Review: Moving Voices and Rhetorical Fireworks at the Grant Park Celebration
One of the principles we celebrate on Independence Day is freedom of speech. And some of the key attendees at Grant Park Music Festival’s Independence Day Salute on Saturday exercised that right freely in voicing their objections to troubling events around the country and around the world.
One of them was Dale Taylor, CEO of Abelson Taylor, a health advertising agency and longtime Festival benefactor. In his remarks introducing Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Taylor joked that he called right-wing Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and invited him to join Lightfoot, who recently exclaimed “Fuck Clarence Thomas !” after the Supreme Court decided to overturn Roe vs. Wade precedent for the right to abortion.
In his punchline, Taylor said Thomas refused, telling Taylor he was busy “making a list of rights to abolish.”
Lightfoot herself took a more measured approach. “We must remember that we as Americans have so much to be grateful for despite the winds that blow or tear us apart,” she said. “What we need to remember, at this time of celebrating our history and the founding of our country, is that there is so much more that brings us together.”
She continued, “Someone once said that we will always be the land of the free as long as we remain the land of the brave. And right now, we need Americans to remember our bravery. We need to make sure that we stand up for our rights and unite as Americans as neighbors.
Christopher Bell, director of the Grant Park Chorus and, as usual, conductor of the Independence Day Salute, also spoke. 1812 Opening — a 4th of July staple for years — was omitted because it wouldn’t be appropriate, a reference to Russia’s brutal and ongoing invasion of Ukraine. “March of the Women”, a protest song written in 1911 by British composer and suffragette Ethel Smyth, was added to the program at the start of the second half of the concert and sung only by the women in the choir.
The rest of the concert was purely American, a balm for spectators who love their country but worry about its direction.
The immensely charming Bell, born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, became known for wearing unique outfits to 4th of July concerts, and he did not disappoint.
For the first half of the concert performance, he wore a red, white and blue sequined visor, a blue sleeveless tunic over a white singlet with red and white striped sleeves. For the second half, he wore a motorcycle jacket with an American flag on the back, the United States on the sleeves, flared and starry flag pattern pants and cowboy boots.
The Grant Park Chorus, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary throughout this summer’s concert series, was featured on Saturday, starting with a choral arrangement of the national anthem by composer Eric Whitacre (Bell asked the audience to avoid trying to sing due to tempo and key changes).
The choir also provided moving renditions of André Thomas’ “I Hear America Singing”, Irving Berlin’s “Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor” (a musical version of Emma Lazarus’ poem “The New Colossus” which is closely associated with the Statue of Liberty), the Battle Hymn of the Republic, “The Promise of Living” by Aaron Copland The tender earth, “When the Saints Enter” and “America the Beautiful”.
Purely orchestral works included John Williams’ “Liberty Fanfare”; a medley of songs by George Gershwin; Glenn Miller’s Big Band “In The Mood”; the bluegrass track “Orange Blossom Special”; “From Sea to Shining Sea”, a medley, arranged by Robert Wendel, composed of songs associated with American cities and states, including “Chicago (My Kind of Town)”, of course; and the traditional “Armed Forces Salute” which invites military veterans to stand while their service anthem is played.
The evening ended with “Stars and Stripes Forever” by John Philip Sousa, which, let’s face it, really is more appropriate in any year than The opening of 1812.
The concert was a short turnaround for Bell, who on Wednesday June 29 and Friday July 1 had led the Grant Park Music Festival Classical Concerts in relief of artistic director Carlos Kalmar, who is recovering from an apparently mild case of COVID- 19.
There was also a touch of modern politics. The concert opened with Jean Sibelius’ Finland, written in 1899 in support of Finland’s demands for independence from Imperial Russia. This was followed by a modern sacred choral piece, In principle (In the Beginning), by the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, who set the Gospel of John from the New Testament to music. The Grant Park Chorus once again stood out in the star piece of the evening, the long but above all charming song by Benjamin Britten. Spring Symphony.
The Grant Park Music Festival will present two programs this week that are more show than concert.
On Wednesday (July 6), there is The Circus becomes Hollywood, the Orchestra providing the music for the acrobats and jugglers of the Vertigo Troupe. The show begins at 6:30 p.m. Tickets for the front seating area of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion cost between $26 and $135 and can be purchased by clicking here. General admission seating at the back of the house and on the Great Lawn is free.
Friday (July 8) and Saturday (July 9) bring Lights on Broadway, the annual review of the Festival’s show tunes. This year’s performance includes voices from Broadway veterans Capathia Jenkins, who on May 30 rocked the Harris Theater in the Chicago Philharmonic’s Aretha Rising tribute to Aretha Franklin and Sam Simakh. Performances start a little later, at 8 p.m., to avoid any conflict with Taste of Chicago.
Tickets for Lights on Broadway range from $26 to $95 and can be purchased by clicking here. General admission seating at the back of the house and on the Great Lawn is free.