Principal conductor to leave Chicago
NewsGrant Park Music Festival has extended the contract of Carlos Kalmar as artistic director and principal conductor to the summer of 2024, after which he will leave.
He will have served the festival for a quarter of a century.
Good.
All conductors leave eventually. Why doesn’t the headline announce, instead, a 3-year contract extension?
Because he’s starting already to look for another post.
He rarely offered anything special at all at the Grant Park Orchestra. His programming was good, however. Performances were led with lackluster talent. Over paid.
He will be the principal conducting instructor at Cleveland Institute of Music.
Calmar in French means squid
Skaneateles loves Hilary Hahn.
We’ll miss him. Great programming and an excellent orchestra. Alway enjoyed his performances.
FYI he’s not hiring right now. Bootlicking is futile.
He’s the only Vienna-trained Uruguayan conductor I know and has greatly diversified Grant Park’s fare with Lyric Opera singers and unusual choral works. .