"Emily and I met in the Spring of 2001 at a Memorial Day cookout at a friend’s house in Chicago.  Unfortunately for the both of us, I lived in Chicago and she was attending the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana.   Nevertheless, our long distance relationship would grow over the next six years as we quickly learned to cherish every moment of our weekends together.  Often our dates involved exploring Chicago’s art fairs, street festivals and great restaurants all summer long. 

Still, our favorite date became packing a dinner, a bottle of wine and a blanket, and boarding the Metra right to the door of Ravinia.  We spread out under the stars as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra seemed to provide us with  our own, private serenade.  Our multiple visits to Ravinia over those summer months each year were so memorable, I knew it would provide the perfect backdrop for me to ask the love of my life to marry me.   

On July 21, 2007, Emily accepted my proposal on the lawn of Ravinia, and again I would sit…under the stars…listening to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra…but now with my fiancée.

This past August, 2009, we celebrated our first wedding anniversary with a familiar visit to Ravinia’s lawn to begin an anniversary tradition reflecting on one of the important places our love began…and will continue to grow."

(Photo of the proposal provided by Mark.)

The grounds here at Ravinia look as breathtaking as ever. That doesn't mean we don't miss seeing the green grass and colorful flowers, though!

We can't wait for the warm weather and great music under the stars. Until then, enjoy some photos of the snow-covered park by clicking here. 

The  Women’s Board of Ravinia Festival, in conjunction with  Ravinia’s professional education staff and the People’s Music  School of Chicago, has created a new student orchestra for children 8 to 12 years old at the William  G. Hibbard Elementary School in the Albany Park  neighborhood of Chicago. The students selected their instruments, which were funded by a grant from Fifth Third Bank, and played them for the first time. WGN News was there to capture the event. You can watch  the video here. The program is modeled on the  successful “El Sistema” orchestral education plan devised in Venezuela. It is a system of total immersion  in music study. The Women’s Board continues a instrument drive, please contact Agatha Hwong at 847-266-5045 or Agatha@ravinia.org. 

Photo by Patrick Gipson. Special thanks to Caroline Huebner & Patty McGrath, Co-chairs of the Reach*Teach*Play Task Force.

Honoring the 80^th birthday of the great American composer Stephen Sondheim with a program featuring an incredible lineup of soloists who have been featured in Ravinia’s Sondheim celebrations since they began in 2001.

The evening of Sondheim’s “greatest hits,” will star Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, George Hearn and Michael Cerveris. Conductor Paul Gemignani will lead the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Lonny Price will direct. The program will include highlights from past Ravinia Festival presentations of Sondheim shows including Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, Passion, Sunday in the Park with George, Anyone Can Whistle, West Side Story and Gypsy.  

Fourth graders at Sherwood Elementary learned to play world rhythms on percussion instruments as part of their 10 week residency with internationally acclaimed world percussionist Doug Brush.  Ravinia Festival partners with the District 112 Education Foundation to bring high quality music programs to Highland Park’s elementary and middle schools.  

This photo was provided by Isaac Sinnett. He is a project manager for the Education & Community Partners department at Ravinia Festival.

Check out the new gloves that are available at Ravinia Gifts. They are so warm and cozy but you can still use your fingers for small tasks (like typing when you are still trying to thaw out from the cold). The inside is lined in a snuggly fleece and the outside is 100% wool. Look at all of the colors and patterns. (These photos were taken on my phone.)

I don't want to sound like an infomercial here but I really do love these gloves. They are so practical, fun and warm, which is kind of weird considering that your fingers are exposed.

Anyway, it's hard to do them justice online. Just imagine yourself keeping warm while easily finding the right key to open your front door instead of fumbling around with your big gloves and dropping them in the snow because you can't tell what you're doing (not that this has ever happened to me).

Stay warm!

Adriana McClintock

Marketing Manager (and winter clutz)

The celebrations begin as soon as the residency starts when Ravinia favorite Garrick Ohlsson sits down at the Steinway to mark the 200^th birthday year of Frédéric Chopin. The 150^th birthday of Gustav Mahler is celebrated with James Conlon concluding his multi-year Mahler cycle when he leads the CSO in the Adagio of the unfinished 10^th symphony. On the same program, Samuel Barber’s centennial is celebrated with his Adagio for Strings and Joshua Bell performing the Violin Concerto.

Closer to home, the birthdays of Music Director James Conlon, 60, and former Music Director Christoph Eschenbach, 70, will be acknowledged throughout the summer.  Conlon, will recreate excerpts from his first Wagner Ring Cycle. Then the CSO returns to the Martin Theatre for two performances each of Mozart’s Così fan tutte and The Marriage of Figaro, featuring such stars as Frederica von Stade and Nathan Gunn. Eschenbach takes a musical travelogue through his career in concerts that feature him as conductor and soloist working with such colleagues and protégés as Renée Fleming, performing Strauss’s Four Last Songs.

The 20^th anniversary of the deaths of two music icons—Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland—is commemorated in concerts that feature some of their most treasured creations including Appalachian Spring, The Age of Anxiety and Candide.

The 200^th anniversary of Mexican Independence is acknowledged in a few guises next summer, including the CSO concerts that feature one of Mexico City’s favorite sons, Jorge Federico Osorio, performing all five of Beethoven’s piano concertos over two nights.

Come celebrate with us at Ravinia!

Germaine Maschoff
Corporate Relations and Communications Coordinator

Catch a great concert tonight with Elbio Barilari and special guests Diego Urcola and Welz Kauffman to honor the late Latin American great Mercedes Sosa.

Barilari's big band will include several top jazz musicians in Chicago. Plus, Chilean singer Claudia Perez Brown will also be featured for this special night honoring Sosa's life and art.

Where:   Jazz Showcase

               806 S Plymouth Court

               Chicago, IL 60605

               (312) 670-2473

When:    December, Tuesday 8

               Two Performances at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Cost:      $15 cover