For Immediate Release

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Lauren Matson, 312.742.7639 [email protected]

THE ACCLAIMED GRANT PARK MUSIC FESTIVAL OPENS ITS 78th SEASON IN CHICAGO’S MILLENNIUM PARK WITH MASTERPIECES BY ELGAR AND DVORAK WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 2012 Beloved Grant Park Chorus Celebrates its 50th Anniversary Season With Two World Premiere Commissions and The Release of its First-Ever a Cappella Recording CHICAGO (May 3, 2012) — Summer in Chicago begins in just six weeks when the Grant Park Music Festival begins its 78th season at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, running June 13—August 18, 2012. Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Carlos Kalmar will lead the Grammy® Awardnominated Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus Director Christopher Bell will direct the awardwinning Grant Park Chorus in a soaring season of world premieres, Festival favorites and collaborations with local artists and cultural organizations. All concerts are free and take place on Wednesday and Friday evenings at 6:30 p.m., and Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m. (unless otherwise noted). The Festival embarks on an ambitious ten-week season of 30 concerts. “Every year, the Festival integrates the best of the local arts scene and the wider national and international arts community,” said Executive Director Paul Winberg. “This season, we will collaborate with a variety of partners including the Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera, the Harris Theater and the Paris Opéra Ballet, as well as other Chicago artists, music schools and choruses, offering a season of exciting programming that reflects our vibrant cultural community.” This summer, the Festival will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Grant Park Chorus with a series of special events, including two world premiere commissions for orchestra and chorus by American composers Michael Gandolfi (June 15 and 16) and Sebastian Currier (July 6 and 7). The Festival will also release the Grant Park Chorus’ first ever a cappella recording, Songs of Smaller Creatures and other American Choral Works (Cedille Records), led by Chorus Director Christopher Bell performing recordings of choral works by American composers Abbie Betinis, Paul Crabtree, David Del Tredici, Stacy Garrop, Ned Rorem, Lee Kesselman and Eric Whitacre. Other June highlights include Opening Night with Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Carlos Kalmar on the podium joined by Festival favorite, guest cellist Alban Gerhardt (June 16); Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony with guest pianist Steven Osborne making his Festival debut (June 20 and 22); An American in Paris program with guest conductor Koen Kessels making his Festival debut (June 23); a collaboration with the Paris Opera Ballet indoors at the Harris Theater that will also be simulcast to audiences outside at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion (June 27) and a Golden Anniversary Choral Spectacular featuring Carlos Kalmar and Christopher Bell sharing the podium for two unforgettable evenings (June 29 and 30). -MORE-

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Memberships to the Grant Park Music Festival are still available. Most membership levels include specific reserved seats or general seating in a reserved section of the Pavilion for all Grant Park Music Festival concerts. Memberships with seating benefits begin at $140. For more information about the Grant Park Music Festival including membership and group seating, visit grantparkmusicfestival.com or call 312.742.7638. For additional information, visit Grant Park Music Festival on Facebook or follow the Festival on Twitter @gpmf. GRANT PARK MUSIC FESTIVAL JUNE SCHEDULE Opening Night Wednesday, June 13, 6:30 p.m. Grant Park Orchestra; Carlos Kalmar, Conductor; Alban Gerhardt, Cello Elgar, Pomp and Circumstance No. 1 Elgar, Cello Concerto Dvořák, Symphony No. 8 Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Carlos Kalmar and the Grant Park Orchestra open the 2012 season with masterpieces by Elgar and Dvořák, joined by Festival favorite, German cellist Alban Gerhardt. German cellist Alban Gerhardt (born in Berlin) has performed with the Grant Park Music Festival a number of times in recent years, including Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme in 2010 and Strauss’ Don Quixote in 2005. The New York Times wrote that Gerhardt is “an intensely serious artist…His cello playing is bold, technically resourceful and rhythmically incisive.” His recent and upcoming projects include a performance of Prokofiev’s Cello Concerto Op. 58 with the Oregon Symphony under Carlos Kalmar (November 2011), a recording of Britten’s Cello Symphony Op. 68 with the Scottish BBC (February 2012) and Elgar’s Cello Concerto Op. 85 with the Philadelphia Orchestra (July 2012). Only Converge: An Exaltation Of Place World Premiere Friday, June 15, 6:30 p.m. Saturday, June 16, 7:30p.m. Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus; Carlos Kalmar, Conductor; Christopher Bell, Chorus Director Liszt, Les Préludes Schuman, A Free Song Handel, Royal Fireworks Music Gandolfi, Only Converge: An Exaltation of Place The Grant Park Chorus begins its 50th anniversary celebration with two performances of a worldpremiere commission by American composer Michael Gandolfi, inspired by Chicago history. -MORE-

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Composer Michael Gandolfi (born in Melrose, Massachusetts) is one of the United States’ most innovative contemporary composers. Among his recent works are Q.E.D.: Engaging Richard Feynman (2010) and The Garden of Cosmic Speculation (2007, recording nominated for a Grammy Award), both commissioned by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Robert Spano and the children’s opera Geppetto's Workshop (2011) commissioned by the New England Conservatory. In addition to his world-premiere work for the Grant Park Music Festival, he is also writing a new work for the Tanglewood music festival this summer. He is a faculty member of the New England Conservatory of Music and the Tanglewood Music Center and has been a visiting lecturer on music at Harvard University. Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony Wednesday, June 20 at 6:30 p.m. Friday, June 22 at 6:30 p.m. Grant Park Orchestra; Carlos Kalmar, Conductor; Steven Osborne, Piano Strauss, Don Juan Britten, Piano Concerto Mozart, Symphony No. 41, Jupiter A program of youthful music - though Mozart was only 32 when he wrote the Jupiter, it was to be his last symphony. Richard Strauss composed Don Juan when he was only 24 and Benjamin Britten’s Piano Concerto was written at the age of 25. Pianist Steve Osborne (born in Scotland) is one of Britain’s foremost musicians, renowned for his idiomatic approach to a wide variety of repertoire, from the mainstream classical works of Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms, to the rarefied worlds of Messiaen, Tippett and Britten. He has won numerous awards and prizes including the 2009 Gramophone Award for his recording of Britten’s works for piano and orchestra, as well as first prize at both the Naumburg International Competition (New York) and Clara Haskil Competition. In the UK he works regularly with the major orchestras, especially with the Philharmonia, City of Birmingham Symphony and BBC Philharmonic Orchestras. He is making his Grant Park Music Festival debut. An American In Paris Saturday June 23 at 7:30 p.m. Grant Park Orchestra; Koen Kessels, Guest Conductor Bizet, L’Arlésienne Lalo, Namouna Gershwin, An American in Paris Ravel, Bolero Ravel’s structurally daring audience favorite, Bolero, is presented along with George Gershwin’s rhapsodic ballet. This performance marks the beginning of a unique, week-long collaboration with the Paris Opéra Ballet and the Harris Theater. Guest conductor Koen Kessels (born in Belgium) is the Music Director with the Birmingham Royal Ballet and has served as a regular guest conductor for Opéra National de Paris (Le Parc, Coppélia, Proust, Cinderella, Hurlevent, Hommage à Jerôme Robbins, Giselle, La Petite Danseuse de Degas) and has recently conducted at the Wiener Staatsoper, Bolshoi, Brussels Opéra de Munt, and Antwerp Opera. In 1999 he founded HERMESensemble which specializes in contemporary music. He is making his Grant Park Music Festival debut.

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Paris Opéra Ballet Simulcast NOTE LATE START TIME Wednesday, June 27, 7:30 p.m. Grant Park Orchestra; Koen Kessels, Guest Conductor; Paris Opéra Ballet Adam, Giselle Don’t miss the nation’s first-ever free, outdoor simulcast of a live ballet performance by a major international company. The Paris Opéra Ballet will perform its iconic work Giselle accompanied by the Grant Park Orchestra, simulcast live from the Harris Theater, to be viewed on a state-of-the-art 18’ x 32’ LED screen located on the Jay Pritzker Pavilion stage. Although other companies have tried to reproduce Giselle, the Paris Opéra Ballet created this legendary work more than 250 years ago, and will be presenting it in the United States for the very first time when the company opens its tour at the Harris Theater in June. Staging Solutions will broadcast the performance under the direction of Bruce Bryant who has captured more than 50 opera productions for live simulcast or broadcast. Golden Anniversary Choral Spectacular Friday, June 29, 6:30 p.m. Saturday, June 30, 7:30 p.m. Grant Park Chorus; Carlos Kalmar, Conductor; Christopher Bell, Conductor Stravinsky, Les Noces Whitacre, Cloudburst Tormis, Raua Needmine Orff, Carmina Burana The Grant Park Chorus celebrates its 50th anniversary with a special performance featuring Carlos Kalmar and Christopher Bell sharing the podium for an unforgettable evening, culminating in a performance of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. In honor of this event, the Festival will release the first a cappella recording of the Grant Park Chorus, Songs of Smaller Creatures and other American Choral Works on Cedille Records. Grant Park Music Festival Acclaimed by critics and beloved by audiences, the Grant Park Music Festival is the nation’s only free, 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 Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Carlos Kalmar along with Chorus Director Christopher Bell, Executive Director Paul Winberg and Board President Beth Rodriguez. In addition to his role at the Grant Park Music Festival, Carlos Kalmar is the Music Director of the Oregon Symphony, a position he has held since 2003 and Principal Conductor of the Orquestra Sinfónica de Radio Televisión Española in Madrid. He 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. Kalmar has made six recordings with the Grant Park Orchestra. -MORE-

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The 2012 Grant Park Music Festival season marks Christopher Bell’s 11th season as chorus director of the Grant Park Chorus. Bell also serves as chorusmaster for the Edinburgh International Festival, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Junior Chorus and the Belfast Philharmonic Choir. He was largely responsible for the formation of the National Youth Choir of Scotland (NYCoS) in 1996 and is its artistic director. He has also worked with many other major orchestras in the UK and Ireland, including the Royal Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National, BBC Scottish Symphony, City of London Sinfonia, and London Concert. The Grant Park Music Festival is proudly presented by the Grant Park Orchestral Association with key support from the Chicago Park District, and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, and thousands of individual supporters. The Grant Park Music Festival gratefully acknowledges the generous support from its 2012 sponsors: American Airlines and Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park, Season Sponsors; BMO Harris Bank, Grant Park Chorus 50th Anniversary Sponsor; ComEd, Fifth Third Bank, and JP Morgan Chase and Co., Concert Sponsors; Mariano’s Fresh Market, Picnic Sponsor; and Millennium Park Garages, Parking Sponsor. The Grant Park Music Festival is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. Millennium Park Millennium Park, managed and programmed by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, is an award-winning center for art, music, architecture and landscape design. The result of a unique partnership between the City of Chicago and the philanthropic community, the 24.5-acre park features the work of world-renowned architects, planners, artists and designers. Among Millennium Park’s prominent features are the Frank Gehry-designed Jay Pritzker Pavilion, the most sophisticated outdoor concert venue of its kind in the United States; 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. ###

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