When the year comes for the Chicago Labor Arts Festival, Chicago residents will not want to miss The Grant Park Music Festival. Initiated by Mayor A. J. Cermak during the Great Depression in 1931, this music festival was aimed to present a series of free concerts to lift the spirits of Chicagoans. The Festival has also drawn a range of audiences almost unparalleled in the world of classical music, from passionate aficionados to vast numbers of people who have never before encountered a live orchestra.
Since 2001, the Festival has been presented through a unique collaboration of the Chicago Park District, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and the Grant Park Orchestral Association. The Grant Park Orchestral Association is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the Festival’s programs and priorities. The Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus reach over one million people annually through free classical music performances and the Festival’s extensive community engagement program brings music education to young people from across the city each summer.
Among the artists the Festival in 2010 has presented are vocalists Lily Pons, Mario Lanza, and Marian Anderson; pianists Van Cliburn, Alfred Brendel, and Daniel Barenboim; violinists Jascha Heifetz and Pinchas Zukerman; conductors Nikolai Malko, Andre Kostelanetz, and Leonard Slatkin.
It has featured new works by contemporary composers such as John Corigliano, Aaron Jay Kernis, and Michael Torke; and artists from other traditions such as Benny Goodman, Mitch Miller, Poi Dog Pondering, and The Joffrey Ballet. The Festival has flourished under the guidance of resident artistic leaders such as current Principal Conductor Carlos Kalmar, current Chorus Director Christopher Bell, as well as past leaders.