Grant Park Music Festival to Celebrate Annual Independence Day Salute

Celebrate the Fourth with the Grant Park Music Festival annual Independence Day Salute, one of Millennium Park's most popular summer concerts of the season. Christopher Bell conducts the Grant Park Orchestra in this holiday tradition, full of rousing marches and patriotic anthems, including Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, Sousa's Stars and Stripes Forever,the Armed Forces Salute, and more.

The Independence Day Salute takes place Tuesday, July 4, 6:30 p.m. at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion of Millennium Park, with an encore performance on Wednesday, July 5, 6:30 p.m. at the South Shore Cultural Center, located at 7059 S. South Shore Drive.

Patrons can order One Night Membership Passes for reserved seats, starting at $25, by calling 312.742.7647 or going online togpmf.org and selecting their own seat down front in the member section of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion. Membership support helps to keep the Festival free for all. For every Grant Park Music Festival concert, there are seats that are free and open to the public in Millennium Park's Seating Bowl and on the Great Lawn, available on a first-come, first-served basis. All seats are free at the South Shore Cultural Center.

An open rehearsal of the Independence Day Salute will take place Tuesday, July 4, at 11 a.m. in Millennium Park. Audiences are welcome to sit in the Pavilion Seating Bowl during rehearsal, and Festival docents will be on site to talk about the program during rehearsal breaks.

The July 4 concert will be broadcast live on 98.7WFMT, Chicago's classical and fine arts radio station, and also online atwfmt.com/streaming.

For more than 80 years, the Grant Park Music Festival has been Chicago's summer musical sensation, demonstrating that classical music, performed by a world-class orchestra and chorus can have a transformative impact on the city. Showcased in the city's most spectacular setting, the Festival continues to be the summer gathering place for all of Chicago. The 2017 season runs June 14 through August 19 at the Festival's home in Millennium Park's Jay Pritzker Pavilion, with most concerts on Wednesdays and Fridays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.

The 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 Stephen Smith

The Grant Park Music Festival gratefully acknowledges the generous support from its 2017 sponsors: BMO Harris Bank, Season Sponsor; AbelsonTaylor, Presenting Sponsor of "American Accents"; Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park, Official Hotel; Macy's, Official Picnic Sponsor and ComEd, Concert Sponsor. The Independence Day Salute concert is sponsored by Ginger and Jim Meyer, and AbelsonTaylor.

For more information about the Grant Park Music Festival, including membership, One Night Passes and group seating, visit gpmf.org or call 312.742.7647. For additional information, visit the Grant Park Music Festival Facebook page or follow the Festival on Twitter @gpmf.

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