The nonprofit parent organization of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra announced a rebrand Thursday, meant to usher in a new era for the city’s preeminent classical music company. It features a new naming convention and, for the first time in 30 years, a new logo.
Music fans will also notice updated red uniforms for the ushers who greet and seat guests. And while the rest of the changes are mostly subtle from the audience perspective, company leaders say the rebrand is meant to clarify the organization’s identity and is part of a broader strategy to attract younger, more diverse audiences.
The orchestra’s iconic Michigan Avenue home will now be dubbed “Chicago Symphony Center.”
What was once the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association will now be known as Chicago Symphony. That umbrella brand oversees both the esteemed Chicago Symphony Orchestra (no name change here), as well as the Chicago Symphony Chorus and the training ensemble, Civic Orchestra of Chicago.
The changes come as the CSO prepares to welcome its new, buzzy music director, Klaus Mäkelä, who will officially step into the role next fall. Mäkelä has several dates on this fall’s performance calendar starting this weekend when he’ll conduct works by Sibelius and Shostakovich.
The organization’s president, Jeff Alexander, said the rebrand is “really to focus everything we do on the words ‘Chicago Symphony,’ which are so important to us.”
The identity shift is part of an overarching strategy to reach broader audiences, like classical organizations across the country are similarly attempting, and make the brand feel more accessible.
“This is an opportunity for us to clarify who we are, and it allows us to reintroduce ourselves as the organization Chicago Symphony and really lay the foundation for the next decade and beyond,” said Ryan Lewis, the organization’s head of marketing and sales. “We want people to feel welcome, that everyone belongs, that they feel a sense of excitement about the future.”
The organization will retire its signature logo — a black “C” in the style of a musical clef, first introduced in the 1990s — in favor of a red logo that features a subtle music note motif, in what the organization is calling “an identity with a more modern expression.”
The rebrand project began about four years ago, said Lewis, in an attempt to clarify confusion around the organization’s many brand identities. That includes the concert series featuring guest artists and ensembles, which will now be known as Chicago Symphony Presents (formerly called Symphony Center Presents). Here, performances stretch beyond orchestral music to include jazz concerts, chamber music and piano recitals.
The Chicago Symphony name will also be added to the internal Negaunee Music Institute, which powers music education and community programming.
In a further effort to welcome younger music fans, the organization also recently announced its latest slate of programming aimed at teens and college students.
The organization also announced this week that it had reached a three-year contract agreement with the musicians’ union, represented by the Chicago Federation of Musicians, Local 10-208 of the American Federation of Musicians.
Alexander called it “a sensible agreement in today’s economic climate.”
BJ Levy, the local union’s president, added: “It’s a contract that recognizes the value of the musicians, keeps up with inflation, and acknowledges the depth of talent and the amount of work that’s required to be in an orchestra at the level of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.”
The classical organization is hoping the rebrand helps clarify its offerings and attract new audiences.
The classical organization is hoping the rebrand helps clarify its offerings and attract new audiences.
