Articles tagged with: James MacMillan
Grant Park Orchestra, led by ‘goalie’ Kalmar, heats up Beethoven to kick off festive summer
Review: Chicago’s getting everything right at the beginning of this summer season. The day after the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup, the weather was picnic perfect at Millennium Park, where the free Grant Park Music Festival got underway. Thousands laid down their blankets on the great lawn at Pritzker Pavilion. Even the curse of the overture “Drip” – rained out two seasons running – was finally broken. Check out our top festival picks.
Chicago Bach Choir’s vivid ‘St. John Passion’ was forged from the stuff of lasting memories
Review: One can come away from a profoundly affecting musical experience with any number of dominant feelings: enlightenment, exaltation, transcendence, solemnity among them. After hearing the Chicago Bach Choir and Orchestra perform its namesake’s “St. John Passion,” I walked out into the brisk spring night air with a singular sense of privilege. The performance conducted by John Nelson on March 20 at the Harris Theater surely belongs among the concerts that will endure in memory.
