The 78th Season of the Grant Park Music Festival marked the 50th anniversary of the Grant Park Chorus. Celebrations included the world premiere of two new works for orchestra and chorus by American composers Michael Gandolfi and Sebastian Currier, and the release of the Grant Park Chorus' first-ever a cappella recording. Other highlights included the return of George Fenton with the BBC/Discovery Channel documentary Frozen Planet and a groundbreaking simulcast of the Paris Opera Ballet's iconic Giselle.
Opening Night
Featuring
Grant Park Orchestra
Carlos Kalmar, Conductor
Alban Gerhardt, Cello
Program
Edward Elgar: Pomp and Circumstance No. 1
Edward Elgar: Cello Concerto
Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 8
An Exaltation of Place
Featuring
Grant Park Orchestra And Chorus
Carlos Kalmar, Conductor
Christopher Bell, Chorus Director
Program
Franz Liszt: Les Préludes
Robert Schuman: A Free Song
George Frideric Handel: Royal Fireworks Music
Michael Gandolfi: Only Converge: An Exaltation of Place
Mozart's Jupiter Symphony
Featuring
Grant Park Orchestra
Carlos Kalmar, Conductor
Steven Osborne, Piano
Program
Richard Strauss: Don Juan
Benjamin Britten: Piano Concerto
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 41, Jupiter
An American in Paris
Featuring
Grant Park Orchestra
Koen Kessels, Guest Conductor
Program
George Gershwin: An American in Paris
Georges Bizet: L'Arlésienne
Edouard Lalo: Namouna
Maurice Ravel: Bolero
Paris Opéra Ballet Simulcast
Featuring
Grant Park Orchestra
Koen Kessels, Guest Conductor
Artists Of The Paris Opéra Ballet
Program
Adolphe Adam: Giselle
Golden Anniversary Choral Spectacular
Featuring
Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus
Carlos Kalmar, Conductor
Christopher Bell, Conductor
Anima, Guest Children's Choir
Saira Frank, Soprano
Mary MacKenzie, Soprano
Sarah Ponder, Mezzo-Soprano
Hoss Brock, Tenor
Peder Reiff, Tenor
Dan Eifert, Bass
Tom Hall, Bass
Program
Igor Stravinsky: Les Noces
Eric Whitacre: Cloudburst
Veljo Tormis: Raua Needmine
Carl Orff: Carmina Burana
Independence Day Celebration
Featuring
Grant Park Orchestra
Christopher Bell, Conductor
Paul Corona, Baritone
Program
Leonard Bernstein: Candide: Overture
Morton Gould: Amber Waves
John Williams: Olympic Fanfare and Theme
Aaron Copland: Old American Songs
Ferde Grofé: Mississippi Suite
George Gershwin: Girl Crazy: Overture
Robert Wendel: Sea to Shining Sea
Pyotr Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture
John Philip Sousa: The Stars and Stripes Forever
Sleepers and Dreamers
Featuring
Grant Park Orchestra And Chorus
Carlos Kalmar, Conductor
Christopher Bell, Chorus Director
Levi Hernandez, Baritone
Program
Johannes Brahms: Tragic Overture
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Five Mystical Songs
Richard Strauss: Death and Transfiguration
Sebastian Currier: Sleepers and Dreamers
Frozen Planet in Concert
Featuring
Grant Park Orchestra
George Fenton, Guest Conductor
Program
George Fenton: Frozen Planet
Overture
The Polar Bear Story
The Melt
Open Water
Mile after Mile
Antarctica! (includes You'll Never Walk Alone, Rodgers and Hammerstein)
INTERMISSION
Living Ice
The Adelies
A Brief Encounter
Maiden Flight
The Ultimate Survivors
The Wave
The Spirit of Antarctica
Perfectly Frank: From Broadway to Hollywood
Featuring
Grant Park Orchestra
Members Of The Grant Park Chorus
Kevin Stites, Guest Conductor
Christopher Bell, Chorus Director
Rebecca Luker, Vocalist
Marin Mazzie, Vocalist
Jason Danieley, Vocalist
Howard McGillin, Vocalist
Program
Selection of works by Frank Loesser
Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances
Featuring
Grant Park Orchestra
Rossen Milanov, Guest Conductor
Mikhail Simonyan, Violin
Program
Aram Khachaturian: Violin Concerto
Sergei Rachmaninov: Symphonic Dances
Rossini: Stabat Mater
Featuring
Grant Park Orchestra And Chorus
Christopher Bell, Conductor
Jonita Lattimore, Soprano
Jennifer Holloway, Mezzo-Soprano
René Barbera, Tenor
Ryan McKinny, Bass
Program
Gioachino Rossini: William Tell: Overture
Kenneth Leighton: Hymn to Matter
Gioachino Rossini: Stabat Mater
Frozen in Time
Featuring
Grant Park Orchestra
James Gaffigan, Guest Conductor
Martin Grubinger, Percussion
Program
Avner Dorman: Frozen in Time
Sergei Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5
Beethoven's Fifth Symphony
Featuring
Grant Park Orchestra
Jun Märkl, Guest Conductor
Pascal Rogé, Piano
Program
Claude Debussy: Khamma
Camille Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 5, Egyptian
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 5
Scheherazade
Featuring
Grant Park Orchestra
Carlos Kalmar, Conductor
Program
John Alden Carpenter: Adventures in a Perambulator
Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade
Four Seasons of Buenos Aires
Featuring
Grant Park Orchestra
Carlos Kalmar, Conductor
Chee-Yun, Violin
Sarah Ponder, Mezzo-Soprano
Program
Alberto Ginastera: Estancia: Four Dances
Astor Piazzolla: Four Seasons of Buenos Aires
Manual De Falla: Three-Cornered Hat
Brahms' Double Concerto
Featuring
Grant Park Orchestra
Carlos Kalmar, Conductor
Christian Tetzlaff, Violin
Tanja Tetzlaff, Cello
Program
Ludwig van Beethoven: Coriolan Overture
Johannes Brahms: Double Concerto
Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 1
Haydn: The Seasons
Featuring
Grant Park Orchestra And Chorus
Carlos Kalmar, Conductor
Layla Claire, Soprano
Benjamin Butterfield, Tenor
Ben Wager, Bass
Program
Franz Joseph Haydn: The Seasons
Ryan Opera Center: Mozart and Strauss
Featuring
Grant Park Orchestra
Carlos Kalmar, Conductor
Ensemble Members Of The Patrick G. And Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center
Program
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Così fan tutte (Excerpts from Act I)
Richard Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (Final Scene)
Dvořák: The Spectre's Bride
Featuring
Grant Park Orchestra And Chorus
Carlos Kalmar, Conductor
Jonita Lattimore, Soprano
Brendan Tuohy, Tenor
Stephen Hegedus, Bass
Program
Antonín Dvořák: The Spectre's Bride