Chicago Semester

The Grant Park Music Festival

Posted by Janelle Kibbe | Jun 25, 2012

It’s been over a month since the spring semester let out, and the Chicago Semester staff has gotten grades in and is now planning for the upcoming fall orientation and setting up interviews for potential internships. When we're not working at CS, there are plenty of things for us to do during the summertime in Chicago—neighborhood festivals, farmer’s markets, outdoor concerts, craft shows, art exhibits, etc. There’s always so much going on!

One of my favorite ways to enjoy summer in Chicago is to attend the Grant Park Music Festival, which is a series of free classical music concerts that take place on 

Wednesday, Fridays, and Saturdays during the summer. The concerts are held in Millennium Park at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion. Anyone can bring a chair or blanket, claim a spot on the grass, and let the sounds of Mozart or Gershwin or Vivaldi wash over them.

In addition to chairs and blankets, concertgoers often also bring dinner or appetizers with them. Alcohol, for those of age, is allowed in the park while the performance is in progress, so there’s nothing to stop you, if you’re feeling a bit sophisticated, from sipping wine and munching on cheese and grapes while listening to a superb performance of a classical favorite. But, it’s not stogy affair either; many young kids attend the concerts with their parents and dance along. Some groups even bring card games to play, as they take in the music, and some individuals bring a book or knitting along.

I, personally, enjoy listening to classical music outside under the sun and stars with a gorgeous view of Chicago’s skyscrapers more than in the concert halls, and I think that the Grant Park Music Festival is one of Chicago’s many treasures. Last week I heard Strauss’s Don Juan, Britten’s Piano Concerto (with pianist Steven Osborne), and Mozart’s Symphony No. 41, Jupiter. The complete schedule for the 2012 season of the Grant Park Music Festival can be found online.