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Chicago Tribune
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Review: Grant Park Music Festival opens with Latin dances and a multitasking conductor
Depending where you are, introducing oneself as American in Spanish — soy Americano — might set you up for some playful ribbing. To many, the descriptor is understood to refer to the Americas broadly, not the United States. On Wednesday, a very Americano opening night of the Grant Park Music Festival, led by guest conductor Andrew Litton, took that wide angle. Gabriela Lena Frank's 'Three Latin American Dances' references indigenous American and European sources alike, mixing — like so much Latin American music — in a fluid, unbroken tapestry. The Spanish dances in Manuel de Falla's 'The Three-Cornered Hat,' later in the program, hit home those Old World influences. Even 'Rhapsody in Blue,' the U.S.-of-American piece at the concert's heart, briefly shuffles atop Latin rhythms. Though studiously apolitical, the concert's Pan-American outlook took on added resonance this week amid demonstrations in Chicago and across the country over immigration raids targeting migrants from Latin America. Just a few short months ago, festival music director Giancarlo Guerrero — born in Nicaragua, raised in Costa Rica — placed 30-second ad spots for the festival on Spanish-language radio, a savvy marketing move for a city that is more than a fifth Spanish-speaking. But the festival has opened to a stark new political reality. Guerrero will arrive at the festival starting next week. In the meantime, Litton devised a sufficiently show-stopping opener by conducting and playing 'Rhapsody in Blue.' Doing double duty is doubtlessly a feat, but it's an entirely possible one, Litton told the audience: the solo piano part and orchestral backing more or less trade off throughout. There are about a million ways to tackle Gershwin's perennial, and local audiences have heard a few already in recent summers. On Wednesday, Litton and the Grant Parkers went for contrast: The orchestra's raucous, jazzy heft met the cool steel of Litton's primmer and ever-so-classical interpretation. Litton's necessary focus on the solo part often freed the Grant Park musicians — especially solo voices like clarinetist Trevor O'Riordan and trombonist Jeremy Moeller — to take inspiring interpretive risks. Likewise, Litton seemed more in his element than in the rest of the program. Lines ebbed and flowed with ease, and he briefly superimposed some swing on his cadenza halfway through the piece. However, Litton was less decisive when he recouped his baton. He appeared notably more reliant on the score to 'Dances,' written in 2004, than he did the Gershwin and de Falla's; unsurprisingly, a staid, mostly anonymous account followed. Grant Park's open-air setting is always a daunting container for atmospheric, hazily scored music like the opening of the second-movement 'Highland Harawi.' Here, though, it came off as detached rather than distant, draining the screeching-violin cataclysm a few minutes later of its drama. The lackadaisical tempo of the 'Mestizo Waltz' capper never reached liftoff, either. Overall, this was the rare Grant Park evening where the 21st century work got the short end of the stick. 'The Three-Cornered Hat' fared better. It still had its flat moments — the exposition felt a bit ushered along, as did the beginning of 'The Neighbors Dance' — but in this familiar repertoire, the ensemble did more to rise to the occasion. Cheeky pinprick staccatos from oboist Alex Liedtke and bassoonist Eric Hall enlivened the 'Dance of the Miller's Wife.' Later, the 'Jota' finale thrived in the delightful juxtaposition of grandiosity and mischief, represented by pulsing low voices and tiptoeing woodwinds. It tends to take a program or two for the Grant Parkers to readjust to playing together in the Pavilion. Wednesday was no exception, with several scattered moments. But this ever-flexible orchestra course-corrects quickly: It only took a bar or so for violins to brush themselves off after some disagreement at the top of Frank's 'Dances,' and again in harried moments in 'The Three-Cornered Hat.' But its sound was always gleaming and well-rounded, the instrumental balance impeccable all evening. From the curtain-raising 'Star-Spangled Banner' to the de Falla's hair-raising Jota, this was a banner night for the Grant Park brass in particular. Trombones converged cleanly and mightily for their soli in 'Rhapsody in Blue'; so did trumpets at the flamenco-y start of the 'Mestizo Waltz.' In an uncertain, ugly summer, what a gift it is to have Grant Park. The Grant Park Music Festival continues this Friday at 6:30 p.m. with Holst's 'The Planets,' conducted by festival chorus director Christopher Bell in the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, 201 E. Randolph St.; free,
CBS News
08-05-2025
- Automotive
- CBS News
Neighbors express concerns about disruptions with NASCAR Chicago Street Race to return for third year
The NASCAR Chicago Street Race will be back for a third year in July, and Chicago Police and NASCAR representatives met with South Loop neighbors Wednesday to hear their concerns when it comes to safety. While the revving of engines in Grant Park is welcomed by some, many who live in the area are not fans of the congestion the event ushers their way. Paul Wasserman has called the South Loop home for 30 years, but in recent years, he has dreaded the NASCAR Street Race due to the lack of access. "It's really tough on the neighborhood during NASCAR," Wasserman said. As NASCAR plans to descend over several streets surrounding Grant Park for the third year in a row, many like Wasserman are fed up with what comes with the race. "Occasionally when there's an event going on down here, you get like a bad day or maybe a bad night for like a Beyoncé concert [at Soldier Field] or something, but this is like that, but for however long NSACAR goes on," Wasserman said. At the community meeting Wednesday night, Wasserman's South Loop neighbors came together to voice their concerns directly to the Chicago Police Department — and specifically to NASCAR Chicago. "I understand it's a lot of people live down here, and they're not interested in their front yard being a party every weekend," said Central (1st) District police Cmdr. David Harris. NASCAR said it is heeding neighbors' concerns. "We have been working very hard to minimize those disruptions," said Julie Giese of NASCAR Chicago. NASCAR said there will be a total of 25 days from setup to clearing the course and blocked roads, albeit for only two days of racing. "We're going to continue to get better at this," Giese said. Residents are waiting to see how the new changes will play out, but Wasserman stands by his opinion. "I understand that we might have to live with it, but if it were elsewhere, I'd be happier," he said. The city entered into a three-year contract with NASCAR under former Mayor Lori Lightfoot. This year is the third for the race. Giese was asked if NASCAR plans to return again for a street race in 2026. "Again, right now, our focus is on this year's event," she said. "We have those option years. We'll have those conversations." The race is set for July 5 and 6..
Winnipeg Free Press
30-04-2025
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
Grant Park removes advanced-placement test due to student stress
Manitoba's largest school division has removed a rare entry exam used to sort graduating elementary students into different academic streams. Grant Park High School had asked incoming students to take the test at the end of Grade 6 to determine whether they could register in its advanced program. Principal Jamie Hutchison said an overhaul at Grant Park, which operates both a middle years wing and grades 9 to 12 courses, was initiated in response to concerns about students' well-being. Hutchison said he and his colleagues started noticing 'ever-increasing levels of anxiety' among students from feeder schools when in-person classes resumed after the initial COVID-19 disruptions. 'The testing piece and the anxiety associated with that was extremely troubling to us as educators, post-pandemic,' he said. Hutchison described the pre-registration assessment on the campus, located at 450 Nathaniel St., as 'high stakes.' Eleven and 12-year-old test-takers had to meet a specific and undisclosed threshold to secure a seat outside the general entry program at Grant Park. At the time, their three options were general, flexible or 'flex,' as its known among students, and advanced Grade 7. Flex was made for students who are self-motivated and excel at group projects. Advanced was created for those interested in studying subjects in-depth and at an accelerated pace. (The advanced stream is different from Advanced Placement, an internationally recognized program that is offered later on in a student's career at Grant Park and allows them to earn university-level credits. It is not an official prerequisite for AP, although both are for independent students seeking academic enrichment.) Grant Park administration has combined the general and flex streams ahead of the 2025-26 school year. They had become increasingly similar in recent years, with emphasis on student inquiry, project-based learning and interdisciplinary education, Hutchison said. Also new for next year is the ability for families to choose their preferred stream — as is the status quo elsewhere in the Winnipeg School Division. 'When we place students and we categorize them, that can create some negative self-images and that can be very detrimental,' said Matt Henderson, superintendent of the division responsible for roughly 30,000 students in inner-city and central Winnipeg. Henderson said this change at Grant Park — an outlier in WSD in that the school ran these point-in-time tests until recently — marks a new era. 'Parents are the experts of their children and we want the kids to have agency, too, and determine what type of learning environment they would like – and I think that's recognized as good practice throughout North America and that's something we fully endorse,' he said. There are no such exams required to enter French immersion, vocational schools or other options, the superintendent noted. Michael Holden, an assistant professor of education at the University of Winnipeg, questioned why students need to be streamed, be it via test or their personal choice, so early. Holden cited 2012 recommendations from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development that warned against grouping students before 'upper secondary.' Early selection has a negative impact on students assigned to lower-level academic tracks and exacerbates inequities because children from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to be placed in them, per the report. 'It worries me – asking parents to make that decision if they don't know the long-term consequences of those choices,' said Holden, who researches classroom assessment at U of W. The academic said he's curious what data, if any, WSD has on graduates from general and flex moving onto high-level academic courses and post-secondary education. Maggie MacintoshEducation reporter Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie. Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative. Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
