Carlos Kalmar Principal Conductor

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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.

Cedille Records just released its fifth and sixth recordings with Carlos Kalmar and the Grant Park Orchestra: Royal Mezzo: Jennifer Larmore Recital featuring works by Barber, Berlioz, Ravel, and Britten; and Symphony in Waves: Music of Aaron Jay Kernis.  His recordings for other labels include CDs with the Jeunesse Musicales World Orchestra (Alban Gerhardt, cello soloist) and Vienna’s Tonkünstler Orchestra for Austrian National Radio.

Kalmar fondly remembers his first appearance at the Grant Park Music Festival in 1998.  “I was asked to conduct Samuel Barber’s Piano Concerto with John Browning, the man for whom the work was written.  I was a little awestruck working with this famous artist whose signature work is a modern masterpiece, but the Orchestra so impressed me with its incredible work ethic and flexibility.  I was taken aback at the speed and commitment with which they worked.”

Ten years after Carlos Kalmar’s first appearances at the Grant Park Music Festival, he is still breaking ground with his world class Orchestra and Chorus.  Ever curious about newer and American works, Kalmar seems to balance that passion with a real commitment to timeless interpretations of the core standard repertory.  “Grant Park is the most special place I know of.  We have traveled artistically very far together and I can recall so many amazing musical experiences with these fantastic musicians.”

Christopher Bell Chorus Director

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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.

Born in Belfast, Christopher Bell was educated at Edinburgh University and held his first post as Associate Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra between 1989 and 1991. Since then he has worked with many of the major orchestras in the UK and Ireland, including the Royal Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National, BBC Scottish Symphony, Ulster, Scottish Chamber, City of London Sinfonia, London Concert, RTE National Symphony, RTE Concert and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestras.

Christopher Bell was Chorusmaster of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra between 1989 and 2002 and was the first Artistic Director of the Edinburgh Royal Choral Union. His professional chorus work has included appearances with the Netherlands Radio Choir and the Opera Australia Melbourne Chorus.  Mr. Bell works regularly with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Ulster and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestras and recently has made debuts in Namibia and Scandinavia. 

Christopher Bell enjoys working with young people. Before his current posts with the RSNO and NYCoS, for six years he directed the TOTAL Aberdeen Youth Choir, undertaking touring and recordings as well as many concerts in the North East of Scotland. He was the first Artistic Director of the Ulster Youth Choir between 1999 and 2004, a group which he developed into a critically acclaimed ensemble.

Christopher Bell cherishes his annual residency in Chicago and looks forward to it each year.  “I work all over the world, and each year upon returning remind myself how rich the choral life in Chicago really is.  The quality of voices here and the symphonic choral training in Chicago is second to none.  Each year this super Chorus just gets better and better.  I am proud of the work we have accomplished together.” 

For his work with singers, and particularly his encouragement of young singers in Scotland, Christopher Bell was awarded a Scotsman of the Year 2001 award for Creative Talent. In 2003, he was awarded the Charles Groves Prize for his contribution to cultural life in Scotland and the rest of the UK.

James W. Palermo Artistic and General Director

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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.

Mr. Palermo had a key role in the development of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, the Grant Park Music Festival’s permanent home since July 2004. Other highlights of his tenure include the establishment of the Grant Park Orchestral Association, a not for profit organization that supports activities of the Grant Park Music Festival, and the formation of partnerships with Chicago Sister Cities International, the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Children’s Choir and the Sherwood Conservatory. In 2004, the 60-concert community engagement program expanded to include chamber orchestra and choral performances at Chicago Park District neighborhood Cultural Centers and introduced many people from Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods to classical music at downtown Jay Pritzker Pavilion concerts in Millennium Park. Palermo has developed recent novel programmatic initiatives with WTTW11 public television, the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago and the Metro.

In 2004, Palermo was instrumental in the formation of the Apprentice Chorale, a new training chorus comprised of vocal students from the DePaul University School of Music and Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts. The 20-member ensemble trains intensively with Grant Park Chorus Director Christopher Bell, performs ensemble concerts in Chicago landmark locations and parks, as well as alongside the professional Grant Park Chorus.

The Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus released their debut recording, Independence Eve at Grant Park, in June 1999, a project spearheaded by Mr. Palermo. Since then, the Orchestra has recorded several fully commercial releases on Chicago’s Cedille Records label, including American Works for Organ and Orchestra (2002) and the GRAMMY®-nominated Robert Kurka: Symphonic Works (2004). In the spring of 2006, the Cedille Records label released its two newest recordings of the Grant Park Orchestra and Principal Conductor Carlos Kalmar: Portraits, a program of violin concerti by Szymanowski, Bartok and Martinu featuring Jennifer Koh; and American Orchestral Works, featuring compositions by Barbara Kolb, Michael Hersch, Aaron Jay Kernis, John Corigliano, and John Harbison.  In 2008 Cedille will release two more CDs of the Orchestra with Carlos Kalmar, one including works by Aaron Jay Kernis and another called royal Mezzo featuring internationally renowned opera star Jennifer Larmore.

In 1995, Mr. Palermo came to Chicago from Louisville, Kentucky, where he was orchestra manager of The Louisville Orchestra. Mr. Palermo’s responsibilities there included artistic and operational planning for the Orchestra, and he also assisted in artistic planning and production for the organization’s record label, First Edition Recordings.

Prior to his post in Louisville, Mr. Palermo served as general manager of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra in southwestern Indiana from 1989-1992. There, he was instrumental in creating a new Family Series, forming a regional Youth Orchestra and a resident string quartet, hiring a new assistant conductor, and enhancing holiday programming, including much-loved holiday pops productions and sold-out Messiah performances.

Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Mr. Palermo showed musical inclination at an early age. He studied at Cathedral Latin School and later attended Indiana University, where he received Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in trumpet performance. Mr. Palermo performed with the Spoleto Festival Orchestra for two seasons, as well as with the Orquesta Sinfonica Del Valle in Cali, Columbia, and throughout Europe.

Palermo was selected as a fellow for the American Symphony Orchestra League's prestigious Orchestra Management Fellowship Program in 1988-89. As a Fellow, he worked with the orchestras of Colorado Springs, St. Louis, and Cincinnati. Subsequently, Mr. Palermo served on the national committee that oversees, interviews and selects new American Symphony Orchestra League Fellows. He also has testified on behalf of American orchestras before the House Subcommittee on Postal Operations.

Mr. Palermo has served as a consultant and board member for a number of organizations, including the Grant Park Cultural and Educational Community, the program planning committee for the Sherwood Conservatory, the music director and executive director search committees for the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, the 25th anniversary committee for the Chicago Opera Theater and the Executive Director search committee for University of Chicago Presents. Currently, Mr. Palermo serves on the board of the William Ferris Chorale.