Posted 3 years ago in Trending, Things to Do
5 MIN READ – The Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus are coming back to the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park with a lineup of classical festival favorites, including the Grieg Piano Concerto, the New World Symphony, the William Tell Overture, and Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun. They are also featuring family oriented shows, including Carnival of the Animals, Classic Broadway and the annual Independence Day Salute.
This 2021 season, COVID-19 may alter your festival experience, but you can still revel in the return of Chicago fests. The FREE music festival will last eight weeks, rather than its usual 10. Attendees may still pack a picnic to enjoy on the lawn, but groups will be limited to six and must stay within a spray-painted 8-by-12-foot pod. Masks are required upon entry.
Attendees must make reservations. The pavilion and lawn will operate at reduced capacity for concerts. If the event is fully booked, you still have the opportunity to attend. The festival will set aside a to-be-announced number of seats and pods for walk-ins at each concert.
Despite the impact of COVID-19, live music is revived this year. If you’ve missed the sound of music reverberating off of downtown buildings as you sit on a blanket with a glass of wine, don’t miss out. The Jay Pritzker Pavilion sits in the center of the city to set the tone for an amazing concert experience.
INDEPENDENCE DAY SALUTE
Friday, July 2, and Saturday, July 3, at 6:30 p.m. at Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Who:
Grant Park Orchestra
Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Christopher Bell, conductor
What:
John Williams: Summon the Heroes
Scott Joplin: Overture to Treemonisha
Arr. Robert Lowden: Armed Forces Salute
Florence Price: Dances in the Canebrakes
Leonard Bernstein: Selections from West Side Story
George Walker: Lyric for Strings
Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture
John Philip Sousa: Stars and Stripes Forever
(more)
WILLIAM TELL OVERTURE
Wednesday, July 7 at 6:30 p.m. at Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Who:
Grant Park Orchestra
Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Joyce Yang, piano
What:
Julia Perry: Short Piece for Orchestra
Georges Bizet: Suite from L'Arlésienne
Edvard Grieg: Piano Concerto
Gioachino Rossini: Overture to William Tell
BRAHMS SYMPHONY NO. 3
Friday, July 9, and Saturday, July 10, at 6:30 p.m. at Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Who:
Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus
Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Christopher Bell, chorus director
What:
Antonio Vivaldi: Gloria
Samuel Barber: Adagio for Strings
Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 3
BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY NO. 1
Wednesday, July 14, at 6:30 p.m. at Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Who:
Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus
Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Christopher Bell, chorus director
What:
Anna Clyne: Sound and Fury
Franz Joseph Haydn: Nicolai Mass
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 1
SIBELIUS SYMPHONY NO. 5
Friday, July 16, and Saturday, July 17, at 6:30 p.m. at Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Who:
Grant Park Orchestra
Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Masumi Per Rostad, viola
What:
Leonard Bernstein: Three Dance Episodes from On the Town
Jessie Montgomery: L.E.S. Characters (World Premiere)
Jean Sibelius: Symphony No. 5
BRUCKNER E MINOR MASS
Wednesday, July 21, at 6:30 p.m. at Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Who:
Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus
Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Christopher Bell, chorus director
What:
Lili Boulanger: Psalm 24
Jonathan Dove: The Passing of the Year
Anton Bruckner: Mass No. 2 in E minor
DVOŘÁK NEW WORLD SYMPHONY
Friday, July 23, and Saturday, July 24, at 6:30 p.m. at Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Who:
Grant Park Orchestra
Eun Sun Kim, conductor
Natasha Paremski, piano
What:
Texu Kim: Blow, Fly, Pop!!
Dmitri Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 1
Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 9, From the New World
PRELUDE TO THE AFTERNOON OF A FAUN
Wednesday, July 28, at 6:30 p.m. at Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Who:
Grant Park Orchestra
Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Anthony Trionfo, flute
What:
Claude Debussy: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
Saverio Mercadante: Flute Concerto
Camille Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 2
HAYDN SYMPHONY NO. 8 (STREAMED LIVE)
Friday, July 30, and Saturday, July 31, at 6:30 p.m. at Harris Theater for Music and Dance
Who:
Grant Park Orchestra\
Carlos Kalmar, conductor
What:
Franz Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 8, Le soir
Caroline Shaw: Entr'acte
Rodion Shchedrin: Carmen Suite
FROM IRELAND WITH LOVE
Wednesday, August 4, at 6:30 p.m. at Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Who:
Grant Park Chorus
Christopher Bell, conductor
What:
arr. Ēriks Ešenvalds: "O Danny Boy"
Charles Villiers Stanford: Three Motets
David Fennessy: chOirland
Sean Doherty: "I am the World"
Michael McGlynn: "Aisling"
arr. Mark Sirett: "Wild Rover"
arr. Leslie Hewlett: "Paddy McGinty’s Goat"
arr. Earlene Rentz: "To Work Upon the Railway"
arr. Joseph Martin: "The Last Rose of Summer"
arr. Teena Chinn: "Irish Eyes are Smiling"
arr. C. Courtney Lorenz: "Three Irish Folksongs"
arr. Desmond Earley: "The Parting Glass"
arr. Erik Jones: "I’ll Tell My Ma"
SIBELIUS VIOLIN CONCERTO
Friday, August 6, and Saturday, August 7, at 6:30 p.m. at Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Who:
Grant Park Orchestra
Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Augustin Hadelich, violin
What:
Jean Sibelius: Violin Concerto
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 1, Winter Daydreams
FAMILY NIGHT: CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS
Wednesday, August 11, at 6:30 p.m. at Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Who:
Grant Park Orchestra
Norman Huynh, conductor
Ashley Kim, piano
Colin Song, piano
What:
Jacques Offenbach: Overture to Orpheus in the Underworld
Camille Saint-Saëns: Carnival of the Animals
Edvard Grieg: Suite from Peer Gynt
CLASSIC BROADWAY
Friday, August 13, and Saturday, August 14, at 6:30 p.m. at Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Who:
Grant Park Orchestra
Lawrence Loh, conductor
Mamie Parris, vocals
Madison Claire Parks, vocals
Bronson Norris Murphy, vocals
Doug LaBrecque, director
What:
Rodgers and Hammersetin: "Wonderful Guy" from South Pacific
Leonard Bernstein: "Maria" from West Side Story
Alan Menken: "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast
Claude-Michel Schönberg: "Why God, Why?" from Miss Saigon
Andrew Lloyd Webber: "Memory" from Cats
Andrew Lloyd Webber: "All I Ask of You" from The Phantom of the Opera
Stephen Schwartz: "Defying Gravity" from Wicked
(more)
SCHUBERT MASS IN G MAJOR
Wednesday, August 18, 6:30 p.m. at Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Who:
Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus
Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Christopher Bell, chorus director
What:
Felix Mendelssohn: Sinfonia No. 8
Franz Schubert: Mass in G Major
Benjamin Britten: Rejoice in the Lamb
MOZART VIOLIN CONCERTO NO. 3
Friday, August 20, and Saturday, August 21, at 6:30 p.m. at Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Who:
Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus
Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Christopher Bell, chorus director
Vadim Gluzman, violin
What:
Gabriela Lena Frank: Elegía Andina
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 3
George Frideric Handel: Dettingen Te Deum