Lizzo, Labrinth, Ricky Martin and Hugh Jackman to make their Ravinia debuts in packed summer lineup
Labrinth, Lizzo, Ricky Martin, Hugh Jackman and Chicago’s own Chance the Rapper will debut at Ravinia this summer, part of a historic season that features the reopening of the venue’s renovated iconic pavilion.
The freshly named and redesigned Hunter Pavilion is part of a $75 million multiyear renovation of Ravinia’s 36-acre music park in north suburban Highland Park. Last year, the festival revealed the first of its renovated venues, The Audrey.
Lizzo, Labrinth and the rock guitarist St. Vincent will each perform with orchestras. The first concert at the Hunter Pavilion takes place July 11, when 21-year-old South Korean pianist Yunchan Lim joins the Chicago Symphony Orchestra alongside conductor Marin Alsop with Maurice Ravel’s “Piano Concerto in G major.” Lizzo will also perform the flute with the CSO that night, too.
“Ravinia does represent a lot of genres, but most importantly, it represents the importance of music education,” Ravinia CEO Jeff Haydon said. “Lizzo was inspired to pursue her music career because of teachers that she had in elementary school, and later on, to keep pursuing her love of the flute.”
St. Vincent will collaborate with the CSO’s Jules Buckley to deliver deep cuts from across her catalog on July 25. Labrinth, the British singer-songwriter and composer known for his work on the score of season 1 of HBO’s “Euphoria,” makes his Ravinia debut with the Chicago Philharmonic on Sept. 2.
Dozens of legendary performers will return to perform throughout the season, including Paul Simon (July 17-18), Gladys Knight (Aug. 11), Bonnie Raitt (Aug. 22), Brandi Carlile (Aug. 26) and Jacob Collier (Sept. 23).
The season opens on June 3 with Terence Blanchard and Ravi Coltrane bringing a night of jazz to the Martin Theater.
Ravinia’s upcoming season celebrates the 90th anniversary of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s residency, and it will feature a rare appearance by future music director Klaus Mäkelä, who personally asked Ravinia leadership if he could stop by to conduct the orchestra this summer.
This year’s six-week CSO residency will last through Aug. 16. Mäkelä will appear at the pavilion on Aug. 6 and Aug. 8, first for Jean Sibelius’s dark and beautiful “Violin Concerto” with Swedish soloist Daniel Lozakovich. Then the young conductor will channel Parisian ballet for Igor Stravinsky’s complete score from “The Firebird.”
As for contemporary music, Chicago-born Quincy Jones will get a tribute concert on Aug. 13, when one of his longtime collaborators, Jules Buckley, will lead the CSO in a catalog of his greatest hits.
Actor and singer Hugh Jackman will perform with the Chicago Philharmonic on Aug. 9, and Ricky Martin will make his Ravinia debut on Aug. 20.
Haydon said the renovations on site were done with “music in mind.”
The Hunter Pavilion will feature roomier chairs and a bigger stage. There are fewer seats than before, but the layout makes the space a lot more intimate, with seats feeling “practically on top of the stage,” Haydon said. The pavilion also got a new sound system and an updated backstage area last year.
Tickets go on sale at Ravinia.org on April 23, but donors can request them as early as March 17.
Here are some other season highlights:
- Billy Idol will debut July 12.
- On July 16 and 18, James Conlon will lead Mozart’s “The Abduction from the Seraglio.”
- On July 31, Marin Alsop will conduct the CSO in Dvořák’s famous Ninth Symphony, which borrows themes of Indigenous and Black American music. The evening will also feature Carlos Simon’s “Good News Mass,” a Ravinia co-commission infused with gospel.
- On Aug. 14, polymathic conductor and producer Steve Hackman presents his take on Brahms’ First Symphony.
- On Aug. 21, Alabama Shakes will appear with Chicago musician Liam Kazar.
- On Aug. 27, Kool & The Gang performs.
- Powerhouse baritone Tom Jones, with a career spanning five decades, returns to Ravinia Sept. 18.
- Family programming includes the Black Moon Trio’s “The Great Lakes” concert at the Sandra K. Crown Theater on Aug. 8 to JAM Orchestra’s “Dr. Seuss Goes to the Opera” in the Martin on Aug. 29.
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