Ravinia Festival releases full 2023 schedule

HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (WLS) -- Ravinia Music Festival has released its full 2023 schedule, with highlights including Ne-Yo, Carrie Underwood, John Legend, Chicago and more.

This year's lineup features the debuts of 50 artists and more than 100 concerts.

Tickets go on sale on Monday, May 1.

"Ravinia's 2023 season has something for everyone," said Jeffrey P. Haydon, Ravinia's President and CEO. "From shining a spotlight on women composers across multiple genres to bringing the best in pop, rock, jazz, and classical to our varied stages, Ravinia's summer offerings reflect the wide-ranging musical tastes of Chicago and beyond. Whether you're attending for the first or fiftieth time, a concert here is a special experience and one we hope our audiences will treasure."

Ravinia will also again host the Breaking Barriers Festival focusing on women composers. The festival takes place from July 21-23 and features three Pavilion concerts, panel discussions, roundtables, a composer workshop, and more,

Full Schedule

Pop, Rock, R&B, Indie, Hip-Hop, Country and DJs

-Ms. Lauryn Hill, June 17

-Chicago, with a pre-concert performance at the Carousel by the Ravinia Jazz Scholars, June 18

-Counting Crows and Dashboard Confessional, with a pre-concert performance at the Carousel by Glory Days*, June 23

-Charlie Puth*, with a pre-concert performance at the Carousel by Summer League*, Bitter Jester Festival (local Battle of the Bands) 2022 Finalist, June 24

-Santana, June 30 and July 1

-Straight No Chaser* and Ambrosia*, July 2

-Ne-Yo, July 7

-John Fogerty and Hearty Har*, July 9

-Miko Marks*, July 13, Carousel

-Jason Mraz and His SuperBand, August 2

- Blues Traveler and Big Head Todd & The Monsters, August 12

-John Legend, August 13 and 14

-Jethro Tull, August 18

- Kenny Loggins and Yacht Rock Revue, August 19

-Classic Albums Live Dark Side of the Moon, August 25

-Boyz II Men* and The Isley Brothers*, August 26

-Train and Parmalee*, August 30

-Brandi Carlile, August 31

-Carrie Underwood, September 1 and 2

-Queen! featuring resident DJs Derrick Carter, Michael Serafini, and Garrett David, with Hosts Lucy Stoole, Jojo Baby, Nico, and special guests, September 9, Carousel

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

-July 14-Alsop leads the CSO and its chorus, soprano Janai Brugger, mezzo-soprano Ashley Dixon, tenor Paul Appleby, bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green, the Adrian Dunn Singers, Ayodele Drum & Dance*, Jim Gailloreto Trio, and the Senn High School Choir* in an expanded version of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, with new text for the "Ode to Joy"-commissioned from former U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith by Carnegie Hall-and jazz and drumming interludes between movements; a work by Reena Esmail written specifically to be performed before Beethoven's Ninth opens this program.

-July 15-Alsop conducts a program of music by local composer Shulamit Ran (who was the CSO's second composer-in-residence), Tchaikovsky, and Brahms, with violinist Miriam Fried as soloist as Ravinia salutes her 30 years as director of the Ravinia Steans Music Institute's Program for Piano & Strings.

- July 16-Alsop leads Ravinia's annual gala fundraising concert with Tony and Grammy Award-winning vocalist Heather Headley and the Ravinia Lawndale Chorus to benefit the festival's Reach Teach Play music education programs.

- July 19-Mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke joins Alsop and the CSO for an all-Mahler program that opens with songs by Alma Mahler, who was a composer in her own right, and concludes with (her husband) Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 5.

-July 21-Alsop brings back the Chicago Symphony Chorus for works by Roxanna Panufnik-with TACF fellow Valentina Peleggi*-and Villa-Lobos on a program also featuring music from Gabriela Montero, playing her own piano concerto, and Gabriela Ortiz. (Part of Breaking Barriers Festival)

- July 28-Mei-Ann Chen, a former TACF fellow who Chicago audiences know from her role leading the Chicago Sinfonietta, guest conducts the CSO in music by Price, Copland and Beethoven, with piano soloist Jeremy Denk, in his first appearance with the orchestra since 2016.

-July 29-Guest conductor Ted Sperling and the CSO salute three iconic women singer/songwriters in a program of pop music by Joni Mitchell, Carole King, and Carly Simon with vocalists Andréa Burns*, Morgan James, and Capathia Jenkins*.

- August 4 & 6-Alsop returns to the podium to continue the CSO-at-Ravinia tradition of fulllength semi-staged Mozart operas in the Martin Theatre. This year, she brings The Magic Flute with a stellar cast including sopranos Janai Brugger, Kathryn Lewek*, Tiffany Choe, and Diana Newman; mezzo-sopranos Ashley Dixon and Taylor Raven; tenors Matthew Polenzani and Christian Sanders*; baritone Joshua Hopkins; bass-baritones David Leigh and Adam Lau*; and the Apollo Chorus of Chicago.

- August 5-Van Cliburn Piano Competition gold medalist Yunchan Lim makes his CSO debut with Alsop conducting Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3, as well as works by former CSO composer-in-residence Augusta Read Thomas and Beethoven.

-August 9-Guest conductor Jonathon Heyward*-the newly appointed music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra-makes his CSO debut leading works by Pulitzer Prize winner Tania León; Bruch, with violinist Benjamin Beilman; and Rachmaninoff.

-August 10-Teddy Abrams returns to Ravinia to lead the CSO in a program with pianist Jeffrey Kahane, featuring music by TJ Cole, Gabriel Kahane, and Prokofiev.

-August 11-Vocalist Rufus 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, featuring renowned cellist Alisa Weilerstein as soloist.

- August 20-Guest conductor George Stelluto conducts the CSO's annual Tchaikovsky Spectacular, with pianist and director of the Ravinia Steans Music Institute singers program Kevin Murphy and appearances by fellows of the Ravinia Steans Music Institute to close out the orchestra's summer residency.

Recitals and Chamber Music

-June 18-Arnaud Sussman, violin, and Michael Stephen Brown, piano; Bennett Gordon Hall

-June 21-Karim Sulayman, tenor, and Sean Shibe, guitar, in a program featuring music written for guitar and its cousins and ancestors-including vihuela, lute, and oud-and juxtaposes musical influences from both East and West, including the world premiere of Lebanese composer Layale Chaker's A Butterfly in New York; Bennett Gordon Hall

-June 28-Jorge Federico Osorio, piano, in a program of Brahms and Beethoven; Martin Theatre

-June 29-Calidore Quartet, all-Beethoven program; Martin Theatre

-July 1-Steans Music Institute faculty Miriam Fried and Mark Steinberg, violin, Paul Biss and Kim Kashkashian, viola, Marcy Rosen, cello, and Alessio Bax, piano, in a program of Haydn, Busoni, and Brahms; Martin Theatre

-July 8-Apollo's Fire, program of Irish folk music curated by artistic director and harpsichordist Jeannette Sorrell; Martin Theatre

-July 20-Ariel Quartet, Ayano Ninomiya, violin, Matthew Lipman, viola, Karen Ouzounian, cello, Henry Kramer, piano, and other alumni of the Ravinia Steans Music Institute Program for Piano & Strings in a salon-style program of stories and favorite music and memories celebrating Miriam Fried's 30 years as director; Bennett Gordon Hall

-July 27-Danish String Quartet, program ranges from Haydn and Bach to Shostakovich and Nordic folk music; Martin Theatre

- August 15-Ailyn Pérez, soprano, and Kevin Murphy, piano, Martin Theatre

-August 22-Lara Downes, piano, and Nicole Cabell, soprano, with a program of music by women composers ranging from Clarice Assad to Florence Price and Billie Holiday to Missy Mazzoli; Bennett Gordon Hall

-August 27-Misha Dichter, piano, program of Brahms, Beethoven Debussy, and Liszt; Bennett Gordon Hall

-September 2-Jory Vinikour, harpsichord, Bennett Gordon Hall

-September 3-Tessa Lark, violin, in a program of Ysae's Sonatas interspersed with Lark's own compositions; Bennett Gordon Hall

-September 5-Music of the Baroque, Jane Glover, conductor, and James Ehnes, violin; Martin Theatre

-September 9-Black Oak Ensemble* will play instruments from Violins of Hope, a project of concerts featuring a private collection of violins, violas, and cellos that belonged to Jewish musicians before and during the Holocaust, with music by composers that lost their lives then, as well; Bennett Gordon Hall

Family and Fun

-Ralph's World, June 24, Carousel

-National Seminario Ravinia Orchestra side-by-side with Chicago Philharmonic, July 8

- Laurie Berkner, July 30

- Opera for the Young: Rossini's The Barber of Seville, August 12, Martin Theatre

-Okee Dokee Brothers*, August 26, Carousel

- Encanto In Concert, complete film with live score performed by Chicago Philharmonic with conductor Thiago Tiberio, August 27

-Jurassic Park 3oth Anniversary In Concert, complete film with live score performed by Chicago Philharmonic with conductor Scott Terrell*, August 29

Jazz, Blues, Folk, Gospel, and American Songbook

-Michael Feinstein & Jean-Yves Thibaudet, June 14, Martin Theatre

-Jacob Collier and Lawrence*, with a pre-concert performance at the Carousel by Tiny Habits, June 16

-Pat Metheny, June 20

-Melody Gardot*, June 22, Martin Theatre

-Adrian Dunn Singers, July 14, Carousel (before that evening's CSO concert)

- Maria Schneider Orchestra, with a pre-concert performance at the Carousel by Alexis Lombre and Ravinia Jazz Scholars Alumni, July 23 (Part of Breaking Barriers Festival)

-Rebirth Brass Ban*, July 26

-Elvin Bishop* & Charlie Musselwhite, August 3, Carousel

-Boz Scaggs and Keb' Mo', August 6

- The Special Consensus*, August 8, Carousel

- Buddy Guy and George Benson, August 23

- Steans Music Institute Jazz Directors Billy Childs, Rufus Reid, and Steve Wilson, plus Sara Caswell and Christian Euma, with Kurt Elling, September 8, Martin Theatre

Global Music and Latin

-Jesse & Joy*, June 25

-Natalia Lafourcade*, July 22 (Part of Breaking Barriers Festival)

- Shakti and Béla Fleck, September 3

-Seventh annual Fiesta Ravinia, with Reik, September 10

Dance

-Ruth Page Civic Ballet & Friends, June 15, Bennett Gordon Hall

- Ruth Page Civic Ballet & Friends, June 17, Bennett Gordon Hall

-Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project: Metamorphosis, September 7, Pavilion