Ravinia Festival, one of the Chicago area’s favorite summer concert series, has officially released its full lineup for 2023, with performances ranging from Jethro Tull and John Legend to a six-week residency at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
The highly anticipated summer concert series was announced on Thursday.
“Ravinia’s 2023 season has something for everyone,” Ravinia President and CEO Jeffrey P. Haydon said in a press release.
“From spotlighting female composers across multiple genres to bringing the best of pop, rock, jazz and classical to our varied stages,” Haydon’s statement continued. “Ravinia’s summer offerings reflect the diverse musical tastes of Chicago and beyond. Whether you are attending for the first time or the fiftieth time, a concert here is a special experience and we hope our audience will cherish it.
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra will also return this year for a six-week summer residency, beginning in July. According to the organizers, “most of the CSO’s programs this summer include at least one piece by a female composer”.
The season runs from June 6 to September 10, and tickets go on sale May 1.
Below is the full lineup, broken down by genre. Performances can take place at the Main Stage Pavilion, Indoor Martin Theater and Bennett Gordon Hall, or the Outdoor Carousel Stage.
Pop, Rock R&B, Indie, Hip Hop County and DJ
- Mrs Lauryn Hill, June 17
- Chicago, June 18
- count crows And Confessional DashboardJune 23
- Charlie Puth, June 24
- Santana, June 30 and July 1
- Straight No Chaser And Ambrosia, July 2nd
- Ne-Yo, July 7
- John Fogerty And Be warm, July 9th
- Miko brandsJuly 13, Carousel
- Jason Mraz and his SuperBand, August 2nd
- blues traveler And Big Head Todd and the MonstersAugust 12
- john legend, August 13 and 14
- Jethro Tull, August 18
- Kenny Connections And Yacht Rock Review, August 19
- Live Classic Albums The dark side of the moon, August 25
- Boyz II Man And The Isley BrothersAugust 26
- Form And Parmaled, August 30
- Brandi Carlile, August 31
- Carrie Underwood, September 1 and 2
- Queen! with resident DJs Derrick Carter, Michael SeraphinAnd Garrett Davidwith hosts Lucy Stoole, Nicoand special guests, September 9
Jazz, Blues, Folk, Gospel, American Songbook, Global and Latin
- Michael Feinstein and Jean-Yves Thibaudet, June 14
- Jacob Necklace And Lawrence, with a pre-concert performance at the Carousel by little habits, June 16
- Pat Metheny, June 20
- Melody Gardot, June 22
- Adrian Dunn Singers, July 14 (before the CSO concert that evening)
- Maria Schneider OrchestraJuly 23
- Renaissance Marching Band, July 26
- elven bishop & Charlie Musselwhite, August 3
- Boz Scaggs And Keb’Mo’August 6
- The special consensusaugust 8,
- Boyfriend And George BensonAugust 23
- Steans Music Institute Jazz Directors Billy Child, Rufus ReidAnd Steve Wilsonmore Sara Caswell And Christian Euman, with Kurt Elling, September 8
Family and cinema
- Ralph’s World, June 24
- National Seminario Ravinia Orchestra side by side with Chicago Philharmonic, July 8
- Laurie Berker, July 30
- Opera for young people: Rossini The Barber of Seville, August 12
- Okay Dokee Brothers, August 26
- Charm In concert, complete film with live score performed by the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra with conductor Thiago Tiberio, August 27
- Jurassic Park 3rd Anniversary in Concert, complete film with live score performed by the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra with conductor Scott Terrell, August 29
Recitals and chamber music
- Arnaud Sussman, violin, and Michael Stephen Brown, piano; June 18
- Karim Sulayman, tenor, And Sean Shibe, guitarJune 21st
- Jorge Federico Osorio, piano, in a program by Brahms and Beethoven, June 20
- heat quartet, program all Beethoven; June 29
- Miriam Fried and Mark Steinberg, professors at the Steans Music Institute, violin, Paul Biss and Kim Kashkashian, viola, Marcy Rosen, cello and Alessio Bax, piano, in a program by Haydn, Busoni and Brahms; 1st of July
- Apollo’s fireIrish folk music programme, July 8
- Ariel’s Quartet, Ayano Ninomiya, violin, Matthew Lipman, alto, Karen Ouzounian, cello, Henry Kramer, pianoJuly 20
- Danish String Quartetprogram ranging from Haydn and Bach to Shostakovich and Nordic folk music, July 27
- Ailyn Perez, soprano, And Kevin Murphy, pianoAugust 15th
- Lara Downes, piano, And Nicole Cabell, soprano, with a program of music by female composers ranging from Clarice Assad to Florence Price and Billie Holiday to Missy Mazzoli; August 22
- Micha Dichter, piano, program by Brahms, Beethoven Debussy and Liszt; August 27
- Jory Vinikour, harpsichord, September 2
- Tessa Lark, violin, in a program of Sonatas by Ysaÿe interspersed with Lark’s own compositions; September 3
- baroque music, Jane Glover, conductor, And James Ehnes, violin; September 5
- Black Oak Set will play instruments from Violins of Hope, a concert project featuring a private collection of violins, violas and cellos that belonged to Jewish musicians before and during the Holocaust, along with music from composers who also lost their lives; September 9
Dance
- Civic Ballet by Ruth Page and Friends, June 15
- Ruth Page Civic Ballet and FriendsJune 17
- Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project: Metamorphosis, September 7
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
- July 14th : Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, with new text for “Ode to Joy” and interludes of jazz and percussion between movements
- July 15th: Symphony No. 9 by Beethoven, with new text for “Ode to Joy” – commissioned from former American Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith by Carnegie Hall – and interludes of jazz and percussion between movements
- July 16: Tony and Grammy award-winning singer Heather Headley and the Ravinia Lawndale Chorus
- July 19: Mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke joins an all-Mahler program that opens with songs by Alma Mahler, who was a composer in her own right, and ends with Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5.
- July 21: Chicago Symphony Chorus performing works by Roxanna Panufnik in a program also including music by Gabriela Montero, playing her own piano concerto
- July 28: Mei-Ann Chen, a former TACF scholar known to Chicago audiences for her role as conductor of the Chicago Sinfonietta, conducts the CSO in music by Price, Copland and Beethoven, with piano soloist Jeremy Denk
- July 29: Guest conductor Ted Sperling pays tribute to three iconic singer-songwriters in a program of pop music by Joni Mitchell, Carole King and Carly Simon
- August 4, 6: Complete semi-stage Mozart operas at the Martin Theater
- August 5: Van Cliburn Piano Competition gold medalist Yunchan Lim conducts Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3, plus works by former CSO Augusta Read’s Composer-in-Residence Thomas and Beethoven
- August 9: Guest conductor Jonathon Heyward — the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s new music director — makes his OSC debut conducting works by Pulitzer Prize winner Tania León; Bruch, with violinist Benjamin Beilman; and Rachmaninoff.
- August. ten: Teddy Abrams conducts the CSO in a program with pianist Jeffrey Kahane, featuring music by TJ Cole, Gabriel Kahane and Prokofiev
- August 11: Wainwright joins the CSO for an evening of new orchestral arrangements of songs from his critically acclaimed albums “Want One” and “Want Two”
- August 17: Guest conductor Joshua Weilerstein makes his CSO debut conducting a program of music by Still, Shostakovich and Elgar, with renowned cellist Alisa Weilerstein as soloist
- 20 August : Guest conductor George Stelluto conducts the CSO’s annual Tchaikovsky Show
According to organizers, tickets will go on sale to the public on May 1. Ravinia guests are allowed to bring their own picnics, including food and alcohol.