Tuesday concerts are over for the year, but if you are interested in sponsoring the 2024 season, please reach out to us at wellesparkac@gmail.com.
Likewise, if you are a professional musician or group that is interested in being considered to perform in our summer 2024 series, please fill out this form and submit it no later than March 31, 2024. Thank you and see you in the park!
2023 Series Information
Concerts are back for 2023 Tuesdays at the Gazebo for July and August. Concerts start at 6:30 p.m. unless noted. Call the field house at (312) 742-7511 for cancellations or delays caused by weather.
Bring chairs, blankets, your food and (non-alcoholic) beverages, but do not leave trash or food at the park, please! We urge you to use reusable containers that you can take home.
July 11, 2023
- Alfonso Ponticelli, one of the premiere Gypsy Jazz/Django Reinhardt style musicians in the US kicks off the 2023 season. Starts at 6:30 pm
July 18, 2023- Summer Singing in the Gazebo – with songleader Megan Eberhardt
- Come sing in the Gazebo! All people, all voices welcome and no experience required. We will sing fun and easy-to-learn songs taught on the spot. Come remember the simple joy of singing together! Laughter, connection, and harmony guaranteed.
- Time: 6:30pm
- Cost: Free!
Movies in the Parks – Puss in Boots 2: The Last Wish (CPD site)
- Time: 8:15 pm (or when it is dark enough)
- Cost: Free
July 25, 2023 – (Amalgama) Gonzalo Córdova (from Sones de Mexico) y Renato Cerón
(from A Flor De Piel) – Latin American rhythms, world music
Gonzalo Córdova’s background is steeped in traditional and popular Latin music ranging from Nuevo Flamenco to Mexican Folk, with unique fusions of these and other World genres, rhythms and styles that make his performances a true adventure. Born and raised in Mexico, Gonzalo grew up with the traditional folk music of his mother. His father was a Spaniard who listened to Flamenco and Tangos. Later, he was influenced by the music of his times, the New Chilean song movement, popular songs like Baladas and Boleros, and most interesting to him, the Canto Nuevo Popular from Mexico, and La Nueva Trova Cubana. Once in Chicago, his talent and charisma lead him to become a founding member of Sones De Mexico Ensemble in 1994. He was the lead singer, performing hundreds of shows over the next eight years and recording two albums: Que Florezca! (Let It Bloom!) and Fandango on 18th Street. Still interested in experiencing new music styles, he formed Lunares a Rumba Flamenca group as well as the band El Mitote, a group that incorporated rhythm, fusion and tradition by blending Indigenous, African, Spanish, and European traditions.
Grammy® and Latin Grammy® nominee Renato Cerón is is a multi-instrumentalist, recording artist, and educator living in Chicago, IL. He began his professional music career in 1996. Renato has performed locally and throughout the U.S. He teaches music for the Chicago Public Schools. Renato has chaired the music program at Telpochcalli Elementary School, a fine arts public school in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood since 2001 to date. He taught Spanish at Lemont Montessori School from 2009 to 2020 to students from 3 years old to 8th grade. He was a Mariachi Instructor with the Chicago Mariachi Project teaching students ages 9-18 years old as well as at UIC College Prep High School from 2015-2020. He has performed and led workshops throughout the U.S. In 2007, Cerón co-founded the Latin Fusion band “A Flor de Piel” with wife Marisol Ceron (Marisol La Brava).
August 1, 2023 – Nathan Graham – Singer/songwriter
When you think of a singer-songwriter, who comes to mind? Nathan Graham says it probably isn’t somebody who looks like he does, and he wants to change that.
Born and raised in Chicago, Graham meshes South Side Blues with Nashville Americana, beginning his career backing blues singers at famous haunts like Buddy Guy’s Legends and Kingston Mines. He spent a decade as a guitar-for-hire before picking up a mic to tell his own stories on the stage. Soulful and steady, Graham’s music offers a raw introspective of the human condition that’s both painful and comforting. His guitar conveys heartbreak, lyrics tell stories of regret, but his rich vocal delivery offers the remedy. Having brought his songs on international tours with both major label and indie acts, Graham is challenging the notion of what it means to be a singer-songwriter. He’s driving inclusivity within the genre, and he hopes to evoke a sense of understanding in the process. “I’m writing about universal experiences,” he says. “I’m writing music to connect my story to yours, show you all that we have in common, and maybe help both of us feel less alone.”
August 8, 2023 – The Girls of the Golden West – Country classics
One snowy night in the early two thousands, at the Hideout in Chicago, musicians Amalea Tshilds and Marydee Reynolds met for the first time, when Marydee was asked to fill in for an opening act that was stranded in the storm. Amalea was part of the headlining band, Tallulah. Later that same winter, Marydee invited Amalea to join her at Chris and Heather’s Country Calendar show– where Marydee first performed the songs of her legendary great Aunt Millie’s band The Girls of the Golden West.
The Girls of the Golden West was one of the first successful female country acts in history and featured the sisters Millie and Dolly Good. They inspired the likes of the Davis Sisters, Jean Shepherd and Patsy Cline by recording and touring throughout the US in post-depression America. To reprise her great aunt’s band Marydee needed a ‘Dolly’- a partner—to her “Millie.” Amalea, with her background in Appalachian string music and soulful voice, was a perfect fit. You might want to call Marydee and Amalea’s incarnation the ‘New’ Girls of the Golden West. They have been singing together since the country calendar show—weaving and blending their voices the way Millie and Dolly did and performing the tunes of the original ‘Girls.’ Now, a decade and a half plus later, this contemporary duo reimagines a reincarnated Girls of the Golden West- with tunes of their own.
August 15, 2023 – Second Hand News – Fleetwood Mac tribute
Second Hand News recreates the experience of seeing Fleetwood Mac in their heyday. Made up of veteran local musicians, the band features spot-on vocal harmonies, careful attention to detail, and electric live shows. Through the talents of these seasoned performers, the spirit and musicianship of Mick Fleetwood, John and Christine McVie, Stevie Nicks, and Lindsey Buckingham come to life on stage. Audiences are energized by dynamic deliveries of favorites from the band’s extensive catalog of hits as well as deep cuts beloved by superfans. The fun these musicians have recreating these classic songs together is infectious, and will bring you to your feet in shared appreciation for one of the greatest bands of all time.
August 22, 2023 – The Magnificent Strings with Susan Voelz and Alison Chesley – Strings duo
The Magnificent Strings began as the string section for Chicago’s Poi Dog Pondering. Known for creating soaring Philly soul lines as well as moody and uplifting orchestrations, the duo became a sought-after studio ensemble recording at Albini’s Electrical Audio, Soma, and Rax Trax, bridging the classical and rock music world with artists such as Kim Deal, Mono of Japan, Broken Social Scene, James McCartney, and Russian Circles. They have performed with national touring bands including Wilco, Belle & Sebastian and Sufjan Stevens.
Respected and experienced as individual artists, the Magnificent Strings – Susan Voelz rock violin and Alison Chesley rock cello – play original compositions and classical reinventions through sound effects pedals, creating a new, unexpected sonic dimension.
If you, your organization or your business is interested in sponsorship opportunities for this beloved (and very well-attended) neighborhood series, please contact the Advisory Council at wellesparkac@gmail.com
Tuesdays at the Gazebo
A Summer Tradition in Welles Park
By Sarah Dandelles, WPAC executive team
(Special thanks to Gene Schulter and Becky Kliber)
Tuesday night concerts at Welles Park began in approximately 1994, when then-47th-ward alderman Gene Schulter and his team sought to bring more cultural arts programming to the 47th ward, and envisioned a “Ravinia-like” experience in the city. Schulter gathered the local parks and chambers of commerce to divide the ward into quadrants, and helped to facilitate the evening summer music series in each of four spaces which continue to this day: Northcenter Town Square, Giddings Plaza, Chase Park, and Welles Park. At the time, there were no arts organizations in the ward, but that would soon change…dramatically!
Welles Park concerts began even before current park supervisor Becky Kliber was the area manager for the Chicago Park District, and were likely organized by the previous park supervisor with the support of the alderman’s office. In 1999, the Old Town School of Folk Music opened nearby on Lincoln Avenue, and it helped to program and donate the concerts for some years into the mid-00s. Additionally, with funds raised through the Old Town School’s annual Folk & Roots Festival (held in Welles Park from 1998 to 2012), the Welles Park Advisory Council funded the balance of the concerts, with Kliber planning and executing the events with the help of park staff.
The concerts also predated the Gazebo structure itself. The Welles Park Gazebo was opened in 2004 and, according to Schulter, has a companion structure in Paris. Funding for the Gazebo was organized by Schulter, and came from private donors, many of whom remain anonymous.
In the mid-late 2000s, the Old Town School ceased its concert sponsorship, and, under Kliber’s management, the Welles Park Advisory Council took over fiscal sponsorship and much of the programming of the concerts through the early 2010s, soliciting sponsors such as The Welles Park Parents (Baseball) Association, local elected officials and businesses, and The Gene and Rosemary Schulter Foundation, and financing the balance through WPAC’s extant fundraising. Starting in 2012, Kliber organized an in-kind trade of three concerts per season for the Old Town School’s use of the park for its summer arts camps. And, beginning in 2014, the Welles Park Baseball Association (WPPA) began to sponsor a larger portion of the Tuesday series performances and equipment.
Also in 2014, the citywide Chicago Park District program called Nights Out in the Parks began, and incorporated the Welles Tuesday night concert series into its promotions. Since 2016, Welles has benefitted from one to four concerts or events per summer through this series.
The Welles Park Advisory Council remains the official fiscal agent for the series, and collaborates with Kliber to program the overall 10 to 11 weeks of concerts per summer, and WPAC is responsible for payments to an on-site sound engineer when needed, plus manages the fall performer payments, donations, and sponsorships of the series.
If you, your organization or your business is interested in sponsorship opportunities for this beloved (and very well-attended) neighborhood series, please contact the Advisory Council at wellesparkac@gmail.com
Welles Park Advisory Council 