First episode features performances by Chicago and Ramsey Lewis on July 3<\/p>\n
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Upcoming episodes to feature Ravinia-exclusive performances from CSO concertmaster Robert Chen, pianist Kevin Cole and Jorge Federico Osorio, singer\/songwriter Andrew Bird, and vocalists Sylvia McNair, Michelle DeYoung, and Michelle Areyzaga<\/p>\n
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HIGHLAND PARK, IL<\/strong> \u2013 Ravinia Festival today announced the launch of a 20-minute weekly variety show, RaviniaTV<\/em>, webcast on Ravinia\u2019s YouTube channel and Facebook page every Friday at 7 p.m. CDT. The series, sponsored by Exelon, kicks off July 3 with jazz legend Ramsey Lewis<\/strong> performing from his living room, as well as one of the most successful rock bands of all time, Chicago<\/strong>, sharing world-premiere performances of songs recorded from a concert last year.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt broke our hearts when the Covid pandemic forced Ravinia to cancel a season for the first time since the Great Depression, so the whole team got together to create ways to stay connected to the Ravinia Family, our artists, and audiences in what would otherwise be our silent summer,\u201d said Ravinia President and CEO Welz Kauffman<\/strong>. \u201cSo many of the longtime legends, as well as nascent stars, associated with Ravinia shared the same sense of urgency to keep the music playing as we all struggle with the hardships of this strange new reality. The solution was a show that not only shares music but offers a casual, conversational feeling like you would have on the Lawn at Ravinia.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The show, created by Nick Pullia<\/strong>, Ravinia\u2019s longtime director of communications, breaks down into departments like a magazine, including \u201cRavinia from Home,\u201d in which guests share their work from their living rooms as well as new performances recorded on Ravinia\u2019s main stage without an audience; \u201cZoom into Highland Park,\u201d which familiarizes audiences with the movers and shakers of Ravinia\u2019s hometown; \u201cChicago\u2019s Own,\u201d which spotlights local music makers; \u201cReach Teach Play,\u201d directed to young viewers; and \u201cTOPical5,\u201d which features Chicago radio personalities counting down the top five songs related to our reality\u2014such as Melissa Forman<\/strong> from WLIT counting down the top hair bands while craving a little hair care of her own, or Maggie Clennon Reberg<\/strong> of WFMT essaying the top operatic \u201cmad scenes.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n All performances will be unique to RaviniaTV<\/em>. Upcoming episodes feature singer\/songwriter Andrew Bird<\/strong>; the Chen Quartet<\/strong>, comprising Chicago Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Robert Chen and his family, with CSO principal clarinetist Stephen Williamson<\/strong>; the Lincoln Trio<\/strong>; Bowmanville<\/strong>; singer\/composer Tony DeSare<\/strong>; soprano Michelle Areyzaga<\/strong>, an alumna of Ravinia\u2019s Steans Music Institute, accompanied by Welz Kauffman<\/strong>; singer\/actress Sylvia McNair<\/strong> (an almost annual Ravinia guest, who starred in Camelot<\/em> and The Most Happy Fella<\/em>) and Gershwin-expert pianist Kevin Cole<\/strong>; Ralph Covert\u2019s Bad Examples<\/strong> and Ralph\u2019s World<\/strong>; and, in a special episode celebrating the 50th anniversary this summer of Janis Joplin\u2019s lone Ravinia concert, Jefferson Starship frontwoman Cathy Richardson<\/strong> (who for years starred as Joplin in the musical Love, Janis<\/em>) leading her band in a tribute to the most iconic woman in rock history.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Each episode also includes interviews with such guests as Ravinia Chief Conductor and Curator Marin Alsop<\/strong>, plus new features on such topics as how both civil unrest and the pandemic and its economic fallout might affect the art produced in this era, or how to help your kids keep sane while social distancing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n FOR MORE INFORMATION<\/strong><\/p>\n YouTube: www.youtube.com\/raviniafestival<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ravinia welcomes all festival fans to follow, connect, and interact online with @RaviniaFestival on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>, as well as its blog, backstage.ravinia.org<\/a>. Ravinia Festival is a not-for-profit organization.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" First episode features performances by Chicago and Ramsey Lewis on July 3 Upcoming episodes to feature Ravinia-exclusive performances from CSO concertmaster Robert Chen, pianist Kevin Cole and Jorge Federico Osorio, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41281,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,41,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music-news","category-features","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}