RAVINIA PARK

(Redirected from Ravinia Festival)
'Ravinia Park' is a private park in Highland Park, Illinois with a variety of outdoor and indoor performng arts facilities and it is best known as the site of the 'Ravinia Festival', a series of outdoor concerts and performances held every summer from June to September. It has been the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1906.
The park takes its name from the ravines found nearby along the shoreline of Lake Michigan.

Contents

Performance and other venues

Overview

Grounds

Artistic director

Music directors

Ravinia neighborhood

See also

External links

Performance and other venues

★ 'The Pavillion', a 3,200-seat venue where the park's major music events and concerts, including all Chicago Symphony Orchestra performances, are held. Other than general lawn seating, attendees who choose to pay an extra fee see the shows in a traditional concert setting in an open-air theater with state-of-the-art sound, video and lighting equipment.

★ 'The Martin Theater', an 850-seat hall often used on weeknights during the summer when use of the Pavilion and lawn would be inappropriate (and for shows that require indoor facilities).

★ 'Bennet Gordon Hall', the 450-seat home of the Steans Institute for Young Artists.
It is not uncommon to find that on most nights, small pre-show performances are held in the Bennet Gordon Hall or the Martin Theater by young artists in training at Ravinia or by that night's main performers themselves.

Overview

Ravinia was originally developed in 1904 as an amusement park and destination point on the Chicago and Milwaukee Electric Railroad, located in the then-Village of Ravinia. When the park's existence became jeopardized following the railroad's bankruptcy, local residents (for the most part Chicago businessmen) formed a corporation in 1911 to purchase and operate the park. Music was a confirmed summer activity from then on, except for a brief hiatus during the Depression.
The Festival includes symphony concerts, often with guest soloists, as well as opera, jazz, blues, folk, and rock performances, plus ballet, drama, and educational programs which take place year-round.
In the early 1900s the park also served as an exhibition ground for both the Chicago Bears as well as the Chicago Cubs.

Grounds

For most attendees Ravinia is experienced on the 36 acre (150,000 m²) parkland and lawn. The unique setting allows for open seating and picnicking, where families and attendees can choose to use as much (or little) space as they need, with a powerful sound system broadcasting the live performance throughout the park. Most attendees choose to bring complete picnics and dinners to shows, with various lawn chairs, coolers full of food, blankets, candles, and lawn accessories in tow. Ravinia is one of the few concert venues in the country to allow full meals to be brought in and consumed at concerts, even allowing alcoholic beverages and bottles of wine. Accordingly, most grocery stores and specialty restaurants in and around the Highland Park area offer ready-to-eat "Ravinia picnics" for purchase.
The park is served by the Metra commuter railroad with special stops before and after concerts. Attendance now often tops 600,000 annually.

Artistic director

★ Walter Hendl (1959-1963)

Music directors

★ Seiji Ozawa (1964-1971)

★ James Levine (1971-1994)

★ Christoph Eschenbach (1994-2005)

★ James Conlon (2005-)

Ravinia neighborhood

The neighborhood, once an incorporated village before annexation, is variously known as Ravinia or Ravinia Park, and retains its own post office. The business district on Roger Williams Ave., within walking distance from the Park itself, includes neighborhood service businesses and restaurants.

See also

★ List of contemporary amphitheatres

★ List of opera festivals

External links

★ Ravinia Music Festival's official website with schedules, tickets, and artist information

★ ''Chicago Sun-Times' article on the Festival's Centennial

★ Ravinia Music Festival description from Verizon Superpages