February 5, 1952

Eleven-year-old Herbie Hancock—a seventh-grade student at the Forestville School, located in the Kenwood neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side—was a CSO Youth Auditions winner, and he appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on a Young People’s Concert at Orchestra Hall on February 5, 1952. He performed the first movement (Allegro) from Mozart’s Piano Concerto no. 26 in D major, K. 537 (Coronation) under the baton of George Schick, the Orchestra’s assistant conductor.

In the years since, Hancock—the winner of multiple Grammy awards (including one for Lifetime Achievement) and a recipient of a Kennedy Center Honors in 2013—has appeared at Orchestra Hall on numerous occasions with a variety of artists.

Image above: Young Herbie at the piano (image from Hancock’s autobiography Possibilities, used with permission)

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