José van Dam in January 1979 (Santi Visalli photo via Getty Images)
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra family joins the classical music community in mourning the passing of legendary Belgian bass-baritone José van Dam, who died on February 17, 2026. He was 85.
Born on August 25, 1940, he studied at the Brussels Royal Conservatory and made his professional debut in 1960 as Don Basilio in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège. Van Dam was soon engaged by the Paris Opera, and during his career, he performed in the world’s great opera houses, including the Royal Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Wiener Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Teatro Colón, and the Salzburg Festival.
Van Dam amassed an extraordinary recording legacy, most notably in the operas Carmen, Louise, The Magic Flute, Don Carlos, Faust, The Tales of Hoffmann, Fidelio, Wozzeck, The Marriage of Figaro, Salome, Pelleas and Melisande, and The Flying Dutchman, among many others. In 1983 he created the title role in the world premiere of Messiaen’s Saint François d’Assise at the Paris Opera. Van Dam also appeared in Joseph Losey’s film version of Don Giovanni as Leporello and in Gérard Corbiau’s The Music Teacher.
He was the recipient of numerous awards, including the Deutsche Oper Berlin’s Kammersänger and German Music Critics’ Prize. Van Dam also received the Gold Medal of the Belgian Press, the Grand Prix de l’Académie française du Disque, Orphée d’Or de l’Académie Lyrique Française, the European Critics’ Prize and Diapason d’Or, and Prix de la Nouvelle Académie du Disque. He received three Grammy awards, the first for Best Classical Vocal Soloist Performance for an album of songs by Ravel with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Ensemble InterContemporain under Pierre Boulez. Van Dam also received awards for Best Opera Recording for Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten and Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, both under the baton of Sir Georg Solti (the latter with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus).
Van Dam appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus on several notable occasions — in Orchestra Hall, Carnegie Hall and on tour to London and Salzburg — as follows.
Verdi’s Requiem was recorded in Medinah Temple on June 1 and 2, 1977, for RCA. Thomas Z. Shepard produced the recording, and Paul Goodman was the engineer. The recording won the 1977 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance (other than opera).
April 23 and 25, 1981, Orchestra Hall May 1 and 2, 1981, Carnegie Hall BERLIOZ The Damnation of Faust Mary Beth Stephen, mezzo-soprano (April 23) Claudine Carlson, mezzo-soprano (April 25) Frederica von Stade, mezzo-soprano (May 1 and 2) Kenneth Riegel, tenor (April 23 and May 1) Peyo Garazzi, tenor (April 25 and May 2) José van Dam, bass-baritone Malcolm King, bass Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director Glen Ellyn Children’s Chorus Doreen Rao, director Sir Georg Solti, conductor
In the Chicago Tribune, John von Rhein wrote, “Riegel’s ardently sung, intensely drawn Faust fit securely into the Solti conception [and] he was never less than fascinating to listen to. Van Dam was even better, an urbane, impeccably stylish grand seigneur of a devil, his firm baritone rich in subtly sinister inflections. No better Mephistopheles could be imagined under contemporary vocal artists.”
Berlioz’s The Damnation of Faust was recorded by London Records in Medinah Temple on May 4, 5, 6, and 7, 1981. James Mallinson was the producer, and James Lock and Simon Eadon were sound engineers. The recording won the 1982 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance (other than opera).
Royal Albert Hall, August 28, 1989 (Jim Steere photo)
May 18, 19, and 20, 1989, Orchestra Hall August 28, 1989, Royal Albert Hall, London, England August 30, 1989, Grosses Festspielhaus, Salzburg, Austria BERLIOZ The Damnation of Faust Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano Keith Lewis, tenor José van Dam, bass-baritone Peter Rose, bass Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director Westminster Cathedral Choir (August 28 and 30) James O’Donnell, director Sir Georg Solti, conductor
The August 28 concert at the Royal Albert Hall was recorded for television broadcast and later released by London Records on video.
September 23 and 26, 1995, Orchestra Hall (acts 1 and 2) September 24 and 27, 1995, Orchestra Hall (act 3) WAGNER Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Karita Mattila, soprano Iris Vermillion, mezzo-soprano Ben Heppner, tenor Herbert Lippert, tenor Alan Opie, baritone José van Dam, bass-baritone René Pape, bass Roberto Saccá, tenor John Horton Murray, tenor Steven Tharp, tenor Richard Byrne, baritone Gary Martin, baritone Kelly Anderson, bass-baritone Kevin Deas, bass-baritone Albert Dohmen, bass-baritone Stephen Morscheck, bass-baritone Chicago Symphony Chorus Duain Wolfe, director Sir Georg Solti, conductor
Sir Georg Solti and soloists (standing) Herbert Lippert, Karita Mattila, Ben Heppner, and Alan Opie; (seated) José van Dam, Iris Vermillion, and René Pape (Jim Steere photo)
“Van Dam brought a lieder-singer’s sensibility to [the character of Hans] Sachs, his nobility of tone and keen interpretive intelligence making him an introspective, even melancholy poet-cobbler as well as a Mastersinger in the literal sense,” remarked John von Rhein in the Chicago Tribune.
For London Records, Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg was recorded live in concert and produced by Michael Woolcock; James Lock, John Pellowe, and Neil Hutchinson were the balance engineers; and Krzysztof Jarosz was the location engineer. The recording won the 1997 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording.
November 29, 30, and December 3, 1996, Orchestra Hall RAVEL Don Quichotte à Dulcinée RAVEL Five Popular Greek Melodies MAHLER Three Rückert Songs (Ich atmet’ einen linden Duft, Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen, Liebst du um Schönheit) Pierre Boulez, conductor
Helmuth Rilling leading the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra at the International Congress Center Concert Hall in Jerusalem on January 26, 2003 (Dan Porges via Getty Images)
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra family joins the music world in mourning the passing of pioneering German conductor and scholar Helmuth Rilling, who died yesterday, February 11, 2026, in Warmbronn, Germany. He was 92.
Born in Stuttgart on May 29, 1933, Rilling was one of the most influential modern interpreters of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. He founded the Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart in 1954 and the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart in 1965, and with those ensembles, he embarked on a project to record Bach’s complete sacred cantatas and major choral works on modern instruments. Recorded from 1969 to 1985, the cycle was re-released in 2000 on over 170 CDs and comprised more than 1,000 works.
In 1970 he co-founded the Oregon Bach Festival, and with that group’s orchestra and chorus, later recorded Penderecki’s Credo, which won a Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance in 2001. Rilling also founded the International Bach Academy Stuttgart in 1981.
Rilling appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus on a number of notable occasions, listed below.
January 20, 21, 22, and 25, 2005, Orchestra Hall BEETHOVEN Missa solemnis in D Major, Op. 123 Angela Denoke, soprano Michelle DeYoung, mezzo-soprano Stephen Gould, tenor Alexander Vinogradov, bass Chicago Symphony Chorus Duain Wolfe, director
May 18, 19, and 20, 2006, Orchestra Hall BACH Magnificat in D Major, BWV 243 MOZART Requiem in D Minor, K. 626 Karina Gauvin, soprano Anne-Carolyn Schlüter, mezzo-soprano Ingeborg Danz, contralto Thomas Michael Allen, tenor Nathan Berg, bass-baritone Chicago Symphony Chorus Duain Wolfe, director
May 21, 2006, Orchestra Hall (Beyond the Score) MOZART Requiem in D Minor, K. 626 Robert Levin, speaker Karina Gauvin, soprano Ingeborg Danz, contralto Thomas Michael Allen, tenor Nathan Berg, bass-baritone Chicago Symphony Chorus Duain Wolfe, director
March 10, 11, and 12, 2011 MENDELSSOHN Elijah, Op. 70 Alexandra Coku, soprano Birgit Remmert, mezzo-soprano James Taylor, tenor Markus Eiche, baritone Kenny Lumb, treble Melissa Arning, soprano Angela Young Smucker, mezzo-soprano Chicago Symphony Chorus Duain Wolfe, director The March 10 and 12 concerts were presented in conjunction with the American Choral Directors Association annual conference.
First edition of Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben used by Theodore Thomas for the U.S. premiere in 1900 (Theodore Thomas collection)
Founder and first music director Theodore Thomas led the Chicago Orchestra in the U.S. premieres of Richard Strauss’s Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks in 1895, Also sprach Zarathustra in 1897, and Don Quixote in 1899. So, soon after the composer led the first performance of his Ein Heldenleben in Frankfurt on March 3, 1899, Thomas was eager to introduce his friend’s new tone poem to Chicago audiences.
Following the first performances in Chicago on March 9 and 10, 1900—also a U.S. premiere—the critics (mostly) agreed:
“. . . interest centered, of course, in the new symphonic poem by Strauss, which comes heralded by the report of the sensation which it awakened abroad. So far as may be told from a first hearing, the work is destined to assume a conspicuous place in the literature of modern music, if only as a specimen of the extraordinary character of modern orchestration . . . an extraordinary brilliant feat of composition, a work surging with passion and feeling, often marked by sensuous beauty, and at times—as in the scene describing the hero’s entrance into battle, where we actually seem to hear the clash of steel upon steel—violently discordant but almost invariably strikingly apt in its attempted suggestion of the subject portrayed.” — The Chicago Record
“All the spirit in one answers to the stimulating music, and to hear it is almost as exciting as to be in a battle. It is not too much to say that this descriptive writing is as fine as any ever given to the world. The new Strauss composition was a decided success. . . . The considerable audience of yesterday applauded it with enthusiasm. This tone poem is one of the most striking and at times startling examples of descriptive composition ever yet presented by a composer.” — The Chronicle
“As to the performance of this mighty composition, there can be but one verdict, it was virtuoso playing of the most advanced description. The score is one of almost unparalleled difficulty, both for the individual players and for the orchestra collectively. But under Mr. Thomas’ steady and commanding baton, the whole was carried to a successful and brilliant culminations. . . . Mr. Kramer, the concertmeister, deserves especial mention for the able manner in which he performed the difficult solo passages illustrative of the hero’s ‘love’ experiences.” — Chicago Tribune
“. . . with gorgeous colors lavishly and yet artistically laid on by a master hand, and will rank among the most popular of the modern compositions. . . . The most beautiful theme was that devoted to the love episode, largely depicted by a beautiful solo for the violin delightfully rendered by Mr. Kramer.” — Inter Ocean
However . . .
“Another new work by Richard Strauss, the gifted though erratic composer, was introduced at yesterday’s concert . . . altogether a large composition, very large . . . it cannot be said consistently that it brings forward anything new in music, nor shows marked advance in point of technique . . . the result that, while much rich, strongly colored material is produced, there is also that which cannot legitimately be classed as music. . . . one does not expect to be treated to a musical chaos in order that an attempt may be made to impress an image upon the mind. As a matter of fact, such moments of orchestral hullabaloo as are created in this tone poem defeat the very purpose for which they are intended.” — The Chicago Herald
Leopold Kramer was a soloist on several occasions, including Sibelius’ Violin Concerto under the baton of Frederick Stock in March 1909.
Leopold Kramer (1870–1942) was born in Mühlhausen, Bohemia, and studied under Antonín Bennewitz, director (and predecessor to Antonín Dvořák) at the conservatory in Prague. He performed in several orchestras in Hamburg, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Cologne—also serving as concertmaster of the Gürzenich Orchestra and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam—while still in his 20s. Recruited by Thomas, Kramer immigrated to the United States in 1897 to become the Chicago Orchestra’s third concertmaster, sitting in that chair for the U.S. premieres of Strauss’s Don Quixote and Ein Heldenleben.
As concertmaster, Kramer appeared as soloist with the Orchestra on several occasions, in concertos by Bach, Bruch, Lalo, Saint-Saëns, Sibelius, Sitt, and Vieuxtemps, and works by Beethoven, Glazunov, Handel, and Raff. He also founded the Chicago String Quartette in 1906 with fellow Orchestra members Ludwig Becker (a member of the first violin section who would later succeed Kramer as concertmaster), Franz Esser (principal viola), and Bruno Steindel (principal cello).
During and after his time in Chicago, Kramer served as concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera, Hamburg Municipal Opera, London’s Covent Garden, and Chicago Grand Opera. Also a notable teacher, Kramer taught on the faculties of the Cosmopolitan School of Music and Dramatic Art in Chicago (later merging with Roosevelt University to become part of what is now the Chicago College of Performing Arts) and the German Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Prague, as well as New York’s Institute of Musical Art (later renamed the Juilliard School).
In a 1938 letter to fellow former CSO violinist Rudolph Mangold, Kramer wrote to his colleague, “Kindly remember me to all my old friends. I still have a warm spot in my heart for Chicago, for I spent there some of the happiest years I have ever known.”
Thomas would only repeat Ein Heldenleben once during his tenure as music director, but under his successors, the work became a staple of the repertoire. Shortly after Fritz Reiner became sixth music director, he and the Orchestra recorded together for the first time, committing to disc two works by Strauss: the Dance of the Seven Veils from Salome and Ein Heldenleben for RCA on March 6, 1954.
“Reiner brought out the opulence of Strauss’s orchestration but never wallowed indulgently in the more episodic moments; instrumental textures were clarified so that transparency of sound was paramount; and climaxes were carefully prepared so that they did not appear bombastic. To successfully balance such a large orchestra while projecting seemingly spontaneous playing was a notable achievement,” wrote Kenneth Morgan in his biography Fritz Reiner: Maestro and Martinet. “Ein Heldenleben, to a critic for Harper’s Magazine [in November 1954], confirmed Reiner as probably the greatest Strauss conductor alive: ‘the razor’s edge combination of lean, hard clarity on a vast orchestral scale and perilously high tension emotionalism is exactly suited to his disciplined directing.’ ”
Four years later, when fifteen-year-old (and future ninth music director) Daniel Barenboim heard the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for the first time in October 1958 (a few days before his second piano recital appearance in Orchestra Hall), Heldenleben was on the program and Reiner was on the podium. In his autobiography A Life in Music, Barenboim later recounted that, “nothing I had heard in Europe or elsewhere had prepared me for the shock of the precision, the volume, and the intensity of the Chicago orchestra. It was like a perfect machine with a beating human heart.”
With the Orchestra, Barenboim later recorded the work for Erato in 1990, as well as Bernard Haitink in 2008 for CSO Resound.
This article also appears here, and portions previously appeared here.
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra family joins the music world in mourning the loss of American pianist, teacher and administrator Gary Graffman, who died yesterday, December 27, 2025, following a brief illness. He was ninety-seven.
Born in New York City to Russian-Jewish parents on October 14, 1928, Graffman began violin studies at the age of three and soon switched to piano. He entered the Curtis Institute of Music on scholarship at age eight, studying with Isabelle Vengerova. Graffman later continued studies with Rudolf Serkin at the Marlboro Music Festival and informally with Vladimir Horowitz. In 1947, eighteen-year-old Graffman made his debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy in Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto, launching an extraordinary, globe-trotting professional career.
In 1980, Graffman joined the faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music, but shortly thereafter, he was diagnosed with focal dystonia, eventually losing the use of his right hand. He increased his focus on teaching and administration, as well as performing repertoire for the left hand. Graffman took over as Curtis’s director in 1986 and added the title of president in 1995, serving in both capacities until 2006, during which he counted both Yuja Wang and Lang Lang among his myriad of students.
Graffman appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on numerous occasions, and a complete list of his appearances is below.
January 13, 1951, Orchestra Hall RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18 George Schick, conductor
March 19, 1956, Pabst Theatre, Milwaukee PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, Op. 26 George Schick, conductor
April 7, 1956, Orchestra Hall TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23 George Schick, conductor
November 17, 1958, Pabst Theatre, Milwaukee BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 37 Walter Hendl, conductor
February 10, 12, and 13, 1959, Orchestra Hall BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 37 Walter Hendl, conductor Recorded in Orchestra Hall on May 5, 1959, for RCA
February 18, 1961, Orchestra Hall February 20, 1961, Pabst Theatre, Milwaukee RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18 Walter Hendl, conductor
July 29, 1961, Ravinia Festival BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 37 Paul Hindemith, conductor
August 5, 1961, Ravinia Festival RACHMANINOV Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Izler Solomon, conductor
January 10, 11, and 13, 1974, Orchestra Hall RACHMANINOV Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Guido Ajmone-Marsan, conductor
July 22, 1976, Ravinia Festival PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, Op. 26 André Previn, conductor
October 14, 15, and 17, 1976, Orchestra Hall MENDELSSOHN Piano Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 25 Sir Georg Solti, conductor
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra family joins the music world in mourning the loss of American soprano Benita Valente, who died on October 24, 2025. She was 91.
Benita Valente in Germany in the 1970s (Heinz Browers/United Archives via Getty Images)
Born in Delano, California on October 19, 1934, Valente studied with Lotte Lehmann from an early age and later attended the Curtis Institute of Music as a student of Martial Singher and Margaret Harshaw. She performed extensively in Europe before making her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Pamina in Mozart’s The Magic Flute in 1973. As a teacher, she worked with young singers at the Marlboro Music School, the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artists Development Program and at the Ravinia Festival’s Steans Institute, among several others.
Valente was a frequent guest with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, at the the Ravinia Festival and in Orchestra Hall, and a complete list of her appearances with the Orchestra and Chorus is below.
July 29, 1972, Ravinia Festival BACH Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen, BWV 51 Benita Valente, soprano Adolph Herseth, trumpet BEETHOVEN Egmont, Op. 84 Benita Valente, soprano José Ferrer, narrator Lawrence Foster, conductor
July 24, 1977, Ravinia Festival HAYDN The Creation Kathleen Battle, soprano Benita Valente, soprano Seth McCoy, tenor Donald Gramm, bass-baritone Arnold Voketaitis, bass-baritone Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director James Levine, conductor
June 3, 4, and 5, 1982, Orchestra Hall BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 Benita Valente, soprano Katherine Ciesinski, mezzo-soprano Jon Frederic West, tenor Kurt Link, bass (June 5) John Shirley-Quirk, bass-baritone (June 3 and 4) Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director Eugene Ormandy, conductor
July 29, 1984, Ravinia Festival BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 Benita Valente, soprano Isola Jones, mezzo-soprano Jacque Trussel, tenor John Cheek, bass Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director Kurt Masur, conductor
June 30, 1985, Ravinia Festival HAYDN The Creation Benita Valente, soprano Philip Creech, tenor John Cheek, bass Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director James Levine, conductor
July 11, 1986, Ravinia Festival POULENC Gloria Benita Valente, soprano Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director James Levine, conductor
July 13, 1986, Ravinia Festival MOZART Requiem in D Minor, K. 626 Benita Valente, soprano Florence Quivar, mezzo-soprano Philip Creech, tenor John Cheek, bass Chicago Symphony Chorus Margaret Hillis, director James Levine, conductor
July 22, 1988, Ravinia Festival HANDEL Bramo haver mille vite from Ariodante Benita Valente, soprano Tatiana Troyanos, mezzo-soprano HANDEL Piangerò la sorte mia from Giulio Cesare Benita Valente, soprano HANDEL Caro! Più amabile beltà from Giulio Cesare Benita Valente, soprano Tatiana Troyanos, mezzo-soprano STRAUSS Ein ernster Tag, ein grosser Tag (opening of act 2) from Der Rosenkavalier Cynthia Lawrence, soprano Benita Valente, soprano Tatiana Troyanos, mezzo-soprano Kurt Hansen, tenor Richard Cohn, baritone David Huneryager, bass STRAUSS Ist ein Traum (finale) from Der Rosenkavalier Benita Valente, soprano Tatiana Troyanos, mezzo-soprano Edo de Waart, conductor
Title page of Theodore Thomas’s score for Strauss’s Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks
“While in Europe [during the summer of 1883] Theodore Thomas had, as usual, been on the lookout for musical novelties for coming programs. He had met, in Munich, a young and almost unknown composer, one Richard Strauss, who had recently finished writing a symphony,” wrote Rose Fay Thomas in her husband’s Memoirs. “Thomas secured the first movement of the work, and was so much impressed with it that he requested the young Strauss to let him have the other three movements, promising to bring out the whole work in a concert with the [New York] Philharmonic.”
However, in a letter to Thomas from Strauss dated a few months later on September 20, 1883, it appears that Thomas only met with Franz Strauss, Richard’s father and a noted horn player, composer and teacher. Nineteen-year-old Richard wrote: “As I was unfortunately unable to welcome you here this summer . . . I must not neglect to express to you in writing my heartiest and warmest thanks for your kind intention to give my second symphony the great honor of a New York performance.” Thomas kept his word and led the world premiere of Strauss’ Symphony no. 2 in F minor on December 12 and 13, 1884, thus introducing Strauss to America.
November 15 and 16, 1895
Their friendship blossomed, and as a result, Thomas later introduced several of Strauss’s tone poems to Chicago audiences, including the U.S. premiere of Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks during the Chicago Orchestra’s fifth season on November 15, 1895.
“In this work of the gifted young composer, we have a curious extravaganza, in which the entire resources of the modern orchestra are employed as a sort of summary of all conceivable pranks and freaks of elfins, fairies and gnomes, together with a thread of intelligible melody,” according to W. S. B. Mathews in the program book. “At times the cacophony reaches a point where it seems as if we were listening to the preliminary overture of tuning and passage work, which everybody knows who has heard an orchestra tune up and warm up its instruments.”
The critical response was unanimous:
“The Strauss rondo is probably the most fantastic piece of musical horse play that ever found place on a Chicago Orchestra program. It is eccentricity run mad, bedlam expressed in musical numbers.” — Chicago Times-Herald
“It is, we can well believe, a marvelous piece of orchestration. More curious and inharmonious noises are woven together in it and the semblance of coherency maintained despite all the absurdities that we ever heard before in a sane composition.” — Chicago Chronicle
“His absolute mastery of the resources of the modern orchestra may now find odd method of expression, but with years and their calming influence and with a firmer command of an imagination now fantastic to the verge of riot, to limit prediction of his possibilities would be something more than rash. Berlioz did not have his orchestra more completely in hand than Richard Strauss.” — Chicago Tribune
“Strauss’s rondo is a tour de force, astonishing at every measure, irresistibly droll, full of quaint medieval quips and cranks, teeming with clever mimicry and brilliant instrumental pantomime, and, above all, a masterpiece of orchestral art. The intricacy of the score is extraordinary, the ingenious devices resorted to for effect amazing, and the humor and wholesome buffoonery of the piece unique. Nothing could have been chosen better to illustrate the immense resources of the young composer and the fertility of his genius. What is more, the piece gave the Orchestra an opportunity to display its consummate training, and it may be said that music never was played in Chicago with finer technical nicety or with more of the spirit of a composer.” — Chicago Record
Chicago Orchestra roster for the 1895–96 season
Thomas repeated Till Eulenspiegel twice during that same season in early 1896—on January 24 and 25 for a “Request Program” and again on February 28 and 29 for a “Requested repetition of the Request Program”—and programmed it five more times over the next eight years. The composer himself led his tone poem when he first guest conducted the Orchestra in April 1904.
According to Phillip Huscher, the CSO’s program annotator and scholar-in-residence, Strauss begins his tale of the German peasant folk hero “by beckoning us to gather round, setting a warm ‘once-upon-a-time’ mood into which the horn jumps with one of the most famous themes in all music—the daring, teasing, cartwheeling tune that characterizes this roguish hero better than any well-chosen words ever could.”
Principal horn during the 1895–96 season, Ernst Ketz (ca. 1853–ca. 1901) was likely sitting in the first chair for the U.S. premiere of Till Eulenspiegel on November 15, 1895, to play that theme, just ten days after the world premiere in Cologne, given by the Gürzenich Orchestra under the baton of Franz Wüllner.
First page of first horn part for Strauss’s Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks, likely used by Principal Horn Ernst Ketz for the U.S. premiere in November 1895
A charter member of the Berlin Philharmonic in 1882, Ketz also performed regularly at the Bayreuth Festival from 1886 until 1894 and with the Gürzenich Orchestra in Cologne. In April 1893, he first traveled to the U.S. as a member of the Garde du Corps Cavalry Band, one of two military bands representing Germany at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. During the fair, Ketz’s name also appeared on the roster of the Exposition Orchestra, which was the Chicago Orchestra expanded to 114 players, led by Theodore Thomas.
Two years later, Ketz returned to the U.S.—at Thomas’ invitation—to be a member of the Chicago Orchestra, serving as principal horn. He stayed for only one season, after which he returned to Cologne. Ketz was back in the Gürzenich Orchestra for the world premiere of Strauss’s Don Quixote on March 8, 1898, again with Wüllner on the podium. Thomas led the U.S. premiere in Chicago on January 6, 1899.
This article also appears here, and portions previously appeared here.
“The morning star in glorious splendor ‘rose Upon my life when all the sky was bright With dawning day—my happy day of love, Through love’s long day, of fourteen winged years He shone with steadfast, tender beaming light My guide and beacon towards the better life. And when at length the evening hour drew nigh, He sank to rest in sunset’s radiant glow, Leaving me shrouded in eternal night Save for the rainbow orbit which he traced In transit o’er my life. This shineth still Above the mist of melancholy tears— A bow of promise, love and energy, The arch on which my hope of heaven rests.”
—excerpt from Sisters of Influence: A Biography of Zina, Amy and Rose Fay by Andrea Friederici Ross, 2025
Wishing a very happy seventieth birthday to the incomparable American cellist Yo-Yo Ma!
Born to Chinese parents living in Paris, Ma began studying the cello with his father at age four. Three years later, he moved with his family to New York City, where he continued his cello studies at the Juilliard School to study with Leonard Rose. A prolific recording artist, Ma is the recipient of nineteen Grammy awards and has performed for nine American presidents. He has received numerous recognitions, including the National Medal of the Arts, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Birgit Nilsson Prize, the Polar Music Prize, and a Kennedy Center Honors, among numerous others. Ma has been a UN Messenger of Peace since 2006 and was recognized as one of TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2020.
Since making his debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1979 and on the Allied Arts (now Symphony Center Presents) series in 1981, Ma has been one the most frequent visitors to the Orchestra Hall stage. Since then—over the course of five decades—he has appeared with the CSO as soloist in Orchestra Hall, at the Ravinia Festival, and in Carnegie Hall, as well as on several recordings. A complete list of Ma’s appearances is below.
Yo-Yo Ma (Everett)
December 13, 14, and 15, 1979, Orchestra Hall KABALEVSKY Cello Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 49 Leonard Slatkin, conductor
July 1, 1982, Ravinia Festival HAYDN Cello Concerto in D Major Charles Dutoit, conductor
August 11, 1984, Ravinia Festival DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104 Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor
November 5 and 7, 1986, Orchestra Hall MOZART Sinfonia concertante in E-flat Major, K. 364 Isaac Stern, violin Claudio Abbado, conductor
November 6 and 8, 1986, Orchestra Hall BRAHMS Concerto for Violin and Cello in A Minor, Op. 102 (Double) Isaac Stern, violin Claudio Abbado, conductor Recorded in Orchestra Hall on November 8, 1986. For Sony, Bud Graham was the control engineer, Tim Geelan was the post-production engineer, Tom MacClskey was the editing engineer, and Hank Altman was the remote technical supervisor.
February 22, 23, 24, and 27, 1990, Orchestra Hall LADERMAN Cello Concerto (world premiere) Herbert Blomstedt, conductor
Performers for the CSO’s centennial gala on October 6, 1990, included (back row: Kenneth Jean, András Schiff, Lorin Maazel, Gary Lakes Sylvia McNair, Samuel Ramey, (middle row) Daniel Barenboim, Lady Solti, Leonard Slatkin, Yo-Yo Ma, (front row) Isaac Stern, Mstislav Rostropovich, Sir Georg Solti, Suzanne Mentzer, and Murray Perahia. (Jim Steere)
October 6, 1990, Orchestra Hall Gala Centennial Concert HAYDN Allegro molto from Cello Concerto in C Major Leonard Slatkin, conductor
August 6, 1993, Ravinia Festival SHOSTAKOVICH Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major, Op. 107 Riccardo Chailly, conductor
May 5, 6, and 7, 1994, Orchestra Hall SCHUMANN Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 129 Daniel Barenboim, conductor
July 27, 1996, Ravinia Festival BOCCHERINI Cello Concerto in B-flat Major TCHAIKOVSKY Variations on a Rococo Theme in A Major, Op. 33 James Conlon, conductor
September 20, 1996, Orchestra Hall Opening Night and Musicians’ Pension Fund Concert ELGAR Cello Concert in E Minor, Op. 85 DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104 Daniel Barenboim, conductor
September 26, 27, and 28, 1996, Orchestra Hall BRAHMS Concerto for Violin and Cello in A Minor, Op. 102 (Double) Itzhak Perlman, violin Daniel Barenboim Recorded live by Teldec. Renate Kupfer was the executive producer, Martin Sauer was the recording producer, Michael Brammann was the recording engineer, Philipp Nedel and John Newton were assistant engineers, and Stefan Witzel was the digital editor.
October 6, 1997, Carnegie Hall ELGAR Cello Concert in E Minor, Op. 85 Daniel Barenboim, conductor
August 26, 1998, Ravinia Festival BLOCH Schelomo STRAUSS Don Quixote, Op. 35 Charles Pikler, viola Ascher Fisch, conductor
January 7, 8, and 9, 1999, Orchestra Hall HARBISON Cello Concerto Daniel Barenboim, conductor
June 26, 1999, Ravinia Festival HAYDN Cello Concerto in C Major SCHUMANN Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 239 Christoph Eschenbach, conductor
January 6, 7, and 8, 2000, Orchestra Hall DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104 Daniel Barenboim, conductor
June 25, 2000, Ravinia Festival SAINT-SAËNS La muse et le poète, Op. 132 Robert Chen, violin ELGAR Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op. 85 Christoph Eschenbach, conductor
September 15, 2000, Orchestra Hall Opening Night Gala LALO Cello Concerto in D Minor SAINT-SAËNS Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 33 Daniel Barenboim, conductor
June 22, 2001, Ravinia Festival BOCCHERINI Cello Concerto in B-flat Major TCHAIKOVSKY Variations on a Rococo Theme in A Major, Op. 33 Christoph Eschenbach, conductor
September 27, 28, and 29, 2001, Orchestra Hall October 18, 2001, Carnegie Hall BRUCH Kol nidre, Op. 47 Performed in memory of Isaac Stern, who died on September 22, 1001 CARTER Cello Concerto (world premiere) Daniel Barenboim, conductor
October 24, 25, and 26, 2002, Orchestra Hall KALHOR (arr. Kalhor/Prutsman) Blue as the Turquoise Night of Neyshabur Silk Road Ensemble
November 12, 2003, Orchestra Hall Jewish Community Centers of Chicago Centennial Benefit Concert DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104 David Zinman, conductor
Yo-Yo Ma performs Dvořák’s Cello Concerto on September 30, 2006 (Todd Rosenberg Photography)
January 16, 2004, Orchestra Hall SCHUMANN Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 129 Staatskapelle Berlin Daniel Barenboim, conductor
August 6, 2006, Ravinia Festival HAYDN Cello Concerto in C Major GOLIJOV Azul Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor
September 30, 2006, Orchestra Hall Opening Night YANOV-YANOVSKY Night Music: Voice in the Leaves DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104 Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor
April 12, 13, and 17, 2007, Orchestra Hall ZHOU Song of Eight Unruly Tipsy Poets from Poems from Tang for String Quartet and Orchestra Colin Jacobsen and Jonathan Gandelsman, violins Nicholas Cords, viola Traditional/Sang and Magpie Ambush from Ten Sides Wu Man, pipa Wu Tong, sheng and xun Liu Lin, guitar BLOCH Schelomo Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor Schelomo was recorded live for CSO Resound and Song of Eight Unruly Tipsy Poets and Ambush from Ten Sides was recorded live for Sony. David Frost was the producer and editor, Christopher Willis was the recording engineer, Tom Lazarus and Frost were the mixing engineers, and Richard King was the mastering engineer. The CSO Resound release won the 2008 Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album–Classical.
August 20 and 21, 2008, Orchestra Hall Special non-subscription concerts WILLIAMS Suite from Memoirs of a Geisha John Williams, conductor Recorded live for Sony. John Williams was the producer and Christopher Willis was the recording engineer.
January 9, 2009, Orchestra Hall Musicians’ Pension Fund Concert GOLIJOV Azul Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
August 14, 2009, Ravinia Festival DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104 James Conlon, conductor
May 13, 14, and 15, 2010, Orchestra Hall YANOV-YANOVSKY Cello Concerto Carlos Miguel Prieto, conductor
May 12, 13, and 14, 2011, Orchestra Hall SCHUMANN Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 129 Riccardo Muti, conductor
May 17, 2011, Orchestra Hall Corporate Night WILLIAMS Suite from Memoirs of a Geisha John Williams, conductor
Yo-Yo Ma performs Schumann’s Cello Concerto under the baton of Riccardo Muti on May 14, 2011 (Todd Rosenberg Photography)
August 5, 2011, Ravinia Festival TCHAIKOVKY Andante cantabile from String Quartet in D Major, Op. 11 TCHAIKOVSKY Variations on a Rococo Theme in A Major, Op. 33 James Conlon, conductor
May 5 and 6, 2012, Orchestra Hall DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104 Carlos Miguel Prieto, conductor
May 10 and 11, 2012, Orchestra Hall HAYDN Cello Concerto in D Major Ton Koopman, conductor
February 28, March 1, and 2, 2013, Orchestra Hall LUTOSŁAWSKI Cello Concerto Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor
January 30, 31, and February 1, 2014, Orchestra Hall SOLLIMA Antidotum Tarantulae, Concerto for Two Cellos and Orchestra (world premiere) Giovanni Sollima, cello Riccardo Muti, conductor
March 19, 20, and 21, 2015, Orchestra Hall SAINT-SAËNS La muse et le poète, Op. 132 Robert Chen, violin LALO Cello Concerto in D Minor Charles Dutoit, conductor
February 25, 26, 27, and March 1, 2016, Orchestra Hall SHOSTAKOVICH Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major, Op. 107 Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor
March 9, 10, and 11, 2017, Orchestra Hall SALONEN Cello Concerto (world premiere) Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor
June 14, 15, and 16, 2018, Orchestra Hall SHOSTAKOVICH Cello Concerto No. 2, Op. 126 Riccardo Muti, conductor
May 1, 2023, Orchestra Hall Musicians’ Pension Fund Concert ELGAR Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op. 85 Carlos Miguel Prieto, conductor
Yo-Yo Ma also has performed on the Allied Arts and Symphony Center Presents series along with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association’s Institute for Learning, Access, and Training and the Negaunee Music Institute. All concerts listed below were given in Orchestra Hall unless otherwise noted.
Yo-Yo Ma (Annie Leibovitz)
February 8, 1981 BEETHOVEN Sonata in F Major, Op. 5, No. 1 BEETHOVEN Sonata in G Minor, Op. 5, No. 2 BRAHMS Sonata in F Major, Op. 99 Emanuel Ax, piano January 12, 1986 PENDERECKI Cello Concerto No. 2 Cracow Philharmonic Orchestra Krzysztof Penderecki, conductor
September 27, 1987 BACH Sonata No. 2 in D Major, BWV 1028 HINDEMITH Sonata for Solo Cello, Op. 25, No. 3 BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 5 in D Major, Op. 102, No. 2 BRAHMS Violin Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 108 (arranged for cello by Yo-Yo Ma) Patricia Zander, piano
December 9, 1990 BRAHMS Scherzo for Violin and Piano in C Minor from the F-A-E Sonata FAURÉ Quartet No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 1 BRAHMS Quartet in G Minor, Op. 25 Isaac Stern, violin Jaime Laredo, viola Emanuel Ax, piano
December 2, 1992 CRUMB Sonata for Solo Cello BACH Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 KIRCHNER For Solo Cello PAGANINI Nos. 11, 9, and 24 from Caprices, Op. 1 WILDE The Cellist of Sarajevo, Op. 12 BACH Suite No. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012
April 18, 1993 BOCCHERINI Quintet in E Major, Op. 13, No. 5, G. 275 BRAHMS Quintet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 111 SCHUBERT Quintet in C Major, D. 956 Isaac Stern and Cho-Liang Lin, violins Jaime Laredo and Michael Tree, violas Sharon Robinson, piano
May 8, 1994 SCHUBERT Sonata in A Minor, D. 821 (Arpeggione) BRAHMS Sonata No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 38 BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op. 69 Daniel Barenboim, piano
May 1, 1996 BEETHOVEN Twelve Variations in F Major on “Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen” from Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Op. 66 BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 4 in C Major, Op. 102, No. 1 BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 5 in D Major, Op. 102, No. 2 BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op. 69 Emanuel Ax, piano
September 29, 1996 BRAHMS Sonata No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 38 BRAHMS Trio in A Minor for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano, Op. 114 BRAHMS Sonata No. 2 in F Major, Op. 99 Larry Combs, clarinet Daniel Barenboim, piano
January 13, 1998 STRAVINSKY Suite italienne BRAHMS Sonata No. 2 in F Major, Op. 99 BERNSTEIN Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (arranged for cello by Yo-Yo Ma) GERSHWIN/Heifetz Three Preludes PIAZZOLLA/Assad Andante PIAZZOLLA/Assad Allegro PIAZZOLLA Le Grand Tango Kathryn Stott, piano
February 25, 1998 MOZART Quartet in G Minor, K. 478 SCHUMANN Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 47 BRAHMS Quartet No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 60 Isaac Stern, violin Jaime Laredo, viola Emanual Ax, piano
March 8, 1998 (3:30 p.m.) BACH Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 BACH Suite No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1008 BACH Suite No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009
March 8, 1998 (7:00 p.m.) BACH Suite No. 4 in E-flat Major, BWV 1010 BACH Suite No. 5 in C Minor, BWV 1011 BACH Suite No. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012
Yo-Yo Ma (Michael O’Neill)
October 13, 1999 O’CONNOR Appalachia Waltz SHENG Seven Tunes Heard in China WILDE The Cellist of Sarajevo, Op. 12 KODÁLY Sonata for Unaccompanied Cello, Op. 8
January 9, 2000 BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 4 in C Major, Op. 102, No. 1 CARTER Cello Sonata BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 5 in D Major, Op. 102, No. 2 Daniel Barenboim, piano
April 3, 2000 The program was announced from the stage. Mark O’Connor, violin Edgar Meyer, bass
November 19, 2000 SCHUMANN Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 44 MESSIAEN Quartet for the End of Time BRAHMS Quintet in F Minor, Op. 34 Robert Chen and Itzhak Perlman, violins Pinchas Zukerman, viola Larry Combs, clarinet Daniel Barenboim, piano
May 21, 2001 BACH Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 BACH Suite No. 5 in C Minor, BWV 1011 BACH Suite No. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012
May 1, 2002 Traditional Music (China) ZHAO Moon over Guan Mountains Classical Music from Azerbaijan ALI-ZADEH Dervish KIM Tryst SHOSTAKOVICH Trio No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 67 Silk Road Ensemble
October 25, 2002 SHARAV Legend of Herlen SHARAFYAN The Sun, the Wine, and the Wind of Time CHEN YI Ning MAMIYA Five Finnish Folk Songs RAVEL Trio in A Minor Silk Road Ensemble
Yo-Yo Ma, Daniel Barenboim, and Pinchas Zukerman on May 13, 2003 (Todd Rosenberg Photography)
May 13, 2003 MOZART Trio in C Major, K. 548 BEETHOVEN Trio in D Major, Op. 70, No. 1 (Ghost) MENDELSSOHN Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 49 Pinchas Zukerman, violin Daniel Barenboim, piano
January 16, 2005 CHOPIN Sonata in G Minor, Op. 65 DEBUSSY Sonata FRANCK Sonata in A Major (Version for Cello and Piano) Daniel Barenboim, piano
April 8, 2005 Various (China and Iran) Silk Road Suite Collected by KImitas Vartabed/arr. S. Aslamazyan Armenian Folk Songs Various (Azerbaijan) Azerie Suite DAS Tarang ALI-ZADEHJ Mugan-sajahy Various (France and Romania) Music of the Roma PERAPASKERO (arr. Golijov and Ljova) Turceasca Silk Road Ensemble
April 15, 2007 Traditional Chinese Rainbow Dance HUANG Galloping Horses ZIPORYN Sulvasutra ABOU-KHALIL Arabian Waltz KIM/Umezaki When the Wind Circles . . . DAS Shristi KALHOR The Silent City PERAPASKERO (arr. Golijov and Ljova) Turceasca Silk Road Ensemble
April 20, 2007 ADLER Music for a Royal Palace Chinese Traditional (arr. Lin) Yanzi LAM Empty Mountain, Spirit Rain KIM Once We Were . . . YANOV-YANOVSKY Paths of Parables GOLIJOV Night of Flying Horses GOLIJOV Lua Descolorida Silk Road Ensemble
March 24, 2010 SCHUBERT Sonata in A Minor, D. 821 (Arpeggione) SHOSTAKOVICH Sonata in D Minor, Op. 40 PIAZZOLLA Le Grand Tango GISMONTI and CARNEIRO Bodas de Prata & Quatro Canos FRANCK/Delsart Sonata A Major Kathryn Stott, piano
Yo-Yo Ma and colleagues perform Mendelssohn’s Octet on January 30, 2011 (Todd Rosenberg Photography)
January 30, 2011 BEETHOVEN Cello Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op. 69 BRAHMS Trio in A Minor for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano, Op. 114 MENDELSSOHN Octet for Strings in E-flat Major, Op. 47 SCHUMANN Quartet for Piano and Strings in E-flat Major, Op. 47 Robert Chen, Jaime Gorgojo, Robert Hanford and Susan Synnestvedt, violins Catherine Brubaker and Rami Solomonow, violas Gabriel Cabezas, cello Anthony McGill, clarinet Emanuel Ax, piano
April 29, 2012 MARIANO/Calandrelli Cristal PIAZZOLLA Milonga en Re VILLA-LOBOS/Calandrelli Alma Brasileira PIAZZLLA/Yamamoto Oblivion GUARNIERI/Calandrelli Dansa Negra GISOMONTI/Assad Palhaço VILLA-LOBOS/Assad Melodia sentimental LEVY/Assad Baião de 5 PEIXE/Assad Mourão PIAZZOLLA Medley of Three Brazilian Songs JOBIM/Assad Amparo JOBIM/Assad Stone Flower ASSAD Tahhiyya Li Ossoulina ASSAD and ASSAD Back to Our Roots Suite Sérgio Assad and Odair Assad, guitars Kathryn Stott, piano Joseph Gramley, percussion
May 7, 2012, Benito Juarez Community Academy FALLA/Colón Seven Popular Spanish Songs ZYMAN Selections from Suite for Two Cellos BRAHMS Quintet for Piano and Strings in F Minor, Op. 34 Robert Chen and Stephanie Jeong, violins Diane Mues, viola John Sharp, cello Jorge Federico Osorio, piano
October 13, 2012 ZORN/Blumenkranz, Gandelsman, Pato, and Shanahan Suite from Book of Angels JACOBSEN Atashgah IYER Playlist for an Extreme Occasion YANOV-YANOVSKY Sacred Signs: Concerto for Thirteen Musicians Silk Road Ensemble
February 21, 2014 BRAHMS Cello Sonata No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 38 BRAHMS Cello Sonata in D Minor, Op. 78 DEAN Hommage à Brahms BRAHMS Cello Sonata No. 2 in F Major, Op. 99 Emanuel Ax, piano
March 6, 2015 UMEZAKI Side In, Side Out SOLLIMA Taranta Project PEREZ The Latina 6/8 Suite LIN Paramita DAS/Kalhor Jugalbandi AZMEH Wedding Silk Road Ensemble
Yo-Yo Ma (Austin Mann)
May 17, 2015 RAVEL Chansons madécasses AUCOIN Dual (world premiere) RAVEL Sonata for Violin and Cello MESSIAEN Quartet for the End of Time J’Nai Bridges, mezzo-soprano Stephanie Jeong and Baird Dodge, violins Alexander Hanna, bass Jennifer Gunn, flute J. Lawrie Bloom, clarinet Orion Weiss, piano
June 12, 2016 Incan Traditional/Block Hanacpachap ARAÑÉS/Block Chacona: A La Vida Bona GERVAISE/Dejardin Four Dances from the Third Book of Danceries BEY/Block Nikriz Pesrev JACOBSEN Mirror for a Prince SHANAHAN Saidi Swing DIAZ de LEON Anima SOLLIMA Guglielmo Scrollalanza SALINAS/Block Romance del Conde Claros Ashley Bathgate, Mike Block, Loren Brown, Richard Hirschl, Katinka Kleijn, John Sharp, and Jeffrey Zeigler, cellos Shane Shanahan and Cynthia Yeh, percussion
April 24, 2017 The program was announced from the stage. Edgar Meyer, bass Chris Thile, mandolin
June 11, 2017, Saint Sabina Church COPLAND Fanfare for the Common Man DVOŘÁK Fourth movement from Quartet for Strings No. 12 in F Major, Op. 96 (American) JOPLIN/Clark Maple Leaf Rag ELLINGTON/Drayton Come Sunday DANNY/Fink My Love Traditional/Casals Song of the Birds Anonymous South African Medley in Honor of Oliver Tambo GRAHAM and LOVELAND/Fink You Raise Me Up Sarah Ponder, mezzo-soprano Chicago Children’s Choir Josephine Lee, director Musicians of Saint Sabina Church Ensemble Musicians from the Civic Orchestra of Chicago Musicians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
February 25, 2018 BRAHMS Trio for Piano and Strings No. 2 in C Major, Op. 87 BRAHMS Trio for Piano and Strings No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 101 BRAHMS Trio for Piano and Strings No. 1 in B Major, Op. 8 Leonidas Kavakos, violin Emanuel Ax, piano
June 10, 2018, Saint Sabina Church OWENS Believe in Love BRUMFIELD/Horan and Lee One Day at a Time PIERCE/Fink Peace and Love, Coby MARSHBANKS/Horan and Lee One Red Rose SILVER/Drayton Peace BOSLEY/Fink Song for Terrell DVOŘÁK Silent Woods, Op. 68 CHERRY/Horan and Lee Hurricane BACH Air from Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068 FRASIER and WALKER/Dilworth and Goodwin/Owens I Need You to Survive Takesha Mieshé Kizart, soprano Sarah Ponder, mezzo-soprano Journey Allison, mezzo-soprano Saint Sabina Band Chicago Children’s Choir Josephine Lee, director Musicians From the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Musicians From the Civic Orchestra of Chicago Erina Yashima, conductor
Yo-Yo Ma in Millennium Park on June 20, 2019 (Todd Rosenberg Photography)
June 20, 2019, Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park BACH Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 BACH Suite No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1008 BACH Suite No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009 BACH Suite No. 4 in E-flat Major, BWV 1010 BACH Suite No. 5 in C Minor, BWV 1011 BACH Suite No. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012
March 2, 2020 BEETHOVEN Trio for Piano and Strings in C Minor, Op. 1, No. 3 BEETHOVEN Trio for Piano and Strings in E-flat Major, Op. 70, No. 2 BEETHOVEN Trio for Piano and Strings in B-flat Major, Op. 97 (Archduke) Leonidas Kavakos, violin Emanuel Ax, piano
March 11, 2022 BEETHOVEN/Wosner Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68 (Pastoral) BEETHOVEN Trio for Piano and Strings in B-flat Major, Op. 11 BEETHOVEN Trio for Piano and Strings in D Major, Op. 70, No. 1 (Ghost) Leonidas Kavakos, violin Emanuel Ax, piano
February 3, 2024 BEETHOVEN Trio for Piano and Strings in D Major, Op. 70, No. 1 (Ghost) BEETHOVEN/Wosner Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21 BEETHOVEN Trio for Piano and Strings in E-flat Major, Op. 70, No. 2 Leonidas Kavakos, violin Emanuel Ax, piano
April 7, 2024 FAURÉ Berceuse, Op. 16 DVOŘÁK Songs My Mother Taught Me ASSAD Menino BOULANGER Cantique FAURÉ Papillon, Op. 77 SHOSTAKOVICH Cello Sonata in D Minor, Op. 40 PÄRT Spiegel im Spiegel FRANCK Violin Sonata in A Major Kathryn Stott, piano
Yo-Yo Ma and Angélique Kidjo in Millennium Park on August 26, 2025 (Todd Rosenberg Photography)
August 26, 2025, Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park The program was announced from the stage. Angélique Kidjo, vocals Thierry Vaton, piano David Donatien, percussion Ronnie Lanziolotta, bass Dave Palazola, drums Ahmed Gallab, guitar and keyboards James “Jas” Walton, horns Corbin Andrick, saxophone Constantine Alexander, trumpet Magatte Sow, percussion Imania Detry, Tosha Alston, Idris Daniel, Victoria Boeteng, Joyce Lindsey, and Nafi Diabate, African percussion
Throughout his career, Theodore Thomas introduced hundreds of works to the American public as a conductor and music director of his own Theodore Thomas Orchestra, the New York and Brooklyn philharmonics, and ultimately the Chicago Orchestra, which he founded in 1891. In fact, the first orchestral concert under his own direction—given on May 13, 1862, in New York’s Irving Hall—opened with the United States premiere of Wagner’s Overture to The Flying Dutchman.
Barely a year later on May 9, 1863, Thomas—then only twenty-seven years old—was back in Irving Hall, making his second “annual appeal to the good taste and intelligence of the community,” according to the New York Times. “The interest of the occasion was centered of course on the Harold symphony, played for the first time in America [and he] engaged an orchestra of eighty players for the just interpretation of the symphony.”
May 9, 1863, Irving Hall
“It is not easy to express a liking for Berlioz’s muse—so strangely does it oscillate between the extremes of raving eccentricity and of colossal, but entirely inconsequential magnificence,” continued the reviewer in the Times. “Berlioz has supplied the school of the ‘future’ with the few ideas of which it can boast, and this work of ‘Harold’ contains the materials for a dozen Liszts and Wagners. . . . Mr. Thomas conducted the orchestra with consummate ability, and Mr. Edward Mollenhauer* played the viola with marked effect. . . . We are only sorry that the Harold Symphony cannot be repeated.”
In the spring of 1867, Thomas took “a short vacation for the first time in his life, [spending] about two months in Europe, hearing everything he could in that brief time and impressing the highest standards of orchestral, quartette, and solo violin performances on his mind, in order that he might hereby improve his work at home,” according to his widow Rose Fay in the Memoirs of Theodore Thomas. During his two-month sojourn, he kept a diary describing the performances he heard and the people he met. “May 8, Paris. . . . Spent a delightful hour with Berlioz, in which we talked over all his larger compositions. It seems he had heard already that I played his music, and, as I was leaving, he asked me if there was anything of his that I would like which I didn’t already have in my library. I told him yes, there was one thing that I wanted very much, and that was his great Requiem Mass. Hearing this, Berlioz went to the music case, took down his own copy of the score and inscribed it . . . and presented it to me.”
Title page to Berlioz’s Requiem, inscribed by the composer and given to Theodore Thomas in 1867 (Theodore Thomas Collection, Newberry Library)
Following Thomas’ death in 1905, Rose Fay donated a number of his presentation scores—including the copy of Berlioz’s Requiem—to the Newberry Library. To the right, the title page shows the composer’s inscription: “á Monsieur Thomas, en souvenir de l’auteur reconnaissant, H. Berlioz” (to Mr. Thomas in remembrance of the grateful author, H. Berlioz). At the bottom, Rose added, “This copy is Berlioz’s own copy of this work, which he took from the shelf in his study in Paris and presented to Theodore Thomas in 1867. Autographed. R.F.T.”
During the Chicago Orchestra’s first season, Thomas programmed Harold in Italy for the fourteenth subscription week on March 11 and 12, 1892. August Junker, the Orchestra’s charter principal viola, was soloist. Since then, the work has been performed by CSO principal violas Franz Esser and Clarence Evans, along with guest soloists Nobuko Imai, Kim Kashkashian, Michael Ouzounian, Lawrence Power, and Pinchas Zukerman. Harold in Italy also was a signature piece of Milton Preves, who performed it with the Orchestra on dozens of occasions during his nearly six-decade tenure, most of those years as principal viola.
_______________________
Portrait of Edward Mollenhauer from the cover to a selection from his opera The Wager of the Masked Ball, published in 1879 (Library of Congress Music Division)
*German American violinist and composer Edward Mollenhauer (1827–1914) was a student of Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst and Ludwig Spohr. Following a short concert career in Germany, he moved to London to join his older brother Friedrich in Louis-Antoine Jullien’s orchestra. After that ensemble toured the United States in 1853, Edward and Friedrich remained in New York to perform and teach, and both later frequently performed as soloists with the New York Philharmonic. Also a composer, Edward composed operas, symphonies, numerous solo works for the violin, and songs.
Special thanks to Alison Hinderliter, Lloyd Lewis Curator of Modern Manuscripts and Archives at the Newberry Library
Title page to a first edition of Berlioz’s Harold in Italy, used by Theodore Thomas for the U.S. premiere (Theodore Thomas Collection, Rosenthal Archives)
Theodore Thomas’ score to Dvořák’s Violin Concerto, likely used for the U.S. premiere in October 1891
On October 30, 1891, founder and first music director Theodore Thomas led the Chicago Orchestra in the U.S. premiere—the new ensemble’s first—of Dvořák’s Violin Concerto at the Auditorium Theatre. Concertmaster Max Bendix was the soloist. It was the second of the composer’s works to be performed by the Orchestra; two weeks earlier, Thomas had led Dvořák’s Husitská Overture to close the inaugural concerts on October 16 and 17.
The program book for the third week of subscription concerts listed the concerto as “new” and “the program annotator [Adolph W. Dohn], like anyone writing about contemporary music, hedged his bets on Dvořák’s future reputation,” according to the Orchestra’s current program annotator Phillip Huscher. “Of the Bohemian composer’s recent decision to relocate to the United States, a new world he would later famously depict in a symphony, [Dohn] said only, ‘It remains to be seen to what extent the influences of another civilization may affect his musical expression.’ ”
“The solo part is, as has been said, one of great difficulty, that of the last movement being especially trying. Mr. Max Bendix met these difficulties and overcame them in most instances with ease,” wrote the reviewer in the Chicago Tribune. “His phrasing is truly exceptional in its artistic beauty and purity. Rarely has a violinist been heard in Chicago who has equaled Mr. Bendix in this respect.”
Max Bendix in 1895 (W.G. Steel and Gibson)
Max Bendix (1866–1945) enjoyed a remarkable career as a violinist and conductor. He was born on March 28, 1866, in Detroit, Michigan, and his first teacher was his father William, an orchestra leader at the Academy of Music in New York. He first performed as a soloist when he was eight years old and later studied with Richard Arnold, concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic. Bendix attended the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music as a student of Simon E. Jacobsohn, who likely introduced him to Theodore Thomas. He first performed with Thomas and the Theodore Thomas Orchestra at the Cincinnati May Festival in 1878, became a first violinist in that ensemble the following year, and graduated with a gold medal from the conservatory at the age of fourteen in 1880.
Before the age of twenty, Bendix served as concertmaster with the Max Maretzek Italian Opera Company, McCaull Opera Company, Germania Symphony Orchestra, German Opera Orchestra under Anton Seidl, and the Van der Stucken Orchestra. In the spring of 1886, Theodore Thomas hired him as concertmaster of his eponymous orchestra, and in 1891, he became the first concertmaster of the Chicago Orchestra.
After serving for the ensemble’s first five seasons, Bendix returned to New York to perform and further his aspirations to be a conductor. He worked briefly as concertmaster at the Metropolitan Opera, conductor at the Saint Louis and San Francisco expositions as well as with the Saint Louis Municipal Orchestra, and was musical director for several Broadway shows. Back in Chicago, he later led the National Symphony Orchestra of Chicago at Midway Gardens and was the first conductor of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra. He died in Chicago on December 6, 1945, at the age of 79.
Image of Max Bendix from a 1904 tour brochure of the Maconda Concert Company (Redpath Chautauqua Collection, Iowa Digital Library)
This article also appears here and portions previously appeared here.
from the archives 
