The Chicago Symphony Orchestra kicks off its 88th summer season at Ravinia with Chief Conductor Marin Alsop in a festive evening of all-American music. Copland’s beloved classic Appalachian Spring opens the program, followed by James P. Johnson’s Charleston, highlighting this early jazz piano leader’s Charleston influence and the iconic dance of the same name.
Soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha — recently heard with the CSO in Mendelssohn’s Elijah — takes the stage for Samuel Barber‘s evocative portrait of a small boy in the American South, Knoxville: Summer of 1915. The program wraps in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with piano soloist Michelle Cann, who was featured at Grant Park Music Festival in 2022 and 2023 and was the recipient of the 2022 Sphinx Medal of Excellence.
