[3] In 1978, when the Petrillo Music Shell was relocated, the Orchestra became part of a tradition of Independence Day Eve concerts accompanied by fireworks and attended by well over 100,000 spectators.

[4] Their rendition of Pyotr Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture marked the culmination of the event and was choreographed to be synchronous with howitzer blasts and a crescendo of fireworks.

[5] Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne wanted to put an end to the large Independence Day Eve concert in order to reduce costs and differentiate herself from her predecessors, but was convinced not to by Grant Park Music Festival concert manager Steven Ovitsky.

[6] One year, Byrne celebrated the event with Muhammad Ali at her side.

It produced six CDs during the decade:[8] At the end of the Grant Park Music Festival season in August, the Orchestra and Carlos Kalmar presented Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Adams' On the Transmigration of Souls, which was written at the request of the New York Philharmonic to honor the victims of the September 11 attacks.