19th Amendment, Beethoven, Perlman To Be Celebrated in Ravinia’s 2020 CSO Residency

By Andi Lamoreaux and Keegan Morris |

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ravinia 2020: women and men protesting for voting rights suffrage 1916 chicago

Suffragists demonstrating against Woodrow Wilson in Chicago, 1916

Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony conducted by Christoph Eschenbach, three concerts with violinist Itzhak Perlman, and Leonard Bernstein’s A White House Cantata will be part of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s annual residency at next summer’s Ravinia Festival. Ravinia president and CEO Welz Kauffman announced today that the residency will emphasize the Beethoven anniversary year, and honor milestone birthdays for Eschenbach and Perlman.

Another point of emphasis for the 2020 CSO residency will be the centenary of the Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, which gave women the right to vote. As part of that celebration, Tony-winning actress and singer Cynthia Erivo will perform a program of music popularized by women singers, “from Nina Simone to Beyoncé” with the CSO and conductor Marin Alsop. Pianist Lara Downes will perform contemporary composer Paola Prestini’s new piano concerto, Hindsight, a Ravinia co-commission, as well as Florence Price’s Piano Concerto. Other events include a screening of Carl Theodor Dreyer’s silent film The Passion of Joan of Arc accompanied by Richard Einhorn’s “Voices of Light,” which was inspired by the landmark film.