Grant Park Music Festival 2026
This is the third year in a row that we’ve made Chicago our home in June so that we can attend the Grant Park Music Festival. We love the free concerts and the intriguing variety of classical pieces - from iconic symphonies by the great masters to distinctive works by lesser-known composers. We always learn so much. And we love picnicking on the Great Lawn in front of Pritzker Pavilion, with its state-of-the-art acoustics and backdrop of skyscrapers.
The weather was unpredictable this month - there were rainy days with tornado warnings and hot days with dangerously high temperatures. Fortunately, the weather didn’t stop us from enjoying many wonderful concerts.
Bernstein West Side Story - The season opener was nearly rained out! Fortunately the rain stopped in time for us to enjoy the familiar and beloved music from West Side Story. The “Symphonic Dances” were excerpts from the Broadway score, arranged for a full orchestra.
Brahms Symphony No. 4 - Brahm’s final symphony was surprisingly familiar; perhaps because it has been used in many films? I liked the energetic scherzo (third movement) best.
Haydn Military Symphony - I liked the lively percussion and trumpet fanfares of this work. It was preceded by a Shostakovich cello concerto, which I found to be too slow and moody for my taste. I did love cellist Oliver Herbert’s encore, the lyrical Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major.
Copland Symphony No. 3 - I was glad for the chance to hear this great American masterpiece in its entirety. The last movement, the epic Fanfare for the Common Man, was everything I had hoped for. Magnificent!
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 - This concert was held indoors, in Harris Theater, beneath Millennium Park. In celebration of Pride Month, the program featured four works by LGBT composers and performers. It was our favorite concert of the season! Lou Harrison’s Symphony No. 2 was as much fun to watch as to hear, with two harps, a piano, and a celesta; chimes and gongs; and a terrific duet by double basses. For the iconic Tchaikovsky concerto, pianist Sarah Davis Buechner bowled us over with a powerful performance.
Independence Day Salute - [coming soon]
