Principal conductor Carlos Kalmar returns to conclude the final weeks of the Grant Park Orchestra season on the heels of the release of no less than two superb CDs on the Chicago-based Cedille label with the orchestra—“Portraits” with Chicago violinist extraordinaire Jennifer Koh performing violin concertos by Syzmanowski, Martin and Bartók, and “American Orchestral Works,” including world-premiere recordings by three generations of American composers, including Barbara Kolb, Aaron Jay Kernis, Michael Hersch, first CSO composer-in-residence John Corigliano and John Harbison. Born of Viennese parents in Uruguay, Kalmar grew up with South American music, which will be spotlighted on this program along with a new and lively take on the traditional, excessively melodramatic and often morbid Portuguese “fado” or “fate” music tradition provided by guest singer Cristina Branco. (Dennis Polkow)
August 2 at Pritzker Pavilion, Michigan between Randolph and Monroe, (312)742-7638. 6:30pm. Free.
Diversity Initiative: A Preview of Jimmy Herring at Park West On his most recent solo release—last year's “Live in San Francisco”—Herring and his band reach dizzying heights that combine instrumental pyrotechnics with a song-based aesthetic that balances the best characteristics of jazz, fusion and jam-based music.
Chicago Symphony Conundrum: Why Does the Best Get Paid Like the Rest? Imagine if the Chicago Bulls of the Michael Jordan era that won six NBA championships were being paid at levels lower than mediocre teams and you have a sense of why the players of the CSO took a vote on February 13 to “overwhelmingly” authorize a strike on March 10, after nearly a year of fruitless contract negotiations and after…
Music Top 5: August 2021 Marquee names return to Chicago as a long deferred summer festival season resumes.
