Music Director Riccardo Muti To Lead CSO In World Premiere Of NEW WORK BY CSO

Music Director Riccardo Muti returns in March to lead the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) in subscription concerts on Thursday, March 16, at 8:00 p.m., Saturday, March 18, at 8:00 p.m. , Sunday, March 19, at 3:00 p.m., and Tuesday, March 21, at 7:30 p.m. Muti's March program features works by Rossini and Schumann, as well as Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto with internationally celebrated pianist Mitsuko Uchida as soloist. The program also includes the world premiere of many words of love, a CSO-commissioned work by CSO Mead Composer-in-Residence Samuel Adams. The program is presented at Edman Memorial Chapel at Wheaton College on Friday, March 17, at 7:30 p.m. , as part of the CSO's new, three-concert series at the west suburban venue and represents Muti's first appearance with the Orchestra at the venue. Muti also leads an open rehearsal for invited senior and community groups on March 15 in a program supported by the Negaunee Music Institute at the CSO.

The March program (March 16 to 21) features Rossini's playful and technically dazzling overture from his 1812 opera La scala di seta (The Silken Ladder), one of two Rossini overtures performed by Muti and the CSO in the 2016/17 season. Pianist Mitsuko Uchida makes a much anticipated return as soloist in Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto-part of a season-long presentation of the complete Beethoven piano concertos at Symphony Center-in a performance that marks Uchida's second appearance with the Orchestra under the baton of Muti since he became music director in 2010. Muti also returns to the symphonies of Robert Schumann on this program. Having led the Orchestra in subscription and tour performances of Schumann's Third Symphony (Rhenish ) in 2013 and the 2014/15 season respectively, Muti and the CSO perform the composer's ambitious Symphony No. 4 in D Minor. Initially called a "symphonic fantasy" by the composer, Schumann's Fourth Symphony is written as four continuous movements that shift in mood and character, ultimately building to a joyful conclusion.

The focal point of the program is the world premiere of many words of love by CSO Mead Composer-in-Residence Samuel Adams. Commissioned by the Louise Durham Mead Fund, Adams' new work takes inspiration from "Der Lindenbaum," a song about a linden tree from Schubert's landmark song cycle Wintereisse. Adams loosely borrows from the harmony of the Schubert song, and treats the particular musical fragment that accompanies the text "so manches liebe Wort" or "so many words of love" as a recurring musical 'found object'.

Samuel Adams was appointed a CSO Mead Composer-in-Residence alongside his fellow Composer-in-Residence Elizabeth Ogonek in 2015 by Riccardo Muti. The world premiere of many words of love represents his first work commissioned for and performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In December 2016, Adams' Drift and Providence was performed in Orchestra Hall by the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and his Light Readings for 25 singers and eight instruments was premiered in May 2016, on the CSO's MusicNOW concert series that he co-curates with Ogonek.

Muti and the CSO perform the same program at Wheaton College on March 17, as part of the CSO's new, three-concert series at the western suburban location launched in the 2016/17 season. The CSO's series at Edman Memorial Chapel at Wheaton College extends a commitment to connect with audiences in Chicago's western suburbs.

Prior to his return to Chicago for his March residency with the CSO, the Italian government recognized Muti with its prestigious award "Presidente della Repubblica" on March 6, 2017. Presented during a special ceremony held at the Quirinale Palace in Rome, President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella bestowed the award upon Muti, who was one of several recipients recognized for their contributions to Italian culture in the areas of science, art and music.

The March 16, 18 and 19 concerts are generously sponsored by the Juli Plant Grainger Fund for Artistic Excellence.

The March 17 concert is presented in partnership with Wheaton College and is generously sponsored by the JCS Fund of the DuPage Foundation.

The CSO's music director position is endowed in perpetuity by a generous gift from the Zell Family Foundation.

CSO Tuesday series concerts are sponsored by United Airlines.

Tickets for all CSOA-presented concerts can be purchased by phone at 800-223-7114 or 312-294-3000; online at cso.org, or at the Symphony center box office: 220 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60604.