World Premieres

Put together imaginative programs that mix standard and unusual symphonic and choral fare…and you have a classical operation several cuts above anything to be found across the crowded US festival landscape.

—John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune

In 2014, the Grant Park Music Festival formalized its commitment to an expanded repertoire by bringing the commissioning of new works into its long-range plan. The Festival's list of world premieres has been growing ever since.

John Corigliano Midsummer Fanfare (2004)

Michael Torke Plans (2009)

Michael Gandolfi Only Converge: An Exaltation of Place (2012)

Sebastian Currier Sleepers and Dreamers (2012)

Christopher Theofanidis The Legend of the Northern Lights (2014)

William Bolcom: Millennium: A Concerto-Fantasia for Orchestra (2014)

Kenji Bunch Symphony No. 3 (2015)

Michael Gandolfi The Cosmic Garden in Bloom (2016)

Aaron Jay Kernis Legacy (2017)

Ēriks Ešenvalds The Pleiades (2018)

Kareem Roustom Turn to the World: A Whitman Cantata (2019)

Stacy Garrop Shiva Dances (2019)

Lori Laitman Hands (2019)

Joel Thompson In Response to the Madness (2019)

Mischa Zupko Blue Matter* (commissioned in 2020)

Billy Childs Violin Concerto No. 2* (commissioned in 2020)

*Due to the cancellation of the 2020 Festival, this work will be premiered during the 2021 Festival.