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ORCHESTRA
& CHORUS
The
GRANT PARK ORCHESTRA
was
formed in 1944 when the Chicago Park
District assembled a single resident
orchestra under the direction of Chief
Conductor Nikolai Malko to perform
at the Grant Park Music Festival. Since
then, other prestigious conductors
have included Irwin Hoffman, Leonard Slatkin, David Zinman, Zdnek Macal, and
Hugh Wolff. In 2000, Carlos Kalmar was named the Festival’s Principal Conductor.
Today, the Grant Park Orchestra draws its musicians from different orchestras and
musical institutions throughout the United States. Each summer, the orchestra
members gather in Millennium Park for a ten-week season consisting of intensive
rehearsals and performances. Outside of the season, the musicians can be
found performing with major orchestras, teaching at numerous universities, and
appearing frequently on concert stages. Organizations represented by Grant
Park Orchestra musicians include the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Metropolitan
Opera, the Buffalo, Colorado, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Milwaukee, New Mexico,
Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Richmond, San Antonio, Seattle and Utah Symphonies. The
Grant Park Orchestra was nominated for a Grammy
®
Award in 2004 for its CD
entitled
Robert Kurka: Symphonic Works
.
The 100+ member
GRANT
PARK CHORUS
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 1997, after which a series
of guest conductors worked
with the ensemble until 2002
when an international search
identified current chorus
director, Christopher Bell.
In addition to providing artistic leadership to the Grant Park Chorus, Bell is also
founder of the Apprentice Chorale, which features some of the most talented
young vocalists from DePaul and Roosevelt Universities.
Winners of the 2006 Margaret Hillis Award for artistic excellence, the Grant Park
Chorus is a fully professional ensemble and the majority of the vocalists reside in
Illinois. In addition to frequent solo appearances and teaching careers, members
of the Grant Park Chorus perform with ensembles such as Chicago a Cappella, the
Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Chicago Symphony Chorus. In 2012, the Grant Park
Chorus released
Songs of Smaller Creatures and other American Choral Works
, a
recording of
a cappella
music to commemorate its 50th anniversary.
2 0 1 5 G R AN T PA R K MU S I C F E S T I VA L
