Ravinia is proud to announce the appointment of esteemed violinist Midori as the Artistic Director of Ravinia Steans Music Institute’s Piano & Strings program, effective this fall to begin overseeing the 2024 summer season. Midori will succeed the acclaimed violinist Miriam Fried, who has held that position since 1994, following the tenures of the late Robert Mann (1988) and Walter Levin (1989–93).
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Announcing the Grand Opening of the Harrison Building
The newly opened Harrison building supports the growth of Reach Teach Play, the festival’s music education programs, by providing greater administrative facilities
Read MoreThe Lawrence Siblings Don’t Lose Sight Between Stage and Studio
To those already in the know, brother-sister duo Lawrence is one of today’s most relatable, unshakable, soulful pop tastemakers, who’ve spent the last decade steadily building a fan base one college basement party and online follower at a time. For folks just finding out about vocalist/pianist Clyde and co-singer Gracie Lawrence, chances are the connection will be equally immediate, if not already unconsciously familiar thanks to their smash single “Don’t Lose Sight.”
Lawrence has since been seen on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, as well as mega-festivals Coachella, Bonnaroo, and Outside Lands, along the way to their Ravinia debut on June 16, appearing in between British jazz/R&B giant Jacob Collier and burgeoning folksy pop trio Tiny Habits. However, the troupe’s meteoric rise is far from an overnight success story, but rather a slowly marinating journey stocked with exponential artistic development every fascinating step of the way.
Read MoreGet Ready To Buy Tickets For Ravinia's 2023 Season
All concerts for Ravinia’s 2023 season go on sale to the public on Monday, May 1, at 8:00 a.m. CDT! Can’t-miss concerts include Charlie Puth, Jesse & Joy, Ne-Yo, Jason Mraz and His SuperBand, Natalia Lafourcade, John Legend, Carrie Underwood, and more, plus the multi-week residencies of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chief Conductor Marin Alsop.
Read MoreWomen's Board Members Join Middle School Orchestra for an Unforgettable Experience
Eight Ravinia Women's Board members attend the Sistema Ravinia Lake County Middle School Orchestra rehearsal on March 23. After hearing the students perform, the Women’s Board members quickly joined the musicians in the orchestra to experience what it sounds, looks, and feels like to be embedded in the ensemble.
Read MoreExperience Ravinia’s 2023 Season to Come with These Must-Hear Playlists
Get ready to experience the best of Ravinia’s 2023 season with these curated playlists! From the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to ’90s acts and movie nights featuring Jurassic Park and Encanto, this year’s lineup has something for everyone. Our handpicked rundowns hit high notes from a variety of genres, including jazz, classical, rock, and pop. Whether you’re a longtime Ravinia regular or a newcomer to the festival, these playlists are the perfect way to get pumped for the 2023 season.
Read MoreMiriam Fried, RSMI Piano & Strings Director of Three Decades, Ends Tenure
Esteemed violinist Miriam Fried is ending her 30-year leadership of the Ravinia Steans Music Institute (RSMI)’s Piano & Strings Program this summer, after mentoring numerous young professional musicians who have gone on to distinguished, often award-winning careers, and who credit the Steans Music Institute and Fried as integral parts of their training and success.
Read MoreChicago Teachers Tune In to the Benefits of Music Education Workshops
“If we base everything we do in the classroom on building community, first and foremost, all of those other things fall into place. And then at that moment, learning happens when students feel like they belong, when they feel that their views are appreciated, when they feel that who they are is understood and respected, then they will open themselves up to learning,” Kelly said.
Read MoreRavinia Love Stories To Warm Your Heart
From chance encounters with future spouses to first dates and milestone celebrations on the Lawn, we’re honored to have hosted so many unforgettable moments. Celebrate this Valentine’s Day with some Ravinia Love Stories.
Read MoreDavid Crosby and His Wish to Play More
When David Crosby last visited Ravinia in 2014, we found ourselves reminiscing about the first instruments we picked up. Crosby spoke up about something more he wished he’d learned along the way.
Read MoreMusic Discovery Program kicks off in Chicago Public Schools Classrooms
Ravinia’s Music Discovery Program is off to a great start in Chicago Public Schools. Students are having a blast learning more about music concepts, taking part in musical activities, and more this year.
Every classroom is different in how they introduce music through the program, but ultimately the program enhances students’ musical skills by providing teaching artists for multi-week, interactive music residencies in classrooms all while also providing enrichment opportunities to the classroom teachers who have the opportunity to attend music education workshops throughout the school year.
Read MoreSistema Ravinia Orchestras Shine in Winter Concerts
Sistema Ravinia students showcased their musical talents and holiday cheer at the Sistema Ravinia Lake County and Sistema Ravinia Austin & Lawndale concerts this week.
Read MoreTunes for Your Next Holiday Get-Together
Are you listening to the same holiday songs over and over again? Let us help you discover new favorites with our 30-song holiday playlist featuring a few of our favorite Ravinia artists of yore.
Read MoreRavinia Steans Music Institute Alumni and Faculty Receive Grammy Nominations
We are proud to announce alumni and faculty members of the Steans Music Institute who have received 2023 Grammy Award nominations. The 65th Annual Grammy Awards broadcast is scheduled for February 5, 2023.
Read MoreRemembering the Legend, Ramsey Lewis
Ravinia mourns the tremendous loss of jazz legend Ramsey Lewis, who served as Artistic Director of Jazz at Ravinia for 25 years and was a critical partner in music education initiatives. “His influence on jazz and music in general is already etched in the history books. Especially with piano players, but also with all musicians. Ramsey helped move jazz and music forward,” said trumpeter Marquis Hill, who led the “Legends of Jazz” concert in Lewis’s honor in June. His passing will be deeply felt by everyone he worked with.
Read MoreHubbard Street Leaps at Ravinia, Touring Returns
When Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell took over as artistic director of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in March 2021, the internationally known contemporary company had closed their longtime home less than a year earlier, which left them temporarily renting space from a fellow troupe. In a letter to the company’s “friends and patrons” announcing that news, executive director David McDermott raised questions about its very survival.
But Hubbard has not only overcome that dark time but also regained its former artistic vigor. As evidence, the company can point to its summer touring, including August returns to the Jacob’s Pillow Festival and New York’s Central Park SummerStage series. In addition, it is returning September 16 to Ravinia, where it has not appeared since 2006. “It was always very successful to play Ravinia,” Fisher-Harrell said. “To me, it just made sense to go back.”
Read MoreTunnel Vision: Too Many Zooz Fills its Brass at Street Level
If, in 2013, you had approached Too Many Zooz drummer Dave Parks on the L train platform at 14th Street in New York City, where he was busking with saxophonist Leo Pellegrino and trumpeter Matt Muirhead, and told him that 10 years later, the band would parlay their success as street musicians to play on stages around the world—and at one point even be asked to back Beyoncé on her album Lemonade—Parks would have looked at you and said, “Sounds about right.”
This is not ego. “We came to New York for this experience, to find our way as artists and musicians,” he explains, “We didn’t know how or what it was going to be, but we all came with that attitude that we were going to make moves. We are very fortunate to have had all the things that have happened to us. But we each came to NY for that intended purpose: To win.”
Read MoreMusic & Mayhem: Karen Ouzounian Powerfully Shatters Pigeonholes with Her Artistic Partners
American cellist Karen Ouzounian’s professional résumé has one unexpected entry.
Most of her achievements fall in the category of a gifted, classically trained musician forging a strong, creative career: Bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School. Co-founding the Aizuri Quartet, which has held a residency at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and recently won the prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award for the 2022–24 seasons. Memberships in Yo-Yo Ma’s boundary-breaking Silkroad Ensemble as well as The Knights, the innovative New York City–based chamber orchestra.
Two of those highlights will bring her to Ravinia before 2022’s finale. On September 13, she will be the soloist with The Knights in Shorthand, a new work for cello and chamber ensemble commissioned from Anna Clyne. Then she returns December 10 with the Aizuri Quartet for “Song Emerging,” a concert centered on translating the incredible musical potential of the human voice.
The aforementioned outlier on Ouzounian’s résumé? The Aizuri Quartet’s five-night gig this past April as the opening act for Wilco, the fabled Chicago alt-rock band fronted by Jeff Tweedy, during its New York shows celebrating the 20th anniversary of its mega-hit debut album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.
Read MoreDame Jane Glover, Chicago’s Continuo Conductor and Peripatetic Milestone Maker
Since the #MeToo movement took fire in 2017 and the classical-music world has ratcheted up its efforts around gender equity, a raft of up-and-coming women conductors have grabbed the spotlight. But decades before these much-publicized developments, one veteran female conductor was already quietly leading by example—Jane Glover, longtime music director of Music of the Baroque.
Ravinia audiences will have a chance to see her in action September 3 when she leads Music of the Baroque in just its third-ever performance at Ravinia and its first in the festival’s expansive Pavilion. “We’re thrilled to be coming back, and we’re thrilled that we’re on, as it were, the main stage,” Glover said.
Read MoreBow to Baton: With blessings of major mentors, Peter Oundjian conducted an impressing career change
Violin soloists sometimes add conducting to their activities, dividing their time between the two roles or combining them at times. Famous examples include Pinchas Zukerman, who has served as music director of the English and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestras, and Joshua Bell, who holds the same post with London’s Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.
What ties those instrumentalist-turned-conductors together is that they made the move by choice. But when Peter Oundjian made the switch in 1995, the violinist had none. He was diagnosed with focal dystonia, a neurological disorder that causes involuntary muscle contractions—in his case, in the all-important left hand. It became impossible for him to continue as first violinist of the Tokyo String Quartet, one of the premier such ensembles in the world at the time.
But he has gone on to have a second career as impressive as his first, including serving as music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra from 2004 through 2018 and heading the Royal Scottish National Orchestra for six years. In 2019, he took over as music director of the Colorado Music Festival and has quickly built its profile. Indeed, Oundjian has enjoyed such success on the podium that many younger classical fans probably aren’t even aware of his earlier incarnation as a major chamber musician.
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