This concert was originally scheduled for May 30, 2023. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association welcomes conductor Edwin Outwater, who replaces Steven Reineke.
Wednesday, July 26, 2023, at 7:30
Members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Edwin Outwater Conductor Ben Folds Piano and Vocals simon
The Block
BEN FOLDS AND MEMBERS OF THE CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Ben Folds’s program with Members of the CSO will be announced from the stage.
CIBC Private Wealth is the Presenting Sponsor of Corporate Night. Abbott is the recipient of the 2023 Excellence in Corporate Philanthropy Award.
Edwin Outwater Conductor A visionary conductor, curator, and producer, Edwin Outwater regularly works with the world’s top orchestras and institutions. His effortless ability to cross genres has led to collaborations with a wide range of artists, from Metallica to Wynton Marsalis, Renée Fleming, and Yo-Yo Ma. Outwater is music director of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and music director laureate of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony in Ontario, Canada, which he led from 2007 to 2017. His recent appearances include the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra–London; and the San Diego, Houston, Seattle, and New World symphony orchestras. As a producer and musical advisor for the National Symphony Orchestra’s Fiftieth-Anniversary Celebration Concert in Washington (D.C.), he collaborated with a cast of artists including Common, Renée Fleming, Audra McDonald, and Christian McBride. Last season, Outwater made his BBC Proms debut at the Royal Albert Hall in London with Cynthia Erivo, and other performances included the Tokyo Metropolitan and Tokyo Symphony orchestras, BBCNOW, Brussels Philharmonic, Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Hong Kong Sinfonietta. October 2022 saw Outwater premiere his Symphony of Terror! production with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and cohost and collaborator Peaches Christ; Holiday Gaiety, their festive collaboration with prominent guest stars from the world of drag, pop, and musical theater, is a recurring event with the San Francisco Symphony. P H OTO BY DAVID J. K IM