Chicago Symphony Orchestra

It's kind of a slow sports day so I thought I would blog about one of my other passions, classical music. Those of us that live in the Chicago area are lucky enough to be around what I consider the finest musical ensemble in the world, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Coming up this week are the last concerts of their 2009-10 Orchestra Hall season and the final concerts of Bernard Haitink as Principal Conductor of the orchestra. Haitink has served in this position for 4 seasons and in my opinion, not only helped the orchestra sustain it's level of excellence between music directors but actually raised the collective level of the group. Luckily for the orchestra, Haitink will be returning next season for 2 weeks of guest conducting engagements including performances of Mahler's 9th Symphony to close out the 2010-11 season. Combine that with the first season of Riccardo Muti as Music Director and you have a very exciting season in store for both the CSO and it's patrons beginning in the fall.