Grant Park Music Festival 2018: Book 10

Dear Friends,

As we enter the final weeks of our 84th season,

we hope you’ve enjoyed many opportunities to

attend the Grant Park Music Festival and revisit

some symphonic and choral favorites, encounter

masterworks you’ve never heard before, and be

inspired by the new sounds of the 21st-century—all

in a setting that can’t be found anywhere else.

This summer, Artistic Director Carlos Kalmar and Chorus Director

Christopher Bell have given us another outstanding and eclectic season,

with the world premiere of a Festival commission by Latvian composer

riks Ešenvalds; a special birthday tribute to composer William Bolcom;

symphonies by Beethoven, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Schubert,

Sibelius, and Vaughan Williams; and the first-ever Festival performances of

more than 15 works spanning three centuries of musical accomplishment.

We’ve also introduced you to a host of exciting young talent—including

16-year-old pianist Emily Bear, 22-year-old pianist George Li, and 24-year-

old violinist William Hagen—as part of the City of Chicago’s “Year of

Creative Youth.” In our concluding weeks, you’ll get to meet 25-year-old

Spanish cellist Pablo Ferrández and the vocal stars of the future, thanks to

our collaboration with Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Patrick G. and Shirley W.

Ryan Opera Center.

And we’re ending the season in awe-inspiring fashion with the

monumental

Carmina Burana

, a finale made even more dramatic by the

grandeur of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion and Millennium Park under the stars.

Each summer, the Grant Park Music Festival fills our city with music,

producing more than 200 events in every corner of Chicago—all open

to residents and visitors from every walk of life. As always, our thanks

to the Chicago Park District, Department of Cultural Affairs and Special

Events, and our donors and members for helping us keep the Festival free,

thriving, and accessible for all.

We hope you’ve made and shared many special memories at the Festival

this season—and will make a few more before we lower the baton on 2018.

Until then, let the music play on!

Warm regards,

Paul Winberg

President and CEO

WELCOME

2 0 1 8 G R AN T PA R K MU S I C F E S T I VA L