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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives are pleased to honor the Grant Park Music | ||||||
| 4 | Festival on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Grant | ||||||
| 5 | Park Chorus; and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, The Grant Park Music Festival, the nation's only | ||||||
| 7 | remaining free outdoor summer classical music series, was | ||||||
| 8 | conceived by Chicago Mayor Anton J. Cermak in 1931; in 1935, | ||||||
| 9 | the festival was founded by James C. Petrillo, president of the | ||||||
| 10 | Chicago Federation of Musicians, to lift the spirits of | ||||||
| 11 | Chicagoans during the Great Depression; and
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| 12 | WHEREAS, In 1962, the award-winning Grant Park Chorus was | ||||||
| 13 | established under the direction of Thomas Peck; the chorus has | ||||||
| 14 | been led by Chorus Director Christopher Bell since 2002; and
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| 15 | WHEREAS, In 2012, the Grant Park Music Festival will | ||||||
| 16 | celebrate the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Grant | ||||||
| 17 | Park Chorus, now a professional ensemble of more than 100 | ||||||
| 18 | vocalists; and
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| 19 | WHEREAS, The Grant Park Music Festival annually offers a | ||||||
| 20 | 10-week season of free concerts, artistic development | ||||||
| 21 | initiatives, radio broadcasts, and community education and | ||||||
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| 1 | outreach programs; the festival shares the enrichment of | ||||||
| 2 | symphonic music with nearly 1.8 million people each year and | ||||||
| 3 | has made its home in Millennium Park and its state-of-the-art | ||||||
| 4 | outdoor concert facility, the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, since | ||||||
| 5 | 2004; and | ||||||
| 6 | WHEREAS, The Grant Park Music Festival has earned a | ||||||
| 7 | reputation for artistic excellence by consistently presenting | ||||||
| 8 | varied and adventurous repertoire - juxtaposing well-loved | ||||||
| 9 | favorites with less familiar classical and contemporary | ||||||
| 10 | masterworks - at the highest professional level; and | ||||||
| 11 | WHEREAS, The Grant Park Music Festival remains committed to | ||||||
| 12 | making live symphonic and choral performances broadly | ||||||
| 13 | accessible and to fostering a lifelong appreciation of | ||||||
| 14 | classical music among people of all ages, backgrounds, and | ||||||
| 15 | means; and | ||||||
| 16 | WHEREAS, The Grant Park Music Festival will celebrate the | ||||||
| 17 | 50th anniversary of the Grant Park Chorus with a number of | ||||||
| 18 | special activities and events throughout the 2012 season, | ||||||
| 19 | including a Golden Anniversary Choral Spectacular on June | ||||||
| 20 | 29-30, 2012; and | ||||||
| 21 | WHEREAS, The Grant Park Music Festival has further | ||||||
| 22 | commemorated this anniversary with the commissioning of 2 new | ||||||
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| 1 | works for the Grant Park Chorus by esteemed American composers | ||||||
| 2 | Michael Gandolfi and Sebastian Currier; the composers will | ||||||
| 3 | present their world premieres on July 15-16, 2012 and July 6-7, | ||||||
| 4 | 2012, respectively; therefore, be it
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| 5 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 6 | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 7 | we honor the organizers and performers of the Grant Park Music | ||||||
| 8 | Festival on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Grant | ||||||
| 9 | Park Chorus and commend their continued efforts to enrich, | ||||||
| 10 | enlighten, and uplift all of Chicago's residents and guests | ||||||
| 11 | with world-class, free classical music concerts; and be it | ||||||
| 12 | further
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| 13 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 14 | presented to the Grant Park Music Festival as a symbol of our | ||||||
| 15 | esteem and respect.
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