The Ravinia Family and staff donated non-perishable foods and other goods this holiday season to support organizations in Lawndale, Waukegan, Evanston, and Highwood. The idea to give back to the community came up in the festival’s Anti-Racism Discussion Group, held weekly for staff members to discuss current world situations.
Read More
Stephen R. Smoot, who produced hundreds of concerts for Ravinia Festival since 2005, died suddenly on Friday, Nov. 27. He was 57. Known for his quick wit and generous impulse to shine the spotlight on others, Mr. Smoot produced myriad concerts and recitals in Ravinia’s Martin Theatre by such artists as Renée Fleming, Matthias Goerne, Michelle DeYoung, Thomas Hampson, and Pinchas Zukerman. He facilitated the recording of a number of these concerts for broadcast on Chicago’s only classical station, WFMT. That series, which returns with new concerts in January, will be dedicated to Mr. Smoot’s memory.
Read MoreIn pre-pandemic early March, Welz Kauffman sat down for a wide-ranging interview looking back at his 20 years as President and CEO of Ravinia Festival. He steps down this month, succeeded by Jeffrey P. Haydon. Although Kauffman’s 20th season was not to be, due to COVID-19 forcing its cancellation in May, here is that interview as it happened six months ago, a companion to the episode of RaviniaTV dedicated to celebrating his tenure.
Read MoreYou’ve cultivated the idea that the “Ravinia experience” is not just coming because Aretha Franklin or the Chicago Symphony is here, but because of the amenities that are also here.
That’s exactly right. And for a Ravinia Family concerned about music audience, the fear with the development of Millennium Park was that Grant Park and its house orchestra would become so popular that it would steal people away from the CSO at Ravinia. And so that one assumption got me to thinking, We’ve got to do something here …
Read MoreIn addition to the commissions, you initiated several new programmatic series, various festivals and spectaculars, as well as the five-year music theater Sondheim Project.
It was hard to go from concert production for the CSO—which is stands and chairs and a podium, sometimes a piano, maybe choral risers—to a really fully staged Sweeney Todd with costumes, lighting, staging, things like that. I remember, for many members of the Ravinia Family, it was their first time seeing a Sondheim show …
Read MoreQuite a journey. One that brings us to Marin Alsop.
Marin and I got to know each other when she was running the Long Island Philharmonic in the ’80s, and our paths have crossed a lot ever since. I was always trying to engage her for the various places I worked, and what finally made that happen, in what turned out to be her New York Philharmonic debut, was the Completely Copland Festival in 1999. And a little under a year later when I arrived at Ravinia, we started working to bring her in on a regular basis. And then I was able to bring her back for our Bernstein celebration …
Read MoreWhat is the post-Ravinia future for Welz Kauffman? Will you be staying in the area? Do you see yourself being a regular here?
My husband Jon is doing some consulting work in Detroit; that might turn into a full-time position. Maybe we’ll move there. We also both have very strong ties to Tucson. But I do believe that it will be important for me—and for my successor—to have me gone. I’ll always be available on the phone if they find something funky in the file drawer. But one of the great things that Ravinia board chairs do is they get out of Dodge when they finish their three-year term. It’s giving space to their successor. I’m thinking that might be a good model …
Read More
Ravinia Festival is pleased to announce a new broadcast series in partnership with WFMT. The eight-program, limited-run series “New From the Ravinia Festival,” brings listeners new performances recorded at Ravinia — without an audience — this summer.
Read More
“Life is great,” said Ramsey Lewis on an April afternoon, socially distanced in his Streeterville home in Chicago.
Our conversation was originally to be of the face-to-face variety, but with faces having become a focal point of health awareness, we instead took to the phone.
At 85, Lewis is now enjoying the freedom of retirement. He stepped away from touring nearly two years ago, leaving behind the roars of recognition he would hear when playing the first bars of “Hang On Sloopy.” No more audiences, no more applause. Why, I wondered.
Read More
These days people who are hunkered down at home are taking part in countless video conferences to connect with coworkers, classmates, friends, and family. Now, whether you’re attending a workout class, brainstorming with coworkers, or celebrating a friend’s birthday, you can use Ravinia Festival Zoom backgrounds to liven up your screen!
Read More
Since 1904, thousands upon thousands of artists from all over the world and across several musical genres have taken Ravinia’s stage, but in order to experience most of these amazing performances, “you just had to be there.” So when we have occasion to set that maxim aside, it’s a rare treat.
This got us thinking about the few times we’ve been able to share recordings of Ravinia performances to a wider audience, from more than half a century ago to our upcoming telecast of 2019’s Mass performance.
Read More
Like many others, we here at Ravinia are big fans of NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts video series, and have included some names that are also set to be featured in our 2020 summer concert season.
Read More
Ravinia will be announcing its 2020 season on March 12, with public ticket sales opening across April 28 and 29. Keep reading to get more information about purchasing your 2020 Ravinia tickets.
Read More
There is a Ravinia connection to Botero, a documentary currently playing at the Wilmette Theatre. It is a multi-nominated profile of Colombian artist Fernando Botero. If his name doesn’t sound familiar, one of the octogenarian’s impressive, imaginative, and imposing sculptures most likely is to anyone who has picnicked on Ravinia Festival’s lawn. The Festival grounds’ Harriet and Harry Bernbaum Sculpture Walk includes Botero’s inflated form of the “Standing Woman.”
Read More
