Grant Park Music Festival

infobox festival
festival_name=Grant Park Music Festival
logo=


caption=
location=Jay Pritzker Pavilion,
Millennium Park,
Chicago, IL, USA
years_active=1931-present
dates= Wed - Sun, June - August
genre=classical music festival
website= [http://www.grantparkmusicfestival.com www.grantparkmusicfestival.com]

Grant Park Music Festival is an annual classical music concert series held in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It is claimed to be the nation's only free, outdoor classical music series.cite web|url=http://www.millenniumpark.org/parkevents/gpmf.aspx|accessdate=2007-09-20|publisher=City of Chicago|title=Grant Park Music Festival] It is currently housed in the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The 2004 season in which the festival moved to the Pritzker Pavilion was the 70th season for the festival. [cite web|url=http://chicago.metromix.com/theater/theater/jay-pritzker-pavilion-millennium-grant-park-museums/144955/content|title=Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park|publisher=metromix.com|work=Metormix Chicago|accessdate=2007-09-20] Formerly, the Grant Park Music Festival was held at the Petrillo Bandshell in Grant Park. [cite web|url=http://www.lares-lexicon.com/millenium/millenium.html|accessdate=2007-09-20|title=The Jay Pritzker Music Pavilion Sounds as Good as it Looks|publisher=|author= Delacoma, Wynne] On occasion, the festival is held at the Harris Theater. [cite web|url=http://www.chicagoclassicalmusic.org/node/7556|title=Grant Park Music Festival - Chicago Latino Composers|accessdate=2008-08-04|publisher=Chicagoclassicalmusic.org]

The Grant Park Music Festival has been a Chicago tradition since 1931 when Anton Cermak suggested free concerts to lift spirits of Chicagoans during the Great Depression. [Tiebert, Laura, "Frommer's Chicago with Kids (3rd edition)," 2007, Wiley Publishing, Inc., ISBN 978-0470-12481-9, p.263.] The festival features the Grammy-Nominated Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus and is sponsored by the Chicago Park District, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and the Grant Park Orchestral Association. The performance schedule includes ten consecutive weeks of performances on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from mid June to mid August.cite web|url=http://www.grantparkmusicfestival.com/schedule.shtml|title=Grant Park Music Festival 2007|accessdate=2007-09-20|publisher=grantparkmusicfestival.com] Currently , performances usually begin at 6:30 with band shell seats reserved for subscribers. Unclaimed seats are released to the public 15 minutes before each performance. The lawn seating is free and commonly adorned with blankets and families.

The principal conductor is Carlos Kalmar. Guests in the 2007 season included Marc-André Hamelin, Russell Braun, Erin Wall, Glen Ellyn Children's Chorus and many more performing the works of composers such as Brahms, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Leo Brouwer, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Tan Dun, and Ferruccio Busoni.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.grantparkmusicfestival.com www.grantparkmusicfestival.com]