Home | Ravinia Festival
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s 2023 Ravinia residency features conductor Marin Alsop and a lineup of other leading conductors.
When beloved satirist and musician “Weird Al” Yankovic visited Ravinia, WFMT spoke with him about his tour… and then challenged him to a classical music speed round!
WFMT spoke to the Chicago-born Lewis in 2015, when, at the age of 80, his music received its first CSO performance.
“Every time I play a piece of music, I train my mind to look at a score fresh.”
The new season will kick off with a live concert performance and screening of Ghostbusters.
In addition to the annual CSO residency, Ravinia will play host to a spate of guest ensembles, including Music of the Baroque, The Knights, the Lincoln Trio, Chanticleer, the Chicago Philharmonic, and the Chicago Sinfonietta.
Though there is a long way still to go, today’s stages are richer because these pioneering conductors are on them.
In her role as chief conductor, Alsop curates and conducts a three-week stretch of programs with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Embedded within that residency will be the Breaking Barriers Festival.
We’re still soaring from our big day last week, when we welcomed some of Chicago’s leading artists to take part in a daylong celebration of WFMT and the music we’ve been presenting for the last 70 years!
How better to mark 70 years of WFMT than with a party!?
Ahead of her appearance at Ravinia this week, we sat down to talk with Lara Downes about her efforts to broaden the classical canon, her first introduction to Black composers like Florence Price and Margaret Bonds, and why she loves to work with Rachel Barton Pine.
Ahead of his Chicago Symphony Orchestra debut, conductor Teddy Abrams explains why classical music needs to reach out to young people and embrace other artforms — and explains how Leonard Bernstein was a role model for both of these missions.
Ahead of Yue Bao’s Chicago Symphony Orchestra debut at the Ravinia Festival this Sunday, August 8, she reveals to us some conducting secrets, her favorite cities for music, and more!
“Whenever people buy a ticket to a concert, they’re committing to a shared experience…” composer, violinist, and educator Jessie Montgomery reflects.
Ravinia Festival is back for 2021 for its 85th concert season, offering up a signature blend of classical, jazz, folk, and rock music performances.
One of the world’s leading conductors, Marin Alsop was in 2020 appointed the principal conductor and curator of the Ravinia Festival. WFMT was honored to speak with the celebrated conductor in the latest installment of our Classical Conversations series.
Conductor James Levine, who ruled over the Metropolitan Opera for more than four decades before being eased aside when his health declined and then fired for sexual improprieties, has died.
The Ravinia Festival today announced its plans to reopen in July for a 2021 summer music season comprised of classical, popular, and chamber music. The 2020 season was canceled because of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
WFMT is pleased to announce a new broadcast series in partnership with Ravinia Festival. The eight-program, limited-run series “New From the Ravinia Festival,” brings listeners new performances recorded at Ravinia — without an audience — this summer.
This morning, the Ravinia Festival announced its next president and CEO: Jeffrey P. Haydon. The CEO of the Caramoor Center for Music and Arts in New York since 2012, Haydon was previously on the staff of the CSO.
Just because we can’t gather in person, it doesn’t mean the weekend won’t be fun and music-filled! Here are nine musical events (most of them virtual), that will provide a great soundtrack for your celebrations.
In the hour leading up to the premiere of the Ravinia Festival recording of Bernstein‘s MASS on PBS‘s Great Performances, we invite you to join us for this free panel.
The summer season was to feature more than 120 events, including concerts featuring the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, which takes its summer residency at the venerable, Chicago-area music festival.
“I think that art needs to serve the public… not just to be comforting and familiar, but to push the envelope,” declares Marin Alsop.
The two-year appointment was created especially for Alsop, who curated Ravinia’s multi-season celebration of the Leonard Bernstein centennial.