Rebecca Luker, Doug LaBrecque & More Set for Grant Park Music Festival, 7/17

It'll be a grand night for singing on Wednesday, July 17 at 6:30 p.m. as Christopher Bell conducts the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus in a salute to the legendary team of Rodgers and Hammerstein at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago's Millennium Park. Joined by guest artists Rebecca Luker, Doug LaBrecque and William Michals, they will showcase the music of Oklahoma, South Pacific, The King and I, Carousel and The Sound of Music by Rodgers and Hammerstein, along with favorites from Kern and Hammerstein and Rodgers and Hart. The concert is free.

Rebecca Luker's (soprano) Broadway credits include Mary Poppins, Nine, The Music Man, The Sound of Music, Showboat, The Secret Garden and The Phantom of theOpera. With New York City Op­era, Ms. Luker was featured in X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X and Brigadoon. She has also performed leading roles at many regional theaters, including the Kennedy Center, Old Globe and La Jolla Playhouse and performed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. Her television credits include Law and Order-SVU, Boardwalk Empire, An Evening with the Pops, The Kennedy Center Honors honoring Julie Andrews, and a Richard Rodgers Celebration with the Boston Pops.

Doug LaBrecque (tenor) has appeared in both the title role and as Raoul in the Harold Prince production of The Phantom of the Opera. His additional Broadway credits include Ravenal in Showboat. Mr. LeBreque was featured in Oscar Hammerstein's 100th Birthday Celebration on Broadway and toured nationally with Les Miserables. He has been a soloist with many of America's leading orchestras, including the National Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, and San Francisco Symphony. Internationally he has performed in Korea, China, Canada and Brazil as well as in numerous return engagements with the Israel Phil­harmonic. Mr. LaBrecque recently appeared in Alba, Italy as the guest soloist in an all-Bernstein concert and returned to the International Music Festival in the Czech Republic.

Willam Michals (baritone) made his Broadway debut as The Beast in Disney's Beauty and the Beast, and later returned to play Gaston in the same production. His career has continued in such roles as Javert in LES MISERABLES, Billy Flynn in Chicago, Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha, Harold Hill in The Music Man and the title role in The Phantom of the Opera. He has also entertained in New York's finest clubs, including the Rainbow Room, Four Seasons and Grand Ballroom of the Plaza. He opened the December 11, 2001 memo­rial service at Ground Zero in New York with a solo, unaccompanied rendition of Let There Be Peace On Earth, which was rebroadcast worldwide. Mr. Michals also enjoys a career in opera, having appeared in leading roles in Le nozze di Figaro, Carmen, La Bohème, and Die Walküre.

Christopher Bell marks his 12th season as chorus director of the Grant Park Chorus. He also serves as chorus master for the Edinburgh International Festival, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Junior Chorus and the Belfast Philharmonic Choir. Bell was largely responsible for the formation of the National Youth Choir of Scotland (NYCoS) in 1996 and is its artistic director. He has also worked with many other major orchestras in the UK and Ireland, including the Royal Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National, BBC Scottish Symphony, City of London Sinfonia, and London Concert. He is this year's recipient of the prestigious Michael Korn Founders Award from Chorus America honoring his lifetime contributions to the professional choral art.

Memberships to the Grant Park Music Festival 79th Season are still available. Most membership levels include specific reserved seats or general seating in a reserved section of the Pavilion for all Grant Park Music Festival concerts. Memberships with seating benefits begin at $150.

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. Its 79th season-running Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays for ten weeks at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park through August 17-features a summer of beloved classics, masterworks of today and tomorrow and anniversary celebrations.

For more information about the Grant Park Music Festival, visit gpmf.org or call 312.742.7638. For additional information, visit the Grant Park Music Festival Facebookpage or follow the Festival on Twitter @gpmf.

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 gratefully acknowledges the generous support from its 2013 sponsors: BMO Harris Bank, Season Sponsor; American Airlines, Official Airline; Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park, Official Hotel; ComEd, Fifth Third Bank, Colleen and Lloyd Fry and The Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, Smart Family Foundation and Joan and Robert Feitler, and Marion and Charles Kierscht, Concert Sponsors; 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.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos

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