Symphonies Nos. 4 and 5 will be led by conductor Dennis Russell Davies on July 6-7
John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune, Jan. 9, 2018
... American orchestral music of the last century has few more committed champions than Kalmar. The coming season will bring a typically wide-ranging array of Americana by Charles Ives, Charles Tomlinson Griffes, Samuel Barber, Walter Piston and John Vincent, along with pieces by the young American composers Sean Shepherd and Andrew Norman.
“I sometimes wonder why so many American symphonic pieces have disappeared from the repertory,” Kalmar observes. “The reality is that relatively few conductors, even American conductors, have this music in their repertory. It’s music I personally want to do, music our audience expects to hear.”
As a matter of fact, Grant Park 2018 will celebrate the 80th birthday of one of America’s most honored composers, William Bolcom. A week of residency activities will precede concerts on July 6-7 that are to include his Symphonies Nos. 4 and 5, led by conductor Dennis Russell Davies, a longtime advocate of Bolcom’s music.