At one point in A Night at the Opera, Otis B. Driftwood, the slippery business manager portrayed by Groucho Marx, arrives at an opera house. “Is the opera over yet?” he asks a door attendant. When informed a few minutes remain in the opera, he becomes indignant. “Hey, you,” he chastises the hansom cab driver, “I told you to slow that nag down. On account of you, I nearly heard the opera. Now, once around the park and drive slowly.”
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Great Performances on PBS Premieres Ravinia's 2022 Performance of Leonard Bernstein’s Kaddish Symphony
in RaviniaNews, Classical
For more than 50 years on PBS, Great Performances has provided an unparalleled showcase of the best in all genres of the performing arts, serving as America’s most prestigious and enduring broadcaster of cultural programming. On Monday, August 21, Great Performances will present Ravinia’s 2022 performance of legendary composer Leonard Bernstein’s Kaddish symphony. The performance features the talent of Uniting voices (formerly Chicago Children’s Choir), Chicago Symphony Chorus and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
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Elvin Bishop digs blues in his old-school shoes
in The Artists
Elvin Bishop wasn’t fooling around when he fell in love with the blues. Growing up in Tulsa on his family’s farm, the blues came to him in the night on radio stations from such far-flung locales as Nashville, Mexico, and Coffeeville, KS. “Out on the prairie, in those days, the local stations would shut down at midnight, and then you could pick up the 50,000-watt stations,” Bishop told Ravinia in a phone interview in anticipation of his festival debut with virtuoso harp player Charlie Musselwhite.
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Yunchan Lim turns soft-spoken touch into instant reverie
With the explosion of keyboard talent and multiplicity of major piano competitions today, winners all too easily blur into each other, and some names spring to the forefront and then quickly recede. But Yunchan Lim stands out.
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A Florence Price prizewinning piece finally living in the light
in Classical, RaviniaNews
While Florence Price’s Symphony No. 1 enjoyed its spotlight at the Chicago World’s Fair, her other Wanamaker Composition Contest-awarded orchestral score, Ethiopia’s Shadow in America, followed a different course. Never performed in her lifetime, it remained hidden for decades. The three-movement work, uncovered in 2009, traces the experience of a person enslaved from Africa. Melancholic and folk-like tunes across solo instruments lead to orchestral writing both majestic and ominous as well as a vibrant dance—a rare example of descriptive music in Price’s catalog, it is finally reaching a wider audience.
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Brain Storm: Gabriela Montero surges with moments of inspiration
With such bona fides of ability and adventurousness, Montero’s simpatico with Ravinia’s Breaking Barriers Festival is little surprise. She kicks off the series of events this year focused on women composers—anchored by three evening concerts—with a performance of her Latin Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on Friday, July 21.
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Joni Mitchell, Carole King, and Carly Simon Songs Are a Tapestry of Music and Lyrics
People love lists because they love to argue about who belongs on them. But here’s an assertion that shouldn’t be in dispute: Joni Mitchell, Carole King, and Carly Simon belong at the top of any list of 20th-century women singer-songwriters. (Looking for a debate? Ask a few friends which chanteuse they’d choose to complete a Mount Rushmore.)
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How Do You Solve a Problem Like Alma?
in Classical, RaviniaNews
Less than six months after the death of Alma Schindler on December 11, 1964, the satirical songwriter Tom Lehrer wrote a song that he said was inspired by “the juiciest, spiciest, raciest obituary it has ever been my pleasure to read.” Worth checking out on YouTube, his ballad “Alma” is highly entertaining but does little justice to a figure who has frustrated historians attempting an accurate portrait.
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The Danish String Quartet plays with generational spirit
Among the most famous of today’s ensembles is one whose name enthusiastically trumpets its country of origin—the Danish String Quartet, which is marking its 20th anniversary during the 2022–23 season. Early in its history, it was already being cited as one of the world’s top quartets, and that praise has only solidified as the group has matured, including its selection as the 2020 Ensemble of the Year by Musical America.
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Shulamit Ran stands tall among Chicago’s towering composers
Shulamit Ran, 73, has gained national and even international fame for her wide swath of solo, chamber, orchestral, choral, and operatic works, winning in 1991 the Pulitzer Prize for Music, the ultimate imprimatur of compositional excellence in the United States.
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Ministering Music for the Soul: Heather Headley does diva her way
It’s hardly a “diva moment,” even though that’s how she jokingly refers to herself. Yet if one uses “diva” in its original and laudatory definition—“a glamorous woman who is pre-eminent in her field”—then Headley is a diva of the highest degree. After all, she won a Tony Award for her show-stealing outing in the title role of Broadway’s Aida in 2000, then added a Grammy Award to her trophy case in 2010 for her gospel album Audience of One.
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Miko Marks makes her second wind a spiritual session
There was a time when Miko Marks lived and dreamed alongside the Flint River in the Michigan home of her grandmother, wondering just where her God-given voice would eventually take her.
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Jeannette Sorrell and Apollo’s Fire kindle early music’s emotions
When internationally celebrated conductor and harpsichordist Jeannette Sorrell was a child in San Francisco, she practiced piano at home on a paper keyboard. The idea that Sorrell would someday become the mastermind behind Apollo’s Fire, Cleveland’s award-winning Baroque orchestra, wasn’t on anyone’s mind then; but her passion and ingenuity were already evident.
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National Seminario Ravinia unites students of El Sistema-inspired orchestras
To celebrate the rise of Sistema music education in the United States and help spur even more growth, the Ravinia Festival is teaming with Chicago Philharmonic to present the first-ever National Seminario from July 5 through 8. The event will bring together 130 students from 23 Sistema-style initiatives across the country and Canada to participate in intensive orchestral training and to present a culminating concert on the Pavilion stage as part of Ravinia’s Kids Concert Series.
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Photo: Nigel Parry
Midori Is Named the Next Artistic Director of the Ravinia Steans Music Institute Piano & Strings Program
in Classical, Park News, RaviniaNews, RSMI
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
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photo: Sam Burriss
The 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.
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Get Ready To Buy Tickets For Ravinia's 2023 Season
in RaviniaNews, Park News
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.
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Women'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.
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Experience 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.
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