Ravinia is partnering with Chicago’s classical radio station WFMT to present a special live broadcast of the opening concert of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s residency at the festival on July 9 – a program led by Ravinia Chief Conductor and Curator Marin Alsop and featuring pianist Jorge Federico Osorio. This performance will mark the first major post-pandemic classical music event in the Chicago area presented before a large audience.
“We are thrilled to work with WFMT to extend the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s opening night at Ravinia this summer to listeners at home”
The opening-night program, which will be presented without intermission, will feature Osorio as soloist in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in between performances of the Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman No. 1 by Joan Tower and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7.
WFMT’s special broadcast will begin at 7:45 p.m. CDT with a 15-minute produced segment with WFMT General Manager George Preston in conversation with Alsop, Osorio, Ravinia President and CEO Jeffrey Haydon, and a CSO musician. WFMT’s Kerry Frumkin will host beginning at 8:00 p.m.
“We are thrilled to work with WFMT to extend the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s opening night at Ravinia this summer to listeners at home,” said Ravinia Festival President and CEO Jeff Haydon.
Throughout the pandemic, WFMT and Ravinia have collaborated to keep listeners connected with performances from the celebrated music festival. In the summer of 2020, WFMT presented Mondays at the Martin, featuring great performances held in Ravinia’s Martin Theatre from past seasons. In recent months, WFMT also presented two series of new recitals, recorded at Ravinia with no audience in attendance, which not only presented world-class musical talent to the radio audience, but provided meaningful opportunities for work and expression for artists during a uniquely challenging time.
The WFMT presentation of CSO: Opening Night with Marin Alsop – Osorio Plays Mozart is generously made possible by The Negaunee Foundation. Additional support for the concert comes from The CSO Opening Night Consortium.