Ravinia Festival releases full 2024 schedule

HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (WLS) -- Ravinia Music Festival has released its full 2024 schedule, with highlights including Ben Platt, Violent Femmes, Big Boi, Abel Selaocoe, Gaelic Storm, Samara Joy, and Meshell Ndegeocello.

This year's lineup includes more than 100 concerts, with more than 60 artists making their debuts. Artists making their return include James Taylor, Trombone Shorty, Norah Jones, Mavis Staples, The Roots, Little Feat and Los Lobos, The Beach Boys with John Stamos, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Gipsy Kings, Joffrey Ballet and more.

Tickets will go on sale April 24.

"With an extraordinary range of concerts and artists, we are excited to offer an inspiring and captivating season for everyone who comes to Ravinia," said Haydon, Ravinia's President and CEO. "Whether in Bennett Gordon Hall, Martin Theatre, Pavilion, Lawn, or Carousel, concertgoers will surely experience the spirit of summer with incredible music under the stars."

Family and Film:

-Divi Roxx Kids , June 15; Carousel Stage 6

- Birdman 10th Anniversary: The complete film is shown while its solo jazz percussion score is performed live by composer Antonio Sánchez. - June 26; Martin Theatre

-Elena Moon Park & Friends - July 20; Martin Theatre

- Chicago Philharmonic performs Dan Brown's Wild Symphony - July 27; Bennett Gordon Hall

-Laurie Berkner - August 3, two performances

-The Princess Bride, complete film with live score performed by the CSO - August 16

-Disney and Pixar's Up, complete film with live score performed by the CSO, led by conductor Anthony Parnther - August 17

-Fyutch - August 31; Bennett Gordon Hall

-Big Drum / Small World - September 7; Bennett Gordon Hall

Jazz, Blues, Folk, Gospel and American Songbook

-Jazz in June: Battle of the Big Bands featuring Adonis Rose & the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra and Orrin Evans & the Captain Black Big Band , with special guests Kurt Elling and Rufus Reid, plus Ravinia Steans Music Institute Jazz Fellows. The student and professional musicians of the Ravinia Jazz Mentor Program, one of the Reach

-Teach Play programs, open the night on the Carousel Stage. - June 16

-Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue with Big Boi and Danielle Ponder - June 19

-Because of You starring Michael Feinstein and the Carnegie Hall Big Band in A Tribute to the Legendary Tony Bennett- June 23

-Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper - June 27; Carousel Stage

-Norah Jones and very special guest Mavis Staples - July 14

-Victor Wooten & the Wooten Brothers - August 7; Carousel Stage

-Samara Joy - August 25

Global Music and Latin:

-Little Feat and Los Lobos on the Can't Be Satisfied Tour - June 22

-The Reset: An Immersive Sound Experience with Davin Youngs - July 11; Carousel Stage

-Gipsy Kings featuring Nicolas Reyes and Choco Orta with Caribe Project , July 31

-Conductor Gustavo Dudamel leads the National Children's Symphony of Venezuela in two works by South American composers -Alberto Ginastera's Dances from Estancia and Antonio Estévez's Mediodía en el llano (Midday on the Plain)-- among other pieces on the program. - August 6

-Eighth annual Fiesta Ravinia, with Julieta Venegas and La Santa Cecilia featured for the main-stage performance of the day - September 15

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

-The Flock featuring Jerry Goodman - June 7; Carousel Stage

- James Taylor & His All-Star Band - June 8 and 9

- Robert Plant & Alison Krauss and JD McPherson on the Can't Let Go Tour - June 12

- Hauser on his Rebel with a Cello tour - June 14

-Michael Franti & Spearhead, Trevor Hall , and Bombargo on The Togetherness Tour - June 15

-Violent Femmes play their debut album in its entirety with Chicago Philharmonic and conductor Stuart Chafetz - June 21

-Ben Platt - June 28

-Roger Daltrey and KT Tunstall - June 29

-Lyle Lovett & His Large Band and Clint Black - June 30

-The Music of ABBA with Arrival From Sweden - July 5

-Daryl Hall and Elvis Costello & The Imposters with Charlie Sexton - July 6

-The Beach Boys with special guest John Stamos - July 7

-Norah Jones with very special guest Mavis Staples - July 14

-Killer Queen: Tribute to Queen featuring Patrick Myers as Freddie Mercury - July 27

-Angélique Kidjo and Meshell Ndegeocello - August 8

- Indigo Girls and Melissa Etheridge - August 11

- Robert Glasper and J. Ivy - August 14

- Gaelic Storm and The High Kings - August 22

- O.A.R., Fitz & the Tantrums, and DJ Logic - August 23

-The Roots, Digable Planets , and Arrested Development - August 24

- ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd on The Sharp Dressed Simple Man Tour - August 29

-Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit and Alejandro Escovedo - September 8

-Crowded House - September 11

-Queen! featuring resident DJs Derrick Carter, Michael Serafini, and Garrett David, hosts Lucy Stoole and Nico, and special guests - September 14; Carousel Stage

Dance

-Ruth Page Professional Dance & Friends, artistic director of the Chicago Human

-Rhythm Project, Jumaane Taylor, and Moonwater Dance Project present a program that highlights two commissioned contemporary works from Mexican choreographers-Apophonia by Adrián Marcelo Sáenz and La Tierra de Canela y Maiz (The Land of Cinnamon and Corn) by Francisco Aviña. - June 20 & 22; Bennett Gordon Hall

-Joffrey Ballet performs the world premiere of choreography by Houston Thomas on music by the late Ramsey Lewis, as well as Cathay Marston's Heimat and Nicolas Blanc's Under the Trees' Voices. - September 13; Pavilion

-Joffrey Ballet presents Rita Finds Home, a performance choreographed by Amy Hall Garner, based on the children's book by author Karla Estela Rivera and author and illustrator Elisa Chavarri. September 14; Pavilion

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

-July 12 - The CSO opens its 88th summer season at Ravinia with Alsop and two featured soloists, soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha and pianist Michelle Cann. In an evening of American music, the orchestra opens with Aaron Copland's beloved classic Appalachian Spring followed by James P. Johnson's Charleston, highlighting this early jazz piano leader's influence and the iconic dance of the same name. Rangwanasha is in the spotlight for Samuel Barber's evocative portrait of a small boy in the American South, Knoxville: Summer of 1915. The program wraps with a celebration of the 100th anniversary of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, with Cann at the keyboard making her CSO debut.

-July 13 - South African cellist-composer Abel Selaocoe joins Alsop and debuts with the CSO performing his Four Spirits, which "takes the concerto format to thrillingly unprecedented places" (Bachtrack). Themes of ancestral wisdom, faith, and community permeate the program, as the piece is put in perspective alongside Ludwig van Beethoven's monumental Fifth Symphony and its distinct explorations of fate

-July 19 - Conductor Ted Sperling joins the CSO with special guest vocalists to celebrate two iconic pop songwriters, Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon.

-July 20 - Alsop and the CSO take the stage for Gustav Mahler's final major work for orchestra, Symphony No. 9. Voted as the greatest symphony of all-time in BBC Music Magazine, the evening-long work has beguiled audiences since its 1912 premiere by Bruno Walter and the Vienna Philharmonic

=July 21 - Winner of the gold medal at the International Chopin Competition and recipient of many esteemed prizes, Japanese pianist Hayato Sumino reunites with Alsop and makes his Ravinia and CSO debuts performing Fryderyk Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1. In the second half of the program, Alsop explores symphonic storytelling during the turn of the 19th century, leading the CSO in Richard Strauss's tone poem Don Juan and Maurice Ravel's choreographic symphony Daphnis et Chloé (Suite No. 2).

-July 25 - Mendelssohn's hit violin concerto, played by Augustin Hadelich, is in the spotlight as Alsop leads the CSO. Also featured on the program are Bernstein's joyous Symphonic Dances from West Side Story and Stravinsky's timeless Firebird Suite. Conductor Alena Hron , the 2024-26 Taki Alsop Fellow, guests on the podium to lead Geroge Walker's Icarus in Orbit.

-July 26 - The centerpiece of Breaking Barriers 2024 is a space-themed concert complete with visuals and introductions by NASA specialists. Alsop conducts the orchestra in Holst's The Planets, followed by a suite from Falkenberg's The Moons Symphony. Audiences will see science come alive and hear from planetary scientists, including Astronaut Nicole Stott together with the composer, as they discuss how Falkenberg's symphony offers new perspectives for humanity to contemplate our home in the cosmos.

-July 28 - Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship alum Carolyn Kuan leads this year's Tchaikovsky Spectacular, complete with Ravinia's signature cannons in the 1812 Overture. Making her CSO debut, she opens the program with the complete music from the first act of The Nutcracker. Desirée Ruhstrat also makes her CSO debut as the soloist for the cherished Violin Concerto.

-August 2 - Conductor Valentina Peleggi, another TACF alum, returns to Ravinia and the CSO, following a guest appearance during last summer's Breaking Barriers Festival, to join with esteemed pianist Jorge Federico Osorio on Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto. Peleggi will also lead Tchaikovsky's Francesca da Rimini and Respighi's Pines of Rome.

-August 4 - Music director, conductor, and arranger Kevin Stites explores the music of legendary performer and film composer Henry Mancini for the annual Gala Benefit Evening. Curated and hosted by actor Rob Lindley, "Mancini at 100: The Music of Henry Mancini, from the big screen, to the small screen, to the stage and beyond" features Broadway vocalists Jessie Mueller (Waitress, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical), Norm Lewis (The Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables), and Karen Mason (Sunset Boulevard), with all three making their Ravinia and CSO debuts.

-August 9 & 11 - The CSO delves into operatic repertory as a semi-staging of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Idomeneo is conducted by Los Angeles Opera (and former Ravinia) Music Director James Conlon in the Martin Theatre. The work, set in Crete in 1200 BCE and telling a story from the Trojan War, shines light on a talented group of singers. Starring are tenor Matthew Polenzani as Greek king Idomeneo, mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey as Idamante, soprano Andrea Carroll as princess Ilia, and soprano Alexandria Shiner as princess Elettra

-August 10 - Conlon will lead an all-Mozart program with the CSO in the festival's Pavilion between the opera performances. The program will feature both of the composer's G-minor symphonies-the "little" No. 25, K. 183, and the "great" No. 40, K. 550-along with the Violin August 18 - Conductor Jonathan Rush, a frequent Ravinia guest in recent seasons and former assistant to Alsop, returns to the CSO podium. Chicago native Rachel Barton Pine takes the stage with Rush and the orchestra as the soloist for José White Lafitte's Violin Concerto and Niccolò Paganini's La Campanella Concerto No. 5, welcoming James Ehnes as soloist on the violin.

-August 18 - Conductor Jonathan Rush, a frequent Ravinia guest in recent seasons and former assistant to Alsop, returns to the CSO podium. Chicago native Rachel Barton Pine takes the stage with Rush and the orchestra as the soloist for José White Lafitte's Violin Concerto and Niccolò Paganini's La Campanella.

Recitals, Chamber Music and Guest Orchestras

-Kronos Quartet celebrates its 50th anniversary with a program of recent commissions and pieces from the Kronos Fifty for the Future project. - June 13; Martin Theatre

-Jonathan Biss, piano, surrounds a new piece by MacArthur Fellow Tyshawn Sorey with beloved works by Franz Schubert. - June 20; Martin Theatre

-The Knights and Aaron Diehl Trio perform Mary Lou Williams's Zodiac Suite, and the orchestra interprets Louise Farrenc's Finale-Allegro from Symphony No. 3 in G minor and Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 ("Pastoral"). - June 29; Martin Theatre

-Chamber orchestra A Far Cry returns with Kinan Azmeh, clarinet, and Dinuk Wijeratne , piano. The performance will feature music by Kareem Roustom and Leo Janáek, as well as by the two soloists. - July 2; Martin Theatre

-The King's Singers will perform Northern Lights featuring Norse and Celtic folksongs, music by Grieg and Sibelius, and more. - July 3; Martin Theatre

- Ravinia Steans Music Institute faculty Midori and Mihaela Martin, violin; Kim Kashkashian, viola; Frans Helmerson and Clive Greensmith, cello; and Marc-André Hamelin, piano, take the stage for music by Ludwig van Beethoven, Timo Andres, Carlos Simon, and Robert Schumann. - July 6; Martin Theatre

-Takács Quartet performs music by Dvoák and Ravel alongside the Ravinia premiere of Nokuthula Ngwenyama's Flow. - July 17; Martin Theatre

-Milo Karadagli, guitar, and the Viano String Quartet explore themes of migration, identity, and belonging with music by Vivaldi, Glass, Lena Frank, Piazzola, The Beatles, and more. - July 18; Martin Theatre

- Karen Slack, soprano, joins Kevin Miller , piano, for African Queens, a new project celebrating the history and legacy of seven acclaimed African queens who were revered as rulers and warriors. - August 1; Martin Theatre

-Conductor Gustavo Dudamel leads the National Children's Symphony of Venezuela in John Adams's Short Ride in a Fast Machine, Alberto Ginastera's Dances from Estancia, Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5, and Antonio Estévez's Mediodía en el llano (Midday on the Plain). - August 6; Pavilion

-Matthias Goerne, baritone, returns to Ravinia with Anton Mejias , piano, for an evening of Schubert songs. - August 13; Martin Theatre

-Apollo's Fire returns to Ravinia with artistic director, conductor, and harpsichordist Jeannette Sorrell for their curated program Vivaldi's Four Seasons Rediscovered. The group presents Vivaldi's revolutionary acts of musical storytelling, bringing his pictorial descriptions to life. - August 15; Martin Theatre

-Matthew Polenzani, tenor, and Kevin Murphy, piano - August 20; Martin Theatre

- Stella Chen, violin, and Matthew Lipman, viola, join Brannon Cho , cello, for an afternoon of string trios by Beethoven, Klein, and Mozart. - August 25; Bennett Gordon Hall

-Third Coast Percussion , reconnect with Sérgio Assad, guitar, and Clarice Assad , multi-instrumentalist, for their Archetypes program, which features 12 musical portraits of character types that appear in stories throughout the world. - August 27; Martin Theatre

-Zlatomir Fung, cello, and Dina Vainshtein, piano, join together for a program of chamber music. - August 28; Bennett Gordon Hall

- David Kaplan, piano, presents Quasi una fantasia, with works by composers as varied as György Ligeti, Christopher Cerrone, Kaija Saariaho, and Johannes Brahms in addition to the two famed Beethoven sonatas in the fantasy style. - September 1; Bennett Gordon Hall

-Yevgeny Kutik, violin, and Renana Gutman, piano, perform selections from Kutik's

Music from the Suitcase as well as Mendelssohn's F-major sonata, Bloch's Baal Shem, Milhaud's The Ox on the Roof, and more - September 5; Bennett Gordon Hall

-Music of the Baroque, led by Dame Jane Glover, conductor, and Anthony McGill, clarinet, present music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and George Frideric Handel. - September 10; Martin Theatre

- Aznavoorian Duo, comprising sisters Ani Aznavoorian, cello, and Lincoln Trio's

-Marta Aznavoorian, piano, perform selections from their 2022 debut album, Gems from

-Armenia, and works by American composers - September 12; Bennett Gordon Hall

Fall Performances

-Shelly Berg Trio - October 26; Bennett Gordon Hall

- Alexander Hersh, cello, Victor Santiago Asunción, piano, present Beyond Borders, with works by Debussy, Wiancko, Britten, Schumann, Say, and Sollima. - November 2; Bennett Gordon Hall

- PROJECT Trio - November 9; Bennett Gordon Hall

- Ryan Townsend Strand , tenor, and Karina Kontorovitch , piano, present Letters to Jackie, a newly conceived song cycle based on the letters sent to Jacqueline Kennedy by the American people following the assassination of her husband, the 15 settings in Letters to Jackie represent the collective grief of a nation and the power of community and healing in a time of great tragedy. - November 16; Bennett Gordon Hall

For more information visit www.ravinia.org.