The Grant Park Orchestra was formed in 1944 when the Chicago Park District assembled a single resident orchestra under the direction of Principal Conductor Nikolai Malko to perform at the Grant Park Music Festival (which began in 1935 and featured a series of visiting orchestras). Since then, other prestigious conductors have held the position, including Irwin Hoffman, Leonard Slatkin, David Zinman, Zdnek Macal and Hugh Wolff. In 2000, Carlos Kalmar was named the Festival’s Principal Conductor.

Today, the Grant Park Orchestra draws its musicians from different orchestras and musical institutions throughout the United States. Each summer, all of the orchestra members gather in Millennium Park for a ten-week long season consisting of intensive rehearsals and performances. During the year, the musicians can be found across the country performing with major orchestras, teaching at numerous universities and appearing frequently in concert stages across the country. Some organizations represented by Grant Park Orchestra musicians include the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Metropolitan Opera, the Buffalo, Colorado, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Milwaukee, New Mexico, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Richmond, San Antonio, Seattle, and Utah Symphonies. The Grant Park Orchestra was nominated for a Grammy award for its recording entitled Robert Kurka: Symphonic Works.

Six-time GRAMMY® Award-winning conductor Giancarlo Guerrero named artistic leader of Chicago’s Grant Park Music Festival.

The internationally renowned conductor and longtime music director of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra and music director designate of the Sarasota Orchestra becomes the Festival’s eighth artistic director and principal conductor. Guerrero led the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus in three acclaimed concerts during the 2024 season and has taken the reins of the Festival’s artistic team for the 2025 season. He will conduct four weeks next summer. The Festival has presented free classical concerts since 1935 and attracts hundreds of thousands each year. 

“We are thrilled to welcome Giancarlo Guerrero to Chicago to lead what is regarded as the United States’ most important free classical music institution,” said Paul Winberg, Grant Park Orchestral Association President and CEO. “Giancarlo is not only a brilliant conductor with a stellar reputation; he has a history of curating programs that are exciting, surprising, and inventive. Also, our musicians are tremendously excited about working with him. His concerts last summer sparked a palpable energy from our audiences. It is a joy to listen to the music he conducts. The Grant Park Music Festival is highly anticipated by Chicagoans each year; we are confident that our future is in excellent hands with Giancarlo at the podium.” 

Praised for his “viscerally powerful performances” (Boston Globe) and described as “at once vigorous, passionate, and nuanced” (BachTrack), Guerrero is one of the most respected orchestra conductors in the world. He succeeds Carlos Kalmar, who served in the position for 25 seasons, and will now hold the title of conductor laureate. Guerrero is familiar to Chicago audiences through his frequent appearances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In addition, he has led multiple programs with the Grant Park Music Festival since his 2008 debut.

“From the moment I first walked onto the stage of the glorious Pritzker Pavilion, and looked out at the sea of people – a snapshot of the entire city of Chicago – it was immediately apparent what a gift the Grant Park Music Festival is to the community. In the heart of this vibrant downtown, in one of the most exciting cities in the world, here is a festival dedicated to orchestral music and designed to be enjoyed by everyone. The mission of the Festival aligns closely with my philosophy that music is meant to be enjoyed by people from all walks of life, without boundaries,” said Guerrero. “I felt such a natural, easy connection with these incredible musicians – including both the stellar orchestra and the spectacular chorus. I recognized sparks flying, musically speaking, from my first interactions with them from the podium. These musicians, hailing from orchestras and opera companies from the region and throughout the world, are really the best of the best.”

During the 2024 Festival, Guerrero led two programs: the first featuring Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 on July 10, and the second featuring Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto with Maurice Duruflé's Requiem on July 12 and 13. Reviewing the Shostakovich program for the Chicago Tribune, Hannah Edgar praised Guerrero’s “curatorial and interpretive creativity” and added that his pre-performance remarks to the audience “provided context for both pieces… that mirrored his interpretation of the symphony: emphatic, practiced and assertive.” Recognizing that he might be a candidate to replace Kalmar, Edgar concluded that “Guerrero will have no problem leaving his mark.” 

Festival concertmaster Jeremy Black also lauded Guerrero’s leadership of the orchestra, saying, “Giancarlo established a genuine rapport with the orchestra. I remember hearing one of my orchestra colleagues say, ‘he lit a fire under us!’ He's a superb musician who can inspire us to perform at the highest level.” 

“The Grant Park Music Festival drew hundreds of thousands of people during our recently concluded summer season,” added Grant Park Orchestral Association Board Chair Adam Grais. “Not only do our concerts attract dedicated music lovers and introduce thousands of young people to classical music, we also present some of the world’s most esteemed musicians to our stage. Concertgoers tell me that the Festival is one of the things they most love about Chicago. And Giancarlo possesses the talent, relationships, vision and drive to lead our organization to even greater accomplishments in the future.”

The board of directors of the Grant Park Orchestral Association enthusiastically voted unanimously at an August 15 meeting to name Guerrero as the successor to Kalmar, who had announced in 2021 that he was stepping down at the end of the Festival 2024. The search for Kalmar’s replacement was a three-year process undertaken by a search committee composed of musicians, members of the board of directors and community leaders. The Festival team will announce Guerrero’s plans for the 2025 season in January.

About Giancarlo Guerrero

In the 2024-2025 season, Guerrero will serve in his 16th and final year as music director of the Nashville Symphony. Guerrero collaborated with the Nashville Symphony to premiere over two dozen new works and release 22 commercial albums. These definitive recordings garnered 13 GRAMMY® Award nominations and six GRAMMY® wins, cementing Guerrero and the Symphony’s international reputation as standard-bearers for recordings of contemporary American music. As part of his commitment to fostering the work of contemporary composers, Guerrero, together with composer Aaron Jay Kernis, also guided the creation of Nashville Symphony’s biannual Composer Lab & Workshop for young and emerging composers.

Guerrero has collaborated throughout his career with leading ensembles in North America, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony, New York Philharmonic, and Philadelphia Orchestra, among others. Internationally, he has maintained longstanding relationships with esteemed orchestras in Europe, Latin America and Australia/New Zealand. Guerrero also recently completed a six-season tenure as music director of the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic in Poland. Guerrero previously held posts as the principal guest conductor of both the Cleveland Orchestra Miami Residency and the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon, music director of the Eugene Symphony, and associate conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra. 

Born in Nicaragua, Guerrero immigrated during his childhood to Costa Rica, where he joined the local youth symphony. He studied percussion and conducting at Baylor University in Texas and earned his master’s degree in conducting at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Given his beginnings in civic youth orchestras, Guerrero is particularly engaged with conducting training orchestras and has worked with the Curtis School of Music, Colburn School in Los Angeles, National Youth Orchestra (NYO2) and Yale Philharmonia, as well as with the Nashville Symphony’s Accelerando program, which provides an intensive music education to promising young students from diverse ethnic backgrounds.

Pacho Flores was awarded First Prize in the “Maurice André” International Contest, the most renowned trumpet Contest in the world, as well as First Prize in the “Philip Jones” International Contest and First Prize in the “Cittá di Porcia” International contest. Trained in the marvelous Orchestra System for Youth and Children in Venezuela, he received top recognition for his performances, recitals, and recordings as a soloist. 

Capable of managing classical or popular styles indistinctively, Flores adds to his captivating interpretations a great deal of energy tinged with the most beautiful instrumental colors.  Acting as soloist, he has performed with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Kiev, Camerata from St. Petesbourg, Orchestral Ensemble from Paris, Orchestre de la Garde Républicaine, NHK Orchestra from Japan, Symphony Orchestra of Tokio, Philharmonic Orchestra of Osaka, Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra from Venezuela, Symphony Orchestra of Dusseldorf, and the Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra amongst many others. He has also given recitals in concert halls such as the Carnegie Hall in New York, Pleyel Hall in Paris, and the Opera City in Tokio. Serving as one of the founding members of the Simón Bolívar Brass Quintet, he has taken part in numerous tours around Europe, South America, United States, and Japan. Experienced orchestral musician, Flores has held the Leading Trumpet position in the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, Saito Kinen Orchestra from Japan, and the Symphony Orchestra of Miami, under the musical direction of Maestros like Claudio Abbado, Sir Simon Rattle, Seiji Ozawa, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Rafael Frübeck of Burgos, Eduardo Marturet, and Gustavo Dudamel including many others. Founding Director of the Latin-American Trumpet Academy in Venezuela, he fosters a promising generation of young talents. Flores is extremely keen on promoting Contemporary Music and does so providing important contributions by means of the performance and interpretation of his instrument. His repertoire includes commissions and premieres of works by composers such as Roger Boutry, Efraín Oscher, Giancarlo Castro, Santiago Báez, Juan Carlos Nuñez, and Sergio Bernal. Recently he has carried out an important concert tour across Norway and Austria with the Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Maestro and Composer Christian Lindberg, interpreting his concert “Akbank Bunka”, a piece for Trumpet and Orchestra, making his debut at the Fiestpielhaus of Salzburg, and at the Musikverein of Viena. His first album “La Trompeta venezolana” was released by the record label Guataca Producciones. 

Artist from the Stomvi family, he plays instruments that have been exclusively manufactured for him by this renowned firm, and is actively involved in the developments and innovations of his instruments. Pacho Flores is a Deutsche Grammophon exclusive artist with already three recordings, Cantar with Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin and Christian Vásquez; Entropía, Gold Medal of the Global Music Awards; Fractales with Arctic Philharmonic and Christian Lindberg; the double CD-DVD Cantos y Revueltas with Real Filharmonía de Galicia and Manuel Hernández-Silva; and Estirpe with Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería y Carlos Miguel Prieto, nominated and awarded at the Latin Grammys. 

1860 – July 7: Gustav Mahler is born to the businessman Bernhard Mahler and his wife Marie (née Hermann) in Kališt, (Bohemia).

1870 – First public appearance as a pianist.

1875 – Mahler begins to study music at the Vienna Conservatory.

1877 – Enrolment at Vienna University – where, besides studying Harmony, he attends classes in History and Philosophy. To finance his studies, Mahler gives piano lessons.

1880 – Assistant Conductor at Bad Hall (Upper Austria).
Mahler composes the cantata Das klagende Lied for solo voices, choir and orchestra set to his own text, and begins composing the fairytale opera Rübezahl, of which only the libretto is preserved today.

1881–1882 – Theatre Conductor in Ljubljana.

1883–1885 – Conductor in Olmütz, music and choir conductor at the Royal Theatre in Kassel from June 1983 onwards. 
In his composing, he concentrates on the traditional forms of symphony and song.

1885/1886 – Due to disagreements with the directorship of the Kassel Theatre, Mahler resigns his post and moves to work as Operatic Conductor at the German Landestheater in Prague.

1886 – Appointed to the same position at the Leipzig Theatre.

1888 – First meeting with Richard Strauss, with whom he remains close friends throughout his life. Director of the Royal Hungarian Opera, Budapest.

1889 – Mahler begins the setting to music of the folk song collection compiled by Clemens Bretano (1778–1842) and Achim von Arnim (1781–1831) Des Knaben Wunderhorn. It forms the essential textual basis of his vocal composition over the next few years, whereby he puts musical structure before the content of the text.

1891–1897 – He becomes First Conductor at the Hamburg City Theatre and takes over as Director of the Symphony Orchestra. 
Mahler completes the Second and Third Symphonies, in which he blends the symphonic and song forms together by integrating songs and orchestral songs written as instrumental movements into the symphonies.

1891–1893 – The orchestral version of the 1883 cycle Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, is one of the first original works which can be classified as orchestral song. 

1897 – After converting from Judaism to Catholicism, Mahler can be appointed to the post of Conductor, and later Artistic Director, of the biggest theatre of the time – the Vienna Court Opera. Here, he strives to realize his ambition to reform opera: he propagates the idea of the opera as a whole work of art and touches up some works. Due to his professional commitments, he can only compose during periods when there are no performances going on.

1899 – Purchases land in Maiernigg at Wörthersee.

1900 – Completion of the Komponierhäuschen.
Completion of the Fourth Symphony at Maiernigg.

1898–1901 – Director of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

1901 – Mahler´s villa ready for occupation. Rough drafts of Fifth Symphony, composes several songs.

1902 – Marries Alma Schindler, who introduces him to artists from the Vienna Secession.
Completion of the Fifth Symphony at Maiernigg.

1904 – Completion of the Sixth Symphony. Finishes the Kindertotenlieder cycle (which he began in 1901) at Maiernigg.

1905 – Composes the Seventh Symphony at Maiernigg.

1906 – Composes the Eighth Symphony at Maiernigg.

1907 – Mahler resigns his post as Director of the Court Opera, Vienna. The reasons for his resignation are family problems and the frequent anti–Semitic attacks on him personally. Mahler´s eldest daughter dies at Maiernigg.

1908 – Mahler takes up the post of visiting conductor at the Metropolitan Opera and the Philharmonic Orchestra in New York.

1909 – Director of the New York Philharmonic Society.

1910 – September 12: the first performance of one of his major works, the Eighth Symphony, conducted by Mahler himself in Munich. 
Works on the Tenth Symphony, which remains fragmentary.

1911 – Gustav Mahler dies in Vienna on May 18. 
Mahler is buried at Grinzing, beside his daughter Maria Anna.

Posthumous first performances of the symphony for alto, tenor and orchestra, Das Lied von der Erde, and the Ninth Symphony, a purely instrumental work.

Source: Universal Edition

What motivates Clarice Assad? What drives her passion and creativity? Writing and playing music that inspires and encourages audiences’ imaginations to break free of often self-imposed constraints is just the beginning. She endeavors to harness the incredible and intangible power of music to connect people and transform lives through original works, commissions, and education programs that give voice to everything from the impact of climate change on the natural world to issues of social justice, gender equity, and the empowerment of young voices

Assad also engages audiences directly to immerse themselves in the music. Her 2019 work, É Gol!, which was inspired by the legendary female Brazilian soccer player Marta Vieira da Silva, is scored for full orchestra and features active participation by audience members singing,
performing body percussion movements, and making sound effects. This work continues her explorations with expanding the sonic palette of the voice, both acoustically and through electronic means. Classical Voice North America praises her, saying, “In other hands, the electronically altered sounds might be dismissed as a gimmick, but Assad is like one of those cooks who can turn any four random foodstuffs into a feast.”

She takes this immersive experience outside of the concert hall with the innovative and accessible VOXploration, which she created in 2015. The award-winning education program offers a creative, fun, and accessible approach to music education through meaningful, interactive experiences. In an era where digital interaction is part of the daily routine, the class encourages participants to utilize their bodies and voices as musical instruments in spontaneous music creation, songwriting, and improvisation. It has been carefully curated to work equally well with participants of any age or musical background and has been presented around the world.

Clarice Assad’s 2022–2023 season includes commissions by the Camerata Pacifica, Music Accord, the League of American Orchestras, the Oregon Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, LA Phil, Chamber Music America, the Fry Street Quartet, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Educational residencies include an intense workshop and compositional program at the Austin Classical Guitar Foundation, Levine Music in Washington, DC, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Her latest release of the album Archetypes, performed with her father Sérgio Assad and Chicago-based ensemble Third Coast Percussion, received 2022 Grammy nominations in the Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance and Best Contemporary Classical Composition categories. The collaboratively written program conjures a dozen universal archetypes through a mélange of imaginative chamber music and Latin jazz rhythms. The artists resume their concert tour in 2022.

Assad goes behind the music with her Voxploration podcast. Begun in September 2020, it offers a series of interviews with astonishing singers from around the world who share their musical expertise, tips, techniques, and unique styles. Episodes explore the vibrant worlds of beatbox and freestyle hip hop, as well as the improvisational systems of jazz, art song, maqam, and South Carnatic music, and much more.

The prolific composer has more than 70 works to her credit, including numerous commissions for Carnegie Hall, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Orquestra Sinfônica de São Paulo, Chicago Sinfonietta, San Jose Chamber Orchestra, General Electric, Sybarite5, Metropolis ensemble, the Bravo! Vail Music Festival, and the La Jolla Music Festival, to name a few.

Her work commissioned by Aquarelle Guitar Quartet, Danças Nativas, was nominated for a Latin Grammy for best contemporary composition in 2009. She was commissioned by Albany Symphony in 2019 to help a group of teenage girls from Girls’ Inc. compose a pop piece based on Sojourner Truth’s speech “Ain’t I a Woman.” Assad recently wrote the soundtrack to Devoti Tutti, a documentary by Bernadette Wegenstein about Catania, Italy’s celebration of Saint Agatha, and is composing the music for a ballet by award-winning choreographer Shannon Alvis.

Her compositions have been recorded by some of the most prominent names in classical music, including percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, and oboist Liang Wang. Assad’s music has been performed by Philadelphia
Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony, Queensland Symphony, and the Orquestra Sinfônica de São Paulo, among others. She has served as a composer-in-residence for the Albany Symphony, the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, New Century Chamber Orchestra, and the Boston
Landmarks Orchestra. Her works are published in France (Editions Lemoine), Germany (Trekel), Brazil (Criadores do Brasil), and in the U.S. by Virtual Artists Collective Publishing (VACP), a publishing company she co-founded with poet and philosopher Steve Schroeder.

As a performer, Assad has shared the stage with Bobby McFerrin, Anat Cohen, Nadia Sirota, Paquito D’Rivera, Tom Harrell, Marilyn Mazur, and Mike Marshall, among other outstanding musicians. She has appeared at internationally renowned venues and festivals including The Netherlands’ Concertgebouw, Carnegie Hall, Belgium’s Le Palais des Beaux-Arts, Le Casino de Paris, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the Caramoor International Jazz Festival.

The popular recording artist has released seven solo albums and appeared on or had her works performed on another 34. Her music is represented on Cedille Records, SONY Masterworks, Nonesuch, Adventure Music, Edge, Telarc, NSS Music, GHA, and CHANDOS.

Her VOXploration education program has received grants and awards from Brazilian foundations such as CAIXA CULTURAL and SESC, as well as American grants from New Music USA and the McKnight Foundation. Assad has given master classes, residencies, and workshops throughout the United States, Europe, and the Middle East, including at the Juilliard School of Music, the Aarhus Conservatory of Music, the University of Michigan, the University of Texas, and the Royal Conservatory of Brussels.

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Clarice Assad has lived in Brazil, France, and the United States. She is fluent in Portuguese, French, and English, and sings in all three languages, as well as Spanish and Italian. One of the most widely performed Brazilian concert music composers of her generation, she is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including an Aaron Copland Award, several ASCAP awards in composition, a Morton Gould Young Composer Award, the Van Lier Fellowship, the Franklin Honor Society Award, the Samuel Ostrowsky Humanities Award, the New Music Alive Partnership program by the League of American Orchestras, and a McKnight Visiting Composer Award. Assad holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Chicago’s Roosevelt University, and a Master of Music degree from The University of Michigan School of Music, where she studied with Michael Daugherty, Susan Botti, and Evan Chambers.

Márquez was born in Álamos, Sonora, in 1950 where his interest in music began. Márquez is the first born of nine children of Arturo Márquez and Aurora Navarro. Márquez was the only one of the nine siblings to become a musician. Márquez's father was a mariachi musician in Mexico and later in Los Angeles. His paternal grandfather was a Mexican folk musician in the northern states of Sonora and Chihuahua. Márquez's father and grandfather exposed him to several musical styles in his childhood, particularly Mexican "salon music" which would be the impetus for his later musical repertoire.

Márquez began composing at the age of 16 and attended the Mexican Music Conservatory, where he studied piano and music theory from 1970 to 1975. Márquez studied composition from 1976 to 1979 with Federico Ibarra, Joaquín Gutiérrez Heras, and Héctor Quintana.[1] In the U.S., he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and in 1990 obtained a MFA in composition from California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California.[1]

His music incorporates forms and styles of his native Mexico.[2] The Danzones are based on the music of and the Veracruz region of Mexico. Danzón No. 2 was included on the program of the Simon Bolívar Youth Orchestra conducted by Gustavo Dudamel on the 2007 tour of Europe and the United States. The composition has also opened the door for the discovery of other pieces by the composer that are increasingly being performed throughout the world and extensively in Latin America. His Danzones are increasingly being used for ballet productions throughout the world. Márquez is a popular composer among the Latin American public and is widely recognized as one of the most important Mexican composers of his generation.

Arturo Márquez lives with his family in Mexico City.

Source: wikipedia

Pacho Flores was awarded First Prize in the “Maurice André” International Contest, the most renowned trumpet Contest in the world, as well as First Prize in the “Philip Jones” International Contest and First Prize in the “Cittá di Porcia” International contest. Trained in the marvelous Orchestra System for Youth and Children in Venezuela, he received top recognition for his performances, recitals, and recordings as a soloist. 

Capable of managing classical or popular styles indistinctively, Flores adds to his captivating interpretations a great deal of energy tinged with the most beautiful instrumental colors.  Acting as soloist, he has performed with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Kiev, Camerata from St. Petesbourg, Orchestral Ensemble from Paris, Orchestre de la Garde Républicaine, NHK Orchestra from Japan, Symphony Orchestra of Tokio, Philharmonic Orchestra of Osaka, Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra from Venezuela, Symphony Orchestra of Dusseldorf, and the Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra amongst many others. He has also given recitals in concert halls such as the Carnegie Hall in New York, Pleyel Hall in Paris, and the Opera City in Tokio. Serving as one of the founding members of the Simón Bolívar Brass Quintet, he has taken part in numerous tours around Europe, South America, United States, and Japan. Experienced orchestral musician, Flores has held the Leading Trumpet position in the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, Saito Kinen Orchestra from Japan, and the Symphony Orchestra of Miami, under the musical direction of Maestros like Claudio Abbado, Sir Simon Rattle, Seiji Ozawa, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Rafael Frübeck of Burgos, Eduardo Marturet, and Gustavo Dudamel including many others. Founding Director of the Latin-American Trumpet Academy in Venezuela, he fosters a promising generation of young talents. Flores is extremely keen on promoting Contemporary Music and does so providing important contributions by means of the performance and interpretation of his instrument. His repertoire includes commissions and premieres of works by composers such as Roger Boutry, Efraín Oscher, Giancarlo Castro, Santiago Báez, Juan Carlos Nuñez, and Sergio Bernal. Recently he has carried out an important concert tour across Norway and Austria with the Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Maestro and Composer Christian Lindberg, interpreting his concert “Akbank Bunka”, a piece for Trumpet and Orchestra, making his debut at the Fiestpielhaus of Salzburg, and at the Musikverein of Viena. His first album “La Trompeta venezolana” was released by the record label Guataca Producciones. 

Artist from the Stomvi family, he plays instruments that have been exclusively manufactured for him by this renowned firm, and is actively involved in the developments and innovations of his instruments. Pacho Flores is a Deutsche Grammophon exclusive artist with already three recordings, Cantar with Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin and Christian Vásquez; Entropía, Gold Medal of the Global Music Awards; Fractales with Arctic Philharmonic and Christian Lindberg; the double CD-DVD Cantos y Revueltas with Real Filharmonía de Galicia and Manuel Hernández-Silva; and Estirpe with Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería y Carlos Miguel Prieto, nominated and awarded at the Latin Grammys.