The Grant Park Music Festival is a free summer concert series showcasing classical music performed by the Grant Park Orchestra.
Taking place at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, the series begins June 15, 2026, with Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story.
Listeners are the ones who “score” with this season, with favorites like Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 and Dvorak’s New World Symphony. On July 21st and 23rd there are Broadway Sings America performances, and the July 4th is a return of the Independence Day Salute.
Be sure to bring the kids for Cirque: A Space Odyssey, when the Grant Park Orchestra performs music from hit films while Troupe Vertigo performs gravity-defying acts.
While the Great Lawn and Seating Bowl in front of the pavilion are free and first come first served, tickets are available for purchase to reserve seats at the front of the house.
It’s set to be another year of stellar music under the stars in downtown Chicago!
See the entire Grant Park Music Festival 2026 schedule below and start marking your calendar now.
Before you go, check out our complete guide to Millennium Park and find a place to stay near Millennium Park
2026 Grant Park Music Festival
All programs subject to change. For more information on the Grant Park Music Festival, visit www.grantparkmusicfestival.com.
Related: find more free activities in Chicago
Bernstein West Side Story
Wed, June 10, 6:30pm
FEATURING
Grant Park Orchestra
Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor
PROGRAM
Joan Tower: Made in America
Leonard Bernstein: Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
Samuel Barber: Symphony No. 1
Brahms Symphony No. 4
Fri, June 12, 6:30pm
Sat, June 13, 7:30pm
FEATURING
Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus
Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor
Jessica Rivera, soprano
Andrew Garland, baritone
PROGRAM
Charles Ives: Variations on America
Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 4
Gabriela Lena Frank: Conquest Requiem
Haydn Military Symphony
Wed, June 17, 6:30pm
FEATURING
Grant Park Orchestra
Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor
Oliver Herbert, cello
PROGRAM
Julia Perry: Short Piece
Dmitri Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 1
Franz Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 100, Military
Copland Symphony No. 3
Fri, June 19, 6:30pm
Sat, June 20, 7:30pm
FEATURING
Grant Park Orchestra
Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor
Stewart Goodyear, piano
PROGRAM
Reena Esmail: Black Iris
Sergei Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3
Aaron Copland: Symphony No. 3
Barber Violin Concerto
Wed, June 24, 6:30pm
FEATURING
Grant Park Orchestra
Kalena Bovell, conductor
Will Hagen, violin
Lookingglass Theatre
PROGRAM
Jessie Montgomery: Starburst
Samuel Barber: Violin Concerto
Peter Boyer: Ellis Island: The Dream of America
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1
Fri, June 26, 6:30pm
Sat, June 27, 7:30pm
Harris Theater
FEATURING
Grant Park Orchestra
Edwin Outwater, conductor
Sara Davis Buechner, piano
PROGRAM
Jimmy López: Loud
Lou Harrison: Symphony No. 2, Elegiac
Amy Woodforde-Finden: Kashmiri Song
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1
Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 3
Wed, July 1, 6:30pm
Fri, July 3, 6:30pm
FEATURING
Grant Park Orchestra
Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Olga Kern, piano
PROGRAM
Sergei Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 3
Igor Stravinsky: Game of Cards
Edward Elgar: In the South
Independence Day Salute
Sat, July 4, 7:30pm
FEATURING
Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus
Christopher Bell, conductor
Dario Brignoli, clarinet
Jeremy Black, violin
Sibelius Symphony No. 2
Wed, July 8, 8pm
FEATURING
Grant Park Orchestra
Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Third Coast Percussion
PROGRAM
Christopher Theofanidis: Drum Circles
Jean Sibelius: Symphony No. 2
Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5
Fri, July 10, 8pm
Sat, July 11, 8pm
FEATURING
Grant Park Orchestra
Leonard Slatkin, conductor
Yevgeny Kutik, violin
PROGRAM
Joseph Schwantner: Violin Concerto
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5
Ravel Piano Concerto
Wed, July 15, 6:30pm
FEATURING
Grant Park Orchestra
Jeri Lynne Johnson, conductor
Michelle Cann, piano
PROGRAM
William Grant Still: Festive Overture
Maurice Ravel: Piano Concerto
Florence Price: Symphony No. 3
Fauré Requiem
Fri, July 17, 6:30pm
Sat, July 18, 7:30pm
FEATURING
Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus
Christopher Bell, conductor
Janai Brugger, soprano
Sankara Harouna, baritone
PROGRAM
James MacMillan: Cantos Sagrados
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Toward the Unknown Region
Gabriel Fauré: Requiem
Broadway Sings America
Tue, July 21, 6:30pm
Thu, July 23, 6:30pm
FEATURING
Grant Park Orchestra
Jason Seber, conductor
Blaine Krauss, vocalist
Tiffany Mann, vocalist
Stephanie Jae Park, vocalist
Cirque: A Space Odyssey
Wed, July 22, 6:30pm
FEATURING
Grant Park Orchestra
Enrico Lopez-Yañez, conductor
Troupe Vertigo
An Evening with Ben Folds
Wed, July 29, 6:30pm
FEATURING
Grant Park Orchestra
Kedrick Armstrong, conductor
Ben Folds
Gershwin An American in Paris
Fri, July 31, 6:30pm
Sat, August 1, 7:30pm
Harris Theater
FEATURING
Grant Park Orchestra
Kedrick Armstrong, conductor
Gabriela Lara, violin
PROGRAM
Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson: Sinfonietta No. 1
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Violin Concerto
Duke Ellington: The Three Black Kings
George Gershwin: An American in Paris
Ohlsson Plays Chopin
Wed, August 5, 6:30pm
FEATURING
Grant Park Orchestra
Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor
Garrick Ohlsson, piano
PROGRAM
Gabriela Ortiz Contreras: Mariachitlán
Frédéric Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Capriccio Italien
Mozart Requiem
Fri, August 7, 6:30pm
Sat, August 8, 7:30pm
FEATURING
Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus
Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor
Janai Brugger, soprano
Susan Platts, mezzo-soprano
Andrew Haji, tenor
Kelly Markgraf, bass
PROGRAM
John Corigliano: Symphony No. 1
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Requiem
Dvořák New World Symphony
Wed, August 12, 6:30pm
FEATURING
Grant Park Orchestra
Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor
Anne Akiko Meyers, violin
PROGRAM
John Adams: Short Ride in a Fast Machine
Philip Glass: Violin Concerto No. 1
Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 9, From the New World
Beethoven Symphony No. 9
Fri, August 14, 6:30pm
Sat, August 15, 7:30pm
FEATURING
Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus
Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor
Karen Slack, soprano
Imara Miles, mezzo-soprano
John Matthew Meyers, tenor
Jongwon Han, bass-baritone
PROGRAM
Julia Wolfe: Liberty Bell
Michael Daugherty: Mount Rushmore
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 9, Choral
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Photo courtesy Grant Park Music Festival