Alexander Gemignani, Elizabeth Stanley & More Set for Grant Park Music Festival's A SONDHEIM CELEBRATION

The 81st annual Grant Park Music Festival - the nation's only free, summer-long outdoor classical music series of its kind - continues into July with the theatrical A Sondheim Celebration, Friday and Saturday, July 10 and 11, 8:00 p.m. in the Jay Pritzker Pavilion of Millennium Park. Audiences are invited to enjoy a little night music and celebrate the award-winning master of the musical in A Sondheim Celebration led by Broadway conductor and long-time Sondheim collaborator Paul Gemignani, with Illinois native and Broadway veteran Elizabeth Stanley (On the Town), Broadway tenor Alexander Gemignani (LES MISERABLES) and the Grant Park Orchestra with guest pianist Tedd Firth performing Stephen Sondheim favorites, including selections from Sweeney Todd, Company, Into the Woods and the world premiere of A Little Night Music symphonic suite. For information about one-night passes and group seating, visit gpmf.org or call 312-742-7647.

A SONDHEIM CELEBRATION

Friday, July 10, 8:00 PM in Millennium Park

Saturday, July 11, 8:00 PM in Millennium Park

Performers: Grant Park Orchestra; Paul Gemignani, guest conductor; Elizabeth Stanley, vocalist; Alexander Gemignani, vocalist; Tedd Firth, piano

Led by conductor and longtime Stephen Sondheim collaborator Paul Gemignani, the Grant Park Orchestra and renowned vocalists perform Sondheim favorites, including selections from Sweeney Todd, Company, Into the Woods and the world premiere of A Little Night Music symphonic suite.

Songs and Suites from Sondheim's greatest and most popular repertoire

Open lunchtime rehearsals of A Sondheim Celebration take place Thursday, July 9, 10:30am-1pm and Friday, July 10, 11am-1:30pm. Audiences are invited to sit in the Pavilion Seating Bowl during rehearsals, and Festival docents will be on site to talk about the week's concerts during rehearsal breaks.

Theater production manager Gary Zabinski will host free Club 615 pre-concert lectures before both shows, Friday and Saturday at 6:15pm in Millennium Park's Family Fun Tent located just west of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion.

The Friday, July 10 concert will be broadcast live on 98.7WFMT, Chicago's classical and fine arts radio station, and also online at wfmt.com/streaming.

In July, audiences will also hear excerpts from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet with guest conductor Thierry Fischer (July 15), Brahms' lush A German Requiem with rising stars Caitlin Lynch and Stephen Hegedus (July 17-18) and Dvo?ák's beautiful, large-scale Symphony No. 6 with guest conductor Thomas Wilkins (July 29). The month concludes with a powerful program including the prelude to Bruckner's Symphony No. 6 with guest conductor Christoph König making his Festival debut, indoors at the Harris Theatre (July 31 and Aug. 1).

Later in July, prolific film, TV and stage composer Douglas Cuomo (who wrote the theme song to Sex and the City) has a five-day residency with the Festival. The Grant Park Orchestra will perform excerpts from Cuomo's opera Doubt (based on John Patrick Shanley's play and film of the same name) during the contemporary American opera program (July 22). Audiences can learn more about Cuomo's work first-hand at a Brown Bag lunch Q&A at the open rehearsal July 21 during the orchestra break (approximately 12 noon). On performance day, Seth Boustead, host of WFMT's Relevant Tones, leads an in-depth discussion with Cuomo about his creative process at the Club 615 pre-concert lecture on July 22, 5:30 p.m. in Millennium Park's Family Fun Tent.

Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Carlos Kalmar leads the Grammy-nominated Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus Director Christopher Bell directs the award-winning Grant Park Chorus in a ten-week season that continues through August 22 at the Festival's home in Millennium Park's Jay Pritzker Pavilion, with additional performances at the South Shore Cultural Center, the Columbus Park Refectory and the Harris Theatre. With a few exceptions during the neighboring Taste of Chicago, Festival concerts are Wednesdays and Fridays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. The July program schedule is below. A complete Grant Park Music Festival schedule is accessible at www.gpmf.org.

For more information about the Grant Park Music Festival including membership, one-night passes and group seating, visit gpmf.org or call 312-742-7647. For additional information, visit the Grant Park Music Festival Facebook page or follow the Festival on Twitter @gpmf.

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