This April, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s annual Chicago Youth in Music Festival featured three days of rehearsals and coaching with Lina González-Granados, the CSO’s Sir Georg Solti Conducting Apprentice. The festival culminated in an open rehearsal led by CSO Music Director Riccardo Muti, with student musicians working side-by-side with members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and Chicago Sinfonietta. New this year: the festival’s first National Pathways Summit, a weekend presented in partnership with the Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative, which prepares young musicians from underrepresented backgrounds to attend top music schools, and the National Instrumentalist Mentoring and Advancement Network, which works to develop equitable opportunities and inclusive environments to help Black, Indigenous, and People of Color instrumentalists to thrive in classical music. The festival and summit brought together more than 100 students and institutional leaders from across the country.
Caption: The CSO’s Sir Georg Solti Conducting Apprentice Lina González-Granados leads the Chicago Youth in Music Festival Orchestra in a rehearsal of Liszt’s Les préludes. Photo by: Todd Rosenberg.
