserved group seating is also available for most concerts, including new group seating for certain concerts on the on-stage choral risers.
Membership and group sales information is available by calling 312-742-7638 or by visiting the Festival’s website at www.grantparkmusicfestival.com.
About Grant Park Music Festival
Acclaimed by critics and beloved by audiences, the Grant Park Music Festival is the nation’s only free, municipally-supported, summer-long outdoor classical music series of its kind. The Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, located between Michigan and Columbus Avenues, at Washington Street, is the official home of the Grant Park Music Festival. The Festival is led by Principal Conductor Carlos Kalmar, Chorus Director Christopher Bell, Board President Beth Rodriguez, and Executive Director Elizabeth Hurley.
Founded by the Chicago Park District in 1935 and co-presented by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and the Grant Park Orchestral Association since 2001, the Grant Park Music Festival will present 31 concerts between June 16 and August 21, 2010, typically on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday nights.
Convenient parking is located in the Millennium Park Garage (entrance on Columbus at Monroe or Randolph) and at the Grant Park North and East Monroe Garages, all located within walking distance to Millennium Park.
The Grant Park Music Festival is proudly presented by the Chicago Park District, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and the Grant Park Orchestral Association. American Airlines is the Official Airline; The Fairmont Chicago is the Official Hotel.
About Millennium Park
Millennium Park, managed and programmed by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, is an award-winning center for art, music, architecture, and landscape design. The result of a unique partnership between the City of Chicago and philanthropic community, the 24.5 acre park features the work of world-renowned architects, planners, artists and designers. In addition to the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, the most sophisticated outdoor concert venue of its kind in the United States, the Park’s prominent features include the interactive Crown Fountain by Jaume Plensa; the contemporary Lurie Garden designed by the team of Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, Piet Oudolf and Robert Israel; and Anish Kapoor’s hugely popular Cloud Gate sculpture. Since opening in June 2004, Millennium Park has welcomed more than 20 million people, making it one of the most popular destinations in Chicago. For more information regarding the Grant Park Music Festival, please call the Grant Park Music Festival at 312-742-7638 or visit the Festival’s website at www.grantparkmusicfestival.com. Concert information is subject to change.
# # #
EDITOR’S NOTE: Please note the following date change for the Independence Day concert which will take place on Saturday, July 3 at 1:30 p.m.
Under the leadership of new Executive Director Elizabeth Hurley, the Festival will embark on an ambitious ten-week season of 31 concerts. “The Grant Park Music Festival plays an extraordinary role in making classical music as well as other music and art forms accessible to all Chicagoans and visitors. One of the most important roles the Festival plays is finding innovative ways of partnering with other art organizations on projects that stretch the boundaries. This year we are delighted to be working with the Goodman Theatre, Lyric Opera Center’s Ryan Opera Center, Pink Martini, the BBC, the Mexican and Polish Consulates of Chicago, Music Without Borders, in addition to dozens of stellar guest artists,” said Hurley.
Other important new initiatives include the ability for groups to reserve seats behind the orchestra in the choral risers for selected programs and the creation of the Impresario Society, an organization to honor major donors to the Festival which provides access to a variety of exclusive pre- and post- concert events and offers recognition to those individuals who seek to play a leading role in supporting the Festival.
This summer the Festival also celebrates Principal Conductor Carlos Kalmar’s 10th Anniversary with a series of special events, including a pair of season finale performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 during which Kalmar’s leadership will be commemorated.
The Grant Park Music Festival launches its 76th Season with violinist Elina Vähälä who makes her Grant Park Music Festival debut alongside the Grant Park Orchestra with Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, on a program also including Berlioz’s Roman Carnival and Respighi’s Feste Romane, June 16. The Grant Park Chorus performs its first concert of the season with the Orchestra with Beethoven’s Mass in C Major and Haydn’s Te Deum, featuring soprano Amber Wagner, mezzo soprano Kathryn Leemhuis, tenor Bryan Griffin, and bass Paul Whelan, in two performances, June 18 & 19. Pink Martini makes its swinging Millennium Park debut under the baton of Maestro Kalmar, June 23, while the Orchestra and Chorus perform works by three Pulitzer Prize-winning composers – William Schuman, Leo Sowerby and Aaron Copland – at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, June 25 & 26. Closing out the month is a celebration of Chopin’s 200th birthday with a performance of his Piano Concerto No. 1 with guest pianist, Krzysztof Jablonski and guest conductor Krzysztof Urbanski in a Polish music-themed program entitled Muzyka Polska, June 30.
Grant Park Music Festival June Schedule: June 16 – 30, 2010
* All concerts take place at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion unless otherwise noted *
VIVALDI: FOUR SEASONS Wednesday, June 16 at 6:30 p.m. Grant Park Orchestra; Carlos Kalmar, Conductor; Elina Vähälä, violin
BERLIOZ Roman Carnival VIVALDI Four Seasons RESPIGHI Feste Romane
The 2010 Grant Park Music Festival season marks Maestro Kalmar’s 10th Anniversary as Principal Conductor of the Grant Park Orchestra. Carlos Kalmar is also the Music Director of the Oregon Symphony, a position he’s held since 2003, and in September 2011, he will take on additional duties as the Music Director of the Spanish Radio/Television Orchestra in Madrid. This past spring, Kalmar was also honored to have been asked to guest conduct the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Kalmar has served in artistic leadership roles for the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra, the Opera House and Philharmonic Orchestra in Dessau, Germany and the Tonkünstler Orchestra in Vienna, while also traveling the world as a Guest Conductor appearing with the world’s most important orchestras. He has recorded six CDs with the Grant Park Orchestra.
Joining Kalmar and the Grant Park Orchestra is guest violinist, Elina Vähälä, from Finland, whose versatility has allowed her repertoire to range from the baroque to the contemporary. She has served as a soloist and a chamber musician on five continents since her orchestra debut with Sinfonia Lahti in 1987at the age of 12. In December 2008, she performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony and Concert which was broadcast to millions of television viewers across the world. Vähälä has recently launched Violin Academy, an educational project for young Finnish violinists and her quartet, QUADRION, is making its season debut in November in Finland.
This program is sponsored by ComEd. BEETHOVEN: MASS IN C MAJOR Friday, June 18 at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, June 19 at 7:30 p.m. Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus; Carlos Kalmar, Conductor; Christopher Bell, Chorus Director; Amber Wagner, Soprano; Kathryn Leemhuis, Mezzo Soprano; Bryan Griffin, Tenor; Paul Whelan, Bass
HAYDN Te Deum HINDEMITH Nobilissima Visione: Suite BEETHOVEN Mass in C Major, op. 86
This concert marks the first performance of Nobilissima Visione: Suite by the Grant Park Orchestra.
The critically-acclaimed Grant Park Chorus, recipient of the prestigious “Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence for 2006” from Chorus America, was formed in 1962 by Thomas Peck, who led the group until his death in 1994. His protégé, Michael Cullen, then led the chorus until his untimely passing three years later. Christopher Bell was named the Chorus Director in 2002, rounding out the Festival’s current artistic leadership roster. Bell also serves as Chorusmaster of the prestigious Edinburgh International Festival, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) Junior Chorus and the Belfast Philharmonic Choir. He continues to work with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and recently made debuts in Namibia and Scandinavia.
Amber Wagner has been a member of the Patrick G. and Shirley Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago since 2007, and was featured in the documentary “The Audition” which opened to audiences nationwide in 2009. She recently played the role of Feklusa in Katya Kabanova under Markus Stenz, among many others. Kathryn Leemhuis, also a member of the Ryan Opera Center, has covered roles such as Marguerite in Berlioz’s La damnation de Faust and Marcellina in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. She performed the role of Amaltea in Rossini’s Mosè in Egitto at the Chicago Opera Theater this past spring, and she will assume the role of Paquette in Bernstein/Mauceri's Vocal Suite from Candide at the Ravinia Festival this summer.
Tenor Bryan Griffin, a recent graduate of the Ryan Opera Center, has performed roles at the Lyric Opera including Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Fenton in Falstaff, and Tybalt in Roméo et Juliette. His past engagements include performances with the Austin Symphony, Nashville Symphony, and the Phoenix Symphony. Bass, Paul Whelan, who originally started out as a baritone, has performed with many major companies throughout the world. His recent engagements in included a return to the Metropolitan Opera and a performance as Valens in Handel’s Theodora with the Northern Sinfonia at Gateshead and bass soloist in Mozart’s Coronation Mass with Eugene Symphony Orchestra.
PINK MARTINI Wednesday, June 23 at 6:30 p.m. Grant Park Orchestra; Carlos Kalmar, Conductor; Pink Martini
Under the direction of bandleader/pianist Thomas Lauderdale, the popular Portland, Oregon-based Pink Martini is a self-proclaimed “little orchestra,” crossing genres of classical, jazz and old-fashioned pop music. In 2011 Pink Martini will release a new album which will feature the collaboration of Carlos Kalmar conducting the Oregon Symphony.
Pink Martini, founded by Lauderdale in 1994 to provide musical soundtracks for political fundraisers for progressive causes, has grown to perform its multi-lingual repertoire on concert stages and with symphony orchestras around the world. Its debut album Sympathique was released in 1997 on the band’s own label Heinz Records (named after Lauderdale’s dog), and quickly became an international phenomenon, garnering the group nominations for “Song of the Year” and “Best New Artist” in France’s Victoires de la Musique Awards in 2000. Two more recordings followed, selling more than 2 million copies worldwide. In partnership with Public Television, the band filmed and in 2009 released a live concert DVD entitled “Discover the World.” This special concert collaboration with the Grant Park Orchestra marks Pink Martini’s Millennium Park debut. THE PULITZER PROJECT Friday, June 25 at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, June 26 at 7:30 p.m. *Harris Theater for Music and Dance Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus; Carlos Kalmar, Conductor; Christopher Bell, Chorus Director
SCHUMAN A Free Song, Secular Cantata No. 2 COPLAND Appalachian Spring: Suite SOWERBY The Canticle of the Sun
This unique program highlights works composed by three Pulitzer Prize winners: William Schuman, Leo Sowerby and Aaron Copland. William Schuman (1910-1992) won the first Pulitzer Prize ever awarded for music for his A Free Song in 1942, which takes its texts from Drum Taps, Walt Whitman’s powerful response to his observations and feelings while volunteering for much of the Civil War in the hospitals of Washington, D.C. A Free Song, which had its debut in Boston under the direction of Sergei Koussevitsky, will be performed for the first time by the Grant Park Orchestra. Leo Sowerby (1895-1968) was recognized with a Pulitzer Prize in 1946 for his work, The Canticle of the Sun, a setting of the hymn Caticum Solis that St. Francis of Assisi was said to have composed in late 1224 while recovering from illness.
Sowerby’s work continues to be performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra and New York Philharmonic; this performance of Canticle of the Sun marks the first by the Grant Park Orchestra. Aaron Copland’s (1900-1990) Appalachian Spring was part of his dance series “Americana” that won him both a Pulitzer Prize and a New York Music Critics' Circle Award in 1945. The composition was originally commissioned to accompany a work by dancer/choreographer Martha Graham, and proved a perfect match for Copland’s direct, quintessentially American style.
This program is sponsored by JP Morgan Chase.
MUZYKA POLSKA Wednesday, June 30 at 8:00 p.m. Krzysztof Urbanski, guest conductor; Krzysztof Jablonski, piano
KILAR Krzesany CHOPIN Piano Concerto No. 1, op 11 LUTOSLAWSKI Concerto for Orchestra
The final concert in the month of June honors Chopin’s 200th Birthday with a gala celebration of Polish music entitled “Muzyka Polska.” This concert will be dedicated to the memory of the President of the Republic of Poland, his wife and other dignitaries who tragically lost their lives on April 10, 2010.
This program is being broadcast live on WFMT 98.7 FM and being sponsored by LOT Airlines.
Its centerpiece- Frédéric Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1- was composed in 1830 and was first performed in Warsaw, as one of Chopin’s "farewell" concerts before leaving the country. Soon after its debut, Chopin left Poland for Vienna as his music acquired recognition throughout Western Europe. As one of his first piano concertos to be published, it contains three movements: Allegro maestoso, Romance – Larghetto, Rondo –Vivace.
Wojciech Kilar’s Krzesany, self-described as a “symphonic poem for orchestra,” begins the program. Krzesany, translated as “highland dancing,” received its premiere in 1974 by the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, and this performance marks its first by the Grant Park Orchestra. Kilar, since scoring his first movie in his native Poland in 1958, has contributed to more than 150 feature films and television shows while maintaining a parallel career as one of his country’s most respected concert composers. The final piece of this program, Witold Lutoslawski’s Concerto for Orchestra, was first performed in 1954 and was dedicated to Warsaw Philharmonic artistic director, Witold Rowicki. Lutoslawski was known for his folkloric style, and this piece has been called his “crowning achievement.” Concerto for Orchestra will be performed for the first time by the Grant Park Orchestra.
Guest conductor Krzysztof Urbanski was recently named Chief Conductor of Trondheim Symfoniorkester. Before landing this position, Urbanski graduated from the Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw in 2007, the same year he won First Prize Winner of the Prague Spring International Conducting Competition. He currently works with major Polish orchestras, including Sinfonia Varsovia, the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra. Guest violinist and Poland native, Krzysztof Jablonski has been playing the piano since the age of five. After receiving his Ph.D. at the Academy of Music in Katowice, Poland, Jablonski closely collaborated with Grand Theatre - National Opera in Warsaw. As a recognized Chopin expert, he has been a Professor of the F. Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw since 2004. Jablonski also performed the music for a ballet entitled Fortepianissimo, developed around the music of Chopin in the 1999-2000 season.
Membership Information, Ticket Prices and Additional Programming
All Grant Park Music Festival performances are free to the public. Open lawn and pavilion seating are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Season memberships to the Festival are available, starting at $135 for more than 30 concerts, which include reserved seating or access to reserved sections for all concerts. Reserved group seating is also available for most concerts, including new group seating for certain concerts on the on-stage choral risers.
Membership and group sales information is available by calling 312-742-7638 or by visiting the Festival’s website at www.grantparkmusicfestival.com.
About Grant Park Music Festival
Acclaimed by critics and beloved by audiences, the Grant Park Music Festival is the nation’s only free, municipally-supported, summer-long outdoor classical music series of its kind. The Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, located between Michigan and Columbus Avenues, at Washington Street, is the official home of the Grant Park Music Festival. The Festival is led by Principal Conductor Carlos Kalmar, Chorus Director Christopher Bell, Board President Beth Rodriguez, and Executive Director Elizabeth Hurley.
Founded by the Chicago Park District in 1935 and co-presented by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and the Grant Park Orchestral Association since 2001, the Grant Park Music Festival will present 31 concerts between June 16 and August 21, 2010, typically on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday nights.
Convenient parking is located in the Millennium Park Garage (entrance on Columbus at Monroe or Randolph) and at the Grant Park North and East Monroe Garages, all located within walking distance to Millennium Park.
The Grant Park Music Festival is proudly presented by the Chicago Park District, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and the Grant Park Orchestral Association. American Airlines is the Official Airline; The Fairmont Chicago is the Official Hotel.
About Millennium Park
Millennium Park, managed and programmed by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, is an award-winning center for art, music, architecture, and landscape design. The result of a unique partnership between the City of Chicago and philanthropic community, the 24.5 acre park features the work of world-renowned architects, planners, artists and designers. In addition to the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, the most sophisticated outdoor concert venue of its kind in the United States, the Park’s prominent features include the interactive Crown Fountain by Jaume Plensa; the contemporary Lurie Garden designed by the team of Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, Piet Oudolf and Robert Israel; and Anish Kapoor’s hugely popular Cloud Gate sculpture. Since opening in June 2004, Millennium Park has welcomed more than 20 million people, making it one of the most popular destinations in Chicago. For more information regarding the Grant Park Music Festival, please call the Grant Park Music Festival at 312-742-7638 or visit the Festival’s website at www.grantparkmusicfestival.com. Concert information is subject to change.
# # #
EDITOR’S NOTE: Please note the following date change for the Independence Day concert which will take place on Saturday, July 3 at 1:30 p.m.
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