Chicago Symphony Orchestra

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The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, based in Chicago, Illinois, is one of the leading orchestras in the world. It is currently in its 115th season.

1 Chicago Symphony Orchestra
2 Civic Orchestra of Chicago
3 Music Directors
4 Principal Guest Conductors
5 Composers-in-Residence
6 External links

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Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Image:Symphony center.JPG

In 1891 Charles Norman Fay, a Chicago businessman, invited Theodore Thomas to establish an orchestra in Chicago. Conducted by Theodore Thomas under the name "Chicago Orchestra," the orchestra played its first concert on October 16, 1891 at the Auditorium Theatre. It is one of the oldest orchestras in the United States behind others including the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.

Orchestra Hall (now a component of the Symphony Center complex), located at 220 South Michigan Avenue (map[1]), was designed by famed Chicago architect Daniel H. Burnham and completed in 1904. Maestro Thomas served as music director for thirteen years until his death shortly after the orchestra's newly built residence was dedicated on December 14, 1904. The orchestra was renamed "Theodore Thomas Orchestra" in 1905 and today, Orchestra Hall still has "Theodore Thomas Orchestra Hall" inscribed in its façade.

In 1905, Frederick Stock became Music Director, a post he held until 1942. The orchestra was renamed "Chicago Symphony Orchestra" in 1913 and on 1 May, 1916, Frederick Stock recorded the Wedding March from Felix Mendelssohn's music to A Midsummer Night's Dream, in Aeolian Hall, New York City, for what was then known as the Columbia Gramophone Company. This made the Chicago Symphony Orchestra one of the first American symphony orchestras to record with its own music director.

Other Music Directors have included Désiré Defauw (1943-47), Artur Rodzinski (1947-48), Rafael Kubelik (1950-53), Fritz Reiner (1953-63), Jean Martinon (1963-68), Georg Solti (1969-91) and, Daniel Barenboim (1991-2006). Maestro Barenboim's final concerts leading the Chicago Symphony Orchestra are scheduled to take place in June of 2006. A successor has not been named, as of April 2006. The scheduled 2006-2007 season will be taking place with all guest conductors, creating a unique schedule, the likes of which has not occurred in Chicago since the 1950s.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has long been associated with Ravinia, in Highland Park, Illinois, having first performed during Ravinia Park’s second season in November 1905 and appearing semiregularly through August 1931, after which the Park fell dark under the Great Depression. The Orchestra helped to inaugurate the first season of the Ravinia Festival in August 1936 and has been in residence at the Festival every summer since. Many conductors have made their debut with the Chicago Symphony at Ravinia, and several have gone on to become the 'Artistic Director' (or primary summertime guest conductor) at Ravinia, including Seiji Ozawa, James Levine, and Christoph Eschenbach. As of 2005, James Conlon holds the title of Ravinia Music Director.

The orchestra has also had a number of distinguished guest conductors. Guest conductors have included Richard Strauss, Camille Saint-Saëns, Edward Elgar, Leonard Slatkin, André Previn, Michael Tilson Thomas, Leonard Bernstein, Leopold Stokowski, Morton Gould, Erich Leinsdorf, Walter Hendl, Eugene Ormandy, George Szell and Charles Munch. Many of these guests have also recorded with the Orchestra.

There have also been designated "Principal Guest Conductors" including Carlo Maria Giulini (1969-72) and Claudio Abbado (1982-85). Since 1995, Pierre Boulez has been Principal Guest Conductor.

Music performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra has appeared in various movies, including Immortal Beloved (conducted by Sir Georg Solti) and Fantasia 2000 (conducted by James Levine).

The Chicago Symphony also holds an annual fundraiser, originally known as the Chicago Symphony Radiothon and more recently as "Symphonython," in conjunction with Chicago radio station WFMT. As part of the event, the Orchestra has, since 1986, released exclusive tracks from their broadcast archives on double LP/CD collections.

The Chicago Symphony has amassed over 900 recordings. Recordings by the orchestra have won fifty-eight Grammy® Awards from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Their Grammy Awards include several Classical Album of the Year awards, awards in Best Classical Performance in vocal soloist, choral, instrumental, engineering and orchestral categories.

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Civic Orchestra of Chicago

Frederick Stock founded the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the first training orchestra in the United States affiliated with a major symphony orchestra, in 1919. Its goal is to recruit pre-professional musicians and train them as high-level orchestra players. Many alumni have gone on to play for the CSO or other major orchestras.

The Civic Orchestra performs half a dozen orchestral concerts and a chamber music series annually in Symphony Center and in other venues throughout the Chicago area free of charge to the public.

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