Chicago Symphony Orchestra presents “Alsop Conducts Adams, Copland & Marsalis” June 4-6

By Natalia Dagenhart

This year, America celebrates the most important milestone in the history of the United States – 250 years of American Independence. Chicago Symphony Center, a historic music venue located in the heart of Chicago, marks the United States’ upcoming 250th anniversary with celebratory performances that honor our nation’s rich and evolving cultural environment.

“Alsop Conducts Adams, Copland & Marsalis” is part of this celebration and will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 4, at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, June 5, and at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 6 at the spectacular Chicago Symphony Center located at 220 S Michigan Ave in downtown Chicago.

This dynamic concert program will be led by guest conductor Marin Alsop, the first woman to serve as the head of major orchestras in the United States, South America, Austria, and Great Britain. Alsop is winner of the 2025 Golden Baton Award from the League of American Orchestras and is also the first and only conductor to receive a MacArthur Fellowship. She serves as Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra, and Chief Conductor of the Ravinia Festival.

As the overview of this concert program mentions, under the baton of Alsop “jazz, blues and orchestral sounds converge in a rousing celebration of American music.” The concert program will start with a CSO co-commission of John Adams’ “The Rock You Stand.” The work was written in 2024, but for the CSO these will be the orchestra’s first performances of “The Rock You Stand On” on June 4-6.

Adams turns 80 next year and remains active and productive. This 10-minute work is proof of it. Interestingly, Adams composed “The Rock You Stand On” as a gift to Alsop. In his composer’s notes, he describes her as a close friend, a “deeply intuitive” musician and a longtime champion of his music. In his interview for Experience CSO, he mentioned: “I love Marin. She has an intuitive feel for my music, and she’s been doing it for at least 40 years. It was time I gave her her own piece!”

The program will continue with Suite from “Appalachian Spring.” “Appalachian Spring” is an American ballet created by choreographer Martha Graham and composer Aaron Copland and later arranged as an orchestral work. It was written on commission from the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation. The Suite from “Appalachian Spring” is one of Copland’s most popular works. It combines elements of folk tunes and classical music, captures the essence of the American land and its people, and celebrates the American pioneer spirit. This composition has become a symbol of America itself and an essential part of the American classical repertoire.

After the intermission, the CSO will join forces with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra for selections from Wynton Marsalis’ Symphony No. 4, The Jungle. Marsalis is a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, a world-renowned trumpeter, and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra Managing and Artistic Director. His unique work combines symphonic music and jazz and demonstrates an expressive portrait of New York City with its contrasts, challenges, and constant changes and paradoxes.

“New York City is the most fluid, pressure-packed, and cosmopolitan metropolis the modern world has ever seen,” said Marsalis. This composition is the composer’s greatest work to date. First recorded in 2019, Marsalis’ Symphony No. 4, The Jungle, was released on Blue Engine Records in 2023. This famous piece doesn’t only represent a great city, but also meditates on what being human means today, with “a widescale attempt to understand the maelstrom of modern life and remind listeners of what brings us together.”

Celebrate the beauty of our country and American music with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis on June 4-6 at the Chicago Symphony Center.For tickets, please go to https://cso.org/performances/25-26/cso-classical/alsop-conducts-adams-copland-marsalis/ or call at 312-294-3000.

Natalia Dagenhart