Wishing a very happy birthday to Chicago Symphony Orchestra Helen Regenstein Conductor Emeritus Pierre Boulez on the occasion of his ninetieth birthday from all of your friends here in Chicago!

Pierre Boulez leading a rehearsal with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago on December 8, 2003 (Todd Rosenberg photo)

Pierre Boulez leading a rehearsal with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago on December 8, 2003 (Todd Rosenberg photo)

Boulez recently was the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. With twenty-six awards to his credit—including eight with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus—he is the third all-time Grammy Awards champ. (Sir Georg Solti, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s eighth music director, won thirty-one Grammy Awards, more than any other recording artist. Alison Krauss and Quincy Jones tie for the number two slot with twenty-seven awards each.) A complete list of Boulez’s Grammy awards can be found here.

For more information on Pierre Boulez, click here for a complete list of his recordings with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, a timeline of his extensive partnership with the CSO, details of his debut with the CSO in 1969, and a select bibliography. A video of the world-premiere performances of the Beyond the Score presentation of A Pierre Dream can be viewed here.

Happy, happy birthday, dear Pierre!

Advertisement