Ravinia Receives Lincoln Bicentennial Grant for Bill T. Jones Commission

The Illinois Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission announced that Ravinia Festival has been awarded a $50,000 grant in support of the festival's newly commissioned work A Good Man, by dancer, choreographer and Tony Award winner Bill T. Jones.

Set to present its world premiere during Lincoln's centennial in 2009, Ravinia has planned a number of programs and commissions for the 2008-2009 seasons in honor of the president under the banner "Mystic Chords of Memory," a phrase from Lincoln's first inaugural address.

The Ravinia award was one of $700,000 in grants given to 25 projects and institutions as part of the statewide Lincoln celebration and was based on one of the Bicentennial Commission's five major initiatives, the Public Program, to support programs presented by community organizations, universities and cultural institutions.

Ravinia Festival's 2008-2009 seasons will reflect many aspects of the celebrated and sometimes controversial 16th president through programming across many genres and disciplines regularly presented at America's oldest music festival, including classical, jazz, gospel, music theater and dance.

Ravinia also previously received a $70,000 grant from the Illinois Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission last summer which will help the festival commission up to 10 chamber music compositions, each setting or framed by Lincoln's words. Other programs will look at the music and composers from Lincoln's era; the global influence of this important leader; the legacy of poet Walt Whitman; and jazz, gospel and spirituals.  

To post a comment, you must register and login.