Review: Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Grand Form as 2025 Draws to a Close Klaus Mäkelä directs the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on Dec. 18, 2025. (Todd Rosenberg) A Dec. 18 concert by the ever-superb Chicago Symphony Orchestra was a stunner, with Klaus Mäkelä (the Zell Music Director Designate who moves like a dancer, and who will begin his five-year tenure as the orchestra’s director in 2027) in top form.