Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra takes the Lollapalooza stage

CHICAGO — The Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra is preparing for a once-in-a lifetime show. They’re bringing the sounds of the symphony to a place you might not expect: Lollapalooza.

The Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra’s longtime music director Allen Tinkham said the invitation came in March.

 “We are the first orchestra of any kind to have our own set at Lollapalooza and just couldn’t be more thrilled,” he said.

“They went bananas when we made the announcement,” CYSO Executive Director Jennie Oh Brown said.

Brown says the diverse array of musicians come from 150 Chicago area zip codes.

“It’s all about exposing people to a wide variety of great music,” she said.

Students are pounding percussion, smashing cymbals, pressing for pitch and dragging bows across strings all in harmony ready to make history and bring classical music to a festival that celebrates pop culture .

The CYSO  has a primetime spot on Saturday night, opening for the headliners.

“They asked us to participate in the festival, and we said, ‘Who do you want us to back up?’ They said, ‘No, no, no. We want to do something different – we want to tell a story about music education in Chicago and creating the next generation of leaders,” Tinkham said. “And we said that’s perfect because that’s exactly what we do. That is actually our mission.”

The CYSO preformed as “back up” musicians for the band My Morning Jacket at Lollapalooza in 2007. This is the first solo orchestra performance in the festival’s 34-year history.