68 | gpmf.org
2 0 1 5 G R AN T PA R K MU S I C F E S T I VA L
LUNCHTIME
LEARNING
Crowds gather at lunchtime
throughout the summer to
watch and listen to the Grant
Park Orchestra and Chorus and
guest artists rehearse upcoming
performances. Open rehearsals
take place every Tuesday through
Friday of the Grant Park Music
Festival season. During breaks
in rehearsals, at roughly noon in the Seating Bowl at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion,
Festival docents lead informal talks about the music, composers and the history
of classical music.
“You’ll see out of town visitors in the
Park who just stumbled upon the
rehearsal and are pleasantly surprised
that the rehearsal is free. You’ll see
people who work in the area, having
a sandwich seated on the steps. We
get to know the regulars,” said Win
Eggers, long-time volunteer at the
Festival.
Win is one of 15 docents at the
Festival who leads the informal talks
every day at the orchestra rehearsals
in the Pritzker Pavilion. Docents
spend several weeks researching
the composers and studying detailed aspects of the music that will be played
throughout the season. Two docents lead each rehearsal break: one speaking
about the music and one about the history of Millennium Park and the Festival.
The Festival’s website, gpmf.org, lists the works that will be rehearsed each day.
Three special artist talks will take place this season as part of the Festival’s Brown
Bag Lunch series, when audiences can get to know composers Kenji Bunch and
Douglas Cuomo, and concertmaster Jeremy Black.
OPEN REHEARSALS
Tuesdays–Fridays
Docent talk approximately noon
BROWN BAG LUNCH SERIES
Friday June 19 composer Kenji Bunch
Tuesday, July 21 composer Douglas Cuomo
Wednesday, August 5 concertmaster Jeremy Black
Docent Win Eggers
Audiences at an open rehearsal
