Grant Park Music Festival

In 2023, the Grant Park music festival affirmed its resilience as one of chicago's longest standing and most beloved summer cultural traditions. For the first time since 2019, audiences returned at near pre-pandemic levels to once again enjoy free symphonic and choral concerts in the heart of downtown. From june 14 through august 19, 2023, close to 180,000 residents and summer visitors came to the festival's millennium Park performances, with total attendance achieving 82% of season projections and marking an increase of nearly 13% from 2022. A further 39,950 children, adults, and seniors took part in related community programming citywide. The festival also increased its broadcast schedule, with wfmt-fm simulcasting 13 performances via radio and internet, reaching 500,000 listeners. (continued - see sch o) patrons witnessed a season of extraordinary performances as artistic director carlos kalmar, marking his penultimate year with the festival, led the orchestra through a series of programs devoted to some of his favorite works. Highlights included deeply personal accountings of shostakovich's symphony no. 8 and rachmaninov's symphonic dances. The Grant Park chorus, directed by christopher bell, joined kalmar and the orchestra for five programs, including dvorak's stabat mater and a powerful concert pairing of brahms's a german requiem with the festival premiere of joel thompson's 2015 cantata seven last words of the unarmed. The 2023 season was the most diverse in the festival's history, with 65% of concerts including a work by a woman and/or person of color, 65% featuring a guest artist of color, and 55% showcasing a female guest artist. The season boasted 19 premieres, including the world premiere of two chamber works commissioned for the festival from rising young composer/double-bassist xavier foley; the Illinois premiere of jessie montgomery's l.e.s. Characters (festival lead commission); and the festival premiere of wynton marsalis's violin concerto. New faces at the festival included violinists tai murray and esther yoo; cellist zlatomir fung; guitarist aniello desiderio; and several talented guest conductors. Returning festival favorites included violinists stefan jackiw and augustin hadelich; violist masumi per rostad; pianists michelle cann, stewart goodyear, joyce yang, and stephen hough; the cirque ensemble troupe vertigo; and conductors david danzmayr and gemma new. The season was not without its challenges; smoke from canadian wildfires, a dramatic rainstorm, and a surprise tornado among them. Nevertheless, pritzker pavilion attendance averaged 7,050 patrons per concert, with the festival drawing more than 20,000 people to its two broadway concerts; 10,700 to cirque returns with popular guest troupe vertigo; and 10,500 to beethoven's symphony no. 7. The festival was especially gratified to see audiences of all ages and backgrounds embrace the shared experience of concertgoing: per audience surveys, an average 22% of concert attendees were non-white, 33% were under age 45, and 12% reported incomes of $39,000 or below.

The festival's free education and community programs for audiences of all ages and levels of experience with classical music extend the festival's reach to neighborhoods throughout chicago. 2023 marked the 10th year of the Grant Park music festival fellowship program (formerly project inclusion). Established to provide a career-development pipeline for pre-professional artists of color, these paid summer fellowships brought eight outstanding string players and singers to chicago to rehearse and perform in major programs with the Grant Park orchestra and chorus and in masterclasses with artistic leadership and world-renowned guest artists. Fellows also earned valuable experience communicating with audiences by developing and performing free night out in the parks chamber concerts, leading interactive classical campers sessions, and performing in the prestigious dame myra hess series and rush hour concerts. Now in its fifth year, the festival's popular visiting masters series hosts free and open master classes for Grant Park fellows and local music students, offering once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to work with international soloists. Interested audiences also enjoy a rare behind-the-scenes look at a musician's development process. In 2023, the festival presented four instrument master classes, led by violinist tai murray, pianist joyce yang, soprano maeve hglund, and cellist zlatomir fung. Xavier foley also held a composition master class with three students from access contemporary music. The festival's signature children's program, classical campers, saw a 15% increase in participation last summer, engaging 1,330 campers and counselors from 27 chicago Park district (cpd) summer programs. Campers hailed from 26 chicago neighborhoods, with an emphasis on communities on the south and west sides. The program provided groups with a half day of hands-on learning activities led by teaching artists and the opportunity to attend an orchestra rehearsal and meet festival musicians.the festival's 2023 series of free runout performances - night out in the parks - saw a 20% rise in attendance from the prior year. The Grant Park chorus presented an a cappella program of american songs at the south shore cultural center and columbus Park refectory, and the Grant Park orchestra performed on june 30 at south shore cultural center. Additionally, Grant Park vocal and string fellows performed small chamber concerts at five cpd neighborhood venues throughout the city, drawing a total 1,040 community members. On sunday, july 16, xavier foley collaborated with pianist joyce yang in a centerstage performance featuring his commissioned work, midnight sonata, for double bass and piano, in its world premiere. This centerstage concert on the pritzker stage reached a capacity audience of 250 patrons and was broadcast live on 98.7 wfmt. In its inaugural season, artists-in-residence xavier foley and joyce yang performed at mainstage concerts and other festival events. Foley played solo bass in nino rota's divertimento concertante with the Grant Park orchestra on june 21, and yang was scheduled to play tchaikovsky's piano concerto no. 1 on july 12 (cancelled due to weather). She appeared in liszt's totentanz on july 14 and 15. Each artist conducted a visiting masters session; foley's underground railroad received its world premiere with the string fellows.