Lizzo, Klaus Mäkelä Debut and More to Mark Chicago Symphony Orchestra 90th Ravinia Residency

This summer, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is celebrateingits 90th season in residence at the Ravinia Festival, a summer destination and tradition for more than a century that attracts thousands of music lovers worldwide. Marking the inaugural season for the updated and redesigned Hunter Pavilion, the 2026 CSO lineup features six programs under the leadership of Marin Alsop in her final season as Ravinia Chief Conductor, including the grand reopening concert with Yunchan Lim playing Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major and an appearance by celebrated flutist Lizzo, making her CSO and Ravinia debuts (July 11); and the Midwest premiere of the co-commissioned Good News Mass by composer Carlos Simon, featuring a spoken word performance from librettist Marc Bamuthi Joseph (July 31). Simon's mass is part of Ravinia's observance of the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, which also includes an American-themed program in which Emanuel Ax plays the Midwest premiere of John Williams's new Piano Concerto – a tribute to jazz icons Art Tatum, Bill Evans, and Oscar Peterson (Aug 1) – and conductor Ted Sperling's curation of 200 years of classic American music, titled “This Land” (Aug 2).
 
Guest conductor James Conlon leads the orchestra, chorus, and a roster of outstanding soloists led by soprano Kathryn Lewek and tenor Miles Mykkanen – in his CSO debut – for a semi-staged production of Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio (July 16 & 18). The CSO's Zell Music Director Designate, Klaus Mäkelä, makes his Ravinia debut conducting soloist Daniel Lozakovich in Sibelius's Violin Concerto, along with Strauss's monumental Alpine Symphony (Aug 6), and returns the following day for a program of Debussy and Stravinsky (Aug 7). Steans Institute alumna and Gramophone's 2023 Artist of the Year Stella Chen performs Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto (Aug 16); and Gramophone's 2025 Young Artist and Instrumentalist of the Year, María Dueñas, makes her CSO and Ravinia debuts in Beethoven's Violin Concerto (July 19). Finally, the Breaking Barriers Festival – now in its fifth year – will focus on women composers in film. Co-curators Marin Alsop and Oscar-nominated composer Laura Karpman will host two pre-concert events and join forces on a concert showcasing female composers that also features the CSO and Ravinia debut of Taki Alsop Conducting Fellow Chi-Yuan Lin (July 24).
 

Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia

The CSO's 90th season at Ravinia is one of major milestones and new beginnings. For the culmination of her tenure, Ravinia Chief Conductor Marin Alsop has curated several showstopping nights. For the highly anticipated grand opening of Ravinia's Hunter Pavilion, youngest Van Cliburn Competition winner and “one-in-a-million talent” (Dallas Morning News) Yunchan Lim returns to the festival, performing Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major, along with the CSO. Marking Ravinia's 60th Women's Board Gala Evening and the 90th CSO Opening Night, the event celebrates decades of landmark performances while opening a bold new chapter on the Hunter Pavilion stage. Global superstar Lizzo is also featured on the program in her CSO and Ravinia debuts, and Alsop conducts Bernstein's Candide Overture and the concert suite from Strauss's Rosenkavalier. Ravinia's music education and artist development programs will also be spotlighted: Steans Institute alumna Janai Brugger sings the national anthem, and Reach Teach Play student flutist Kaylee Johnson joins Lizzo for a special duet (July 11).
  

Breaking Barriers Festival

The fifth edition of the Breaking Barriers Festival sees Alsop and Oscar-nominated, Emmy-winning composer Laura Karpman co-curate a program focused on women film composers, a demographic long underrepresented in the medium. Music by Shirley Walker, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Rachel Portman, and Chanda Dancy shares the spotlight with Karpman's new work Unsung, featuring music for iconic female characters who never before had a theme. Taki Alsop Conducting Fellow Chi-Yuan Lin guest conducts, making her CSO and Ravinia debuts with Star Wars themes by John Williams and Natalie Holt, the first woman to compose for the storied franchise. A panel discussion precedes the performance, and before the concert on the following night (July 25) will be an extended live demonstration of music setting the mood for film (July 24).

Dvořák's "New World" Symphony & Carlos Simon's Good News Mass

Ravinia also nods to America 250 with a series of concerts honoring the nation's musical roots. Commissioned by the New York Philharmonic in 1893, Antonín Dvořák's famous Ninth "New World" Symphony draws inspiration from Indigenous and Black American musical traditions in a quest for a uniquely American sound. Alsop and the CSO pair Dvořák's groundbreaking work with the Midwest premiere of Carlos Simon's Good News Mass, a Ravinia co-commission that carries forward the same spirit of cultural dialogue, blending gospel spirituality with Black Catholic tradition and classical liturgy (July 31).

Emanuel Ax Performs John Williams's Piano Concerto

Pianist Emanuel Ax celebrates the 50th anniversary of his CSO debut by joining Alsop and the orchestra to perform John Williams's new concerto, inspired by three iconic voices of jazz: Art Tatum, Bill Evans, and Oscar Peterson. Alsop bookends the American-themed program with John Adams's frenetic Short Ride in a Fast Machine and Rachmaninoff's jazzy Symphonic Dances—his final major work and the only one written entirely while he was living in the United States. Williams's catalog of concert works includes a symphony, chamber music, and concertos for more than a dozen instruments, with this piano concerto marking a rare addition to his output for the instrument (Aug. 1).

Ted Sperling's This Land

Tony Award-winning orchestrator and conductor Ted Sperling mines more than 200 years of popular song for This Land, which reflects the spirit, struggles, and enduring hope of America, along with the CSO and vocalists Micaela Diamond, Bryonha Marie, and Noah Ricketts, each making their CSO and Ravinia debuts. Repertoire includes "Summertime," "A Change Is Gonna Come," "Shenandoah," "Over the Rainbow," the "Hoe-down" from Copland's Rodeo, and many more (Aug. 2).

St. Vincent with the CSO

Ravinia also continues its tradition of pop and orchestral crossovers with several exciting shows. Six-time Grammy winner St. Vincent makes her CSO debut alongside Grammy-winning orchestrator and conductor Jules Buckley, who is also making his CSO and Ravinia debuts. Together they present orchestral arrangements spanning St. Vincent's acclaimed catalog, from Marry Me to All Born Screaming (July 25).

A Tribute to Quincy Jones

Jules Buckley returns to lead the CSO in a tribute to the remarkable catalog of Chicago-born artist Quincy Jones, whose career as a composer, producer, and arranger earned 30 Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Awards. The evening also features artist and actress Sheléa and Grammy-winning vocalist, songwriter, and producer Darrel Walls (Aug. 13).

Brahms X Radiohead

Steve Hackman makes his CSO and Ravinia debuts leading the orchestra and guest vocalists Kéren Tayar, Will Post, and Andrew Lipke in Brahms X Radiohead, a fusion of Brahms's First Symphony and Radiohead's seminal album OK Computer. The performance explores the shared emotional depth of the two works by weaving Radiohead's melodies into Brahms's orchestral sound world. Radiohead does not perform in this concert (Aug. 14).

Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio

James Conlon leads two performances of Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio, featuring soprano Kathryn Lewek, tenor Miles Mykkanen in his CSO debut, bass Morris Robinson, Sarah Dufresne, and Brenton Ryan. Harry Silverstein directs the semi-staged production, sung in German with the action narrated in English (July 16 & 18).

María Dueñas Performs Beethoven's Violin Concerto

María Dueñas makes her CSO and Ravinia debuts under Alsop's baton in Beethoven's Violin Concerto, performing her own cadenzas as featured on her debut album Beethoven and Beyond. The all-Beethoven program also includes the composer's Symphony No. 6, the "Pastoral." The day additionally features the Ravinia Associates Board's annual "Beer, Brats, and Beethoven" gathering (July 19).

Klaus Mäkelä Conducts Sibelius and Strauss

CSO Zell Music Director Designate Klaus Mäkelä conducts Sibelius's Violin Concerto with soloist Daniel Lozakovich, with both artists making their Ravinia debuts. The program concludes with Richard Strauss's monumental An Alpine Symphony, requiring an orchestra of approximately 125 musicians (Aug. 6).

Klaus Mäkelä Conducts The Firebird

Klaus Mäkelä returns the following evening to lead Stravinsky's complete score for The Firebird. The program also includes Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun and Ibéria (Aug. 7).

All-Tchaikovsky Finale

The CSO's 90th summer residency concludes with Ravinia's nearly 50-year tradition of an all-Tchaikovsky evening, culminating with the 1812 Overture accompanied by cannons. Solti Conducting Award winner Earl Lee, making his CSO debut, leads the program with violinist Stella Chen, featuring the Polonaise from Eugene Onegin, Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, and the 1812 Overture (Aug. 16).

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