Jay L. Henderson, Maestro Riccardo Muti and Jeff Alexander
Jay L. Henderson, Maestro Riccardo Muti and Jeff Alexander
The luminous grand ballroom
The luminous grand ballroom
Vanessa Wasserman and Christian Mitchell
Vanessa Wasserman and Christian Mitchell
Cate and Rick Waddell
Cate and Rick Waddell
The evening was full of fanfare.
The evening was full of fanfare.
Ashley Hooks and Kyle Williams
Ashley Hooks and Kyle Williams
Francie Harrington, Vern Broders and Katie Tuttle
Francie Harrington, Vern Broders and Katie Tuttle
THE PARTY Big anniversaries deserve big parties, and the festivities surrounding the launch of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s 125th season achieved grand scale. VIP patrons arrived early for a reception that included a special exhibit designed by CSO archivist Frank Villella, which featured such items as a bronze life mask of Beethoven and the score for Wagner’s Faust Overture, used by founding Music Director Theodore Thomas at the symphony’s first performance. THE PEOPLE Linda Wolfe, great-granddaughter of the CSO’s second music director, Frederick Stock, rubbed elbows with co-chairs Raj Fernando and Shelley Ochab, while trustee Bill Adams and his wife, Liz, a women’s board member, enjoyed the celebration. THE PINNACLE Before the guests arrived at the Palmer House Hilton to be greeted by a floral wall of the CSO’s anniversary logo surrounded by thousands of roses, there was, of course, a spectacular concert—Maestro Muti led the orchestra in a program that concluded with Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, a work (almost) epic enough for the occasion. –Photos by Todd Rosenberg and Robert Carl
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