Carlos Kalmar is the Principal Conductor of the Grant Park Music Festival and Music Director of the Oregon Symphony. Mr. Kalmar was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, to Austrian parents. He studied conducting with Karl Österreicher at the College for Music in Vienna, and won First Prize at the Hans Swarowsky Conducting Competition in Vienna in June 1984. From 1987 to 1991 he was chief conductor of the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, and general music director and chief conductor of the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra between 1991 and 1995. From 1996 through 2000, Carlos Kalmar was the general music director of the Opera House and Philharmonic Orchestra in Dessau, Germany. Between 2000 and 2003, he was principal conductor and artistic director of the Tonkünstler Orchestra in Vienna. Equally in demand as a guest conductor, Kalmar travels the world appearing with all the world’s most important orchestras.

Christopher Bell enters his seventh season as Chorus Director of the Grant Park Music Festival in 2008. He also serves as Chorusmaster of the prestigious Edinburgh International Festival, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) Junior Chorus and the Belfast Philharmonic Choir. He was largely responsible for the formation of the National Youth Choir of Scotland (NYCoS) in 1996 and is its Artistic Director.

James W. Palermo celebrates his fourteenth season as the Artistic and General Director of the Grant Park Music Festival in 2008. Under Mr. Palermo’s leadership, the Festival has expanded to offer innovative community engagement and education programs, and has diversified its mix of music, highlighting in particular the work of living American composers.