On Wednesday, July 2, 2014, 21-year old cellist Gabriel Cabezas will perform Camille Saint-Saëns’s Cello Concerto at the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago’s Millennium Park. Under the baton of Giancarlo Guerrero the evening’s program will also feature works by Danielpour and Poulenc. Soprano Tracy Cantin will also perform in the Danielpour work. This will be Cabezas’ debut with the Grant Park Music Festival. Cabezas, a Chicago native, shares a common heritage with Maestro Guerrero, who is a native Costa Rican.

This FREE concert begins at 6:30 PM at the Jay Pritzker Pavillion, Chicago’s most beloved outdoor performance space.

FULL CONCERT PROGRAM

Performers: Grant Park Orchestra; Giancarlo Guerrero, guest conductor; Gabriel Cabezas, cello; Tracy Cantin, soprano

Danielpour Darkness in the Ancient Valley
Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto in A Minor
Poulenc Suite from Les Biches

Cellist Gabriel Cabezas has appeared as soloist with the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, the National Symphony of Costa Rica, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the New World Symphony, and the Nashville Symphony, among others. Cabezas has been portrayed as “…an intense player who connects to the music naturally, without artifice, and brings a singing line to the cello” (David Stabler, The Oregonian) and his debut performance with the Cleveland Orchestra described as a “…remarkably poised and elegant account, with superb attention to phrasing, nuance and tonal coloration” (Donald Rosenberg, The Plain Dealer).

A passion for chamber music and collaboration has taken him to Marlboro Music, Music@Menlo, Music from Angel Fire, the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, Bargemusic, and Chicago’s Symphony Center Presents series. His television appearances include performances with Yo-
Yo Ma at “The Tavis Smiley Show” and “Good Morning America”, and with Béla Fleck in “From The Top Carnegie Hall.”

2013-14 season highlights include a subscription debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, as well as a return to Chicago’s International Beethoven Festival and the annual Sphinx Virtuosi national tour. Cabezas’ 2012-13 engagements included concerts with the Detroit Symphony, the Nashville Symphony and the National Symphony of Costa Rica, as well as appearances with Musicians from Marlboro, at the International Beethoven Festival, and ChamberFest Cleveland.

Formerly a recipient of an Education Grant by the Rachel Elizabeth Barton Foundation, Cabezas has supported music outreach and education programs including Midori’s Partners in Performance, the Sphinx Organization, Costa Rica’s national SINEM music education program, and Chicago’s Citizen Musician movement. He is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Carter Brey. As a writer, Cabezas has been featured in Teen Strings Magazine and has been a contributing writer for Strings Magazine.

Acclaimed by critics and beloved by audiences, the Grant Park Music Festival is the nation’s only free, summer-long outdoor classical music series of its kind. The Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, located between Michigan and Columbus Avenues at Washington Street, is the official home of the Grant Park Music Festival. The Grant Park Music Festival is proudly presented by the Grant Park Orchestral Association with key support from the Chicago Park District and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.

The Grant Park Music Festival is led by Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Carlos Kalmar, along with Grant Park Chorus Director Christopher Bell, Grant Park Orchestral Association President and CEO Paul Winberg, and Board Chair Chuck Kierscht.

The Grant Park Music Festival gratefully acknowledges the generous support from its 2014 sponsors: BMO Harris Bank, Season Sponsor; American Airlines, Official Airline; Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park, Official Hotel; Mariano’s, Official Picnic Sponsor; and Millennium Park Garages, Parking Sponsor. The Grant Park Music Festival is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.