Image courtesy of Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, Inc. (www.kwf.org)This week Ravinia Festival begins its celebration of one of the most versatile composers of the 20th century and a major influence on Hollywood and Broadway, Kurt Weill. Weill's major successes state side include Lady in the Dark, Threepenny Opera and One Touch of Venus, but there are many works that Weill created in Europe, and although equally as impressive, they never gained the same notoriety. Ravinia Festival and Music Director James Conlon look to shed light on all of Weill's life and work over the next week.

Kurt Weill is the subject of this year's Breaking the Silence Series, which celebrates the music of composers whose lives were disrupted by the rise of the Third Reich. Forced to flee his homeland in 1933 by the ever-expanding threat of the Nazis, Kurt Weill developed two careers-one in Europe and later one in America, where he gained fame as a songwriter for Broadway and Hollywood.

Ravinia Festival invites you to join us for the activities surrounding the works of Kurt Weill and the Breaking the Silence Series.

Sunday, August 2:
3:00 p.m. in the Martin Theatre - FREE w/paid admission to the park - Master Class featuring James Conlon and the soloists from the August 4 performance.

Tuesday, August 4:
7:00 p.m. in the Martin Theatre - FREE w/paid admission to the park - First of two pre-concert talks on The life and work of Kurt Weill with Kim Kowalke, president of the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music.

8:00 p.m. in the Martin Theatre - Chicago Chamber Musicians and the winners of the Lotte Lenye Vocal Competition, under the baton of Maestro James Conlon, will perform Mahagonny-Songspiel. This piece is on a double-bill with Stravinsky's The Soldier's Story because it inspired Weill to undertake this collaboration with Bertolt Brecht, and because Stravinsky himself, after hearing Songspiel, said that the two were a perfect combination.

Saturday, August 8:
6:00 p.m. in the Martin Theatre - FREE w/paid admission to the park - Second of two pre-concert talks on The life and work of Kurt Weill with Kim Kowalke, president of the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music.

7:30 p.m. in the pavilion - James Conlon will lead the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in an all-Weill program featuring The Seven Deadly Sinsand songs from Weill's other Broadway and Hollywood hits. The night will be highlighted by the return of the indefatigable Patti LuPone, the featured soloist, Ravinia favorite and Broadway legend.

We welcome you to attend these programs and submit a Guest Blog about your Kurt Weill experience to backstage@ravinia.org. If you have any questions regarding tickets to the programs, please call the Box Office at (847) 266-5100. We hope to see you there!

Matthew Dolkart
Development Writer