Music Director of Chicago Symphony to Miss Concerts

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra says music director Riccardo Muti will miss three concerts and a student engagement because of flu-like symptoms.

The symphony said yesterday that Muti has withdrawn from concerts on Thursday, Friday and Saturday (January 17, 18 and 19)  of next week. He will be replaced by guest conductor Edo de Waart.

The 71-year-old Muti also will not attend a Monday open rehearsal of the Chicago Youth in Music Festival Orchestra, which includes Chicago-area high school students and members of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra will replace him at the event.

This is the second time Muti has missed symphony performances. In 2011, he was hospitalized in Chicago after fainting during a rehearsal and suffering jaw and facial fractures.