PERCY GRAINGER
WIND BAND FESTIVAL
MARCH 24-25, 2023
APRIL 12-13, 2024
About the Festival
The annual Percy Grainger Wind Band Festival will feature four outstanding wind ensembles conducting standalone performances of Percy Grainger literature in an afternoon matinée performance in Chicago’s Historic Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center on March 25, 2023 and April 13, 2024. In addition to the performance, in 2023 each ensemble will have a private clinic with Dr. Mallory Thompson, Director of Bands, Professor of Music and coordinator of the conducting program at Northwestern University, and in 2024, the clinician will be Dr. James Patrick Miller, Douglas Nimmo Endowed Professor and Conductor of the Gustavus Wind Orchestra at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN.
All band selections are made through Music Celebrations, and every effort will be made to ensure that each ensemble’s program will not overlap onto one another.
Ensembles will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve, rolling basis. Early applicants are given preference and priority.
Dr. Mallory Thompson
Dr. Mallory Thompson, Director of Bands, Professor of Music and coordinator of the conducting program at Northwestern University will serve as Clinician for the 2023 Festival.
Orchestra Hall
Home to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center will serve as the venue for the Festival finale performance. Learn more about the history below
Media Gallery
Watch video highlights from past festival performances and view a gallery of images featuring ensembles as they perform on stage at Orchestra Hall and tour Chicago.
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The Percy Grainger Wind Band Festival Performance in Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center was something that none of us will ever forget. The trip was a highlight of my 35 year teaching career. The students commented that this trip would be something they would always remember and cherish. I have never seen so many smiling faces as I did throughout the trip. The MCI team I worked with was very accommodating and professional in every way. Our stay [at the Palmer House Hilton] could not have been better! Everything about the trip could not have been better!
Dr. Steven Barnett
Director of Bands at Marshall University