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Backstage Ravinia will be our new permanent blog home so be sure to bookmark the location.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
The Sights & Sounds of Summer Begin
Bill T. Jones is on site today with the Arnie Zane Dance Company preparing for the Ravinia premiere of Fondly Do We Hope . . . Fervently Do We Pray. You can see this performance at Ravinia in September and look for more sneak peaks throughout the summer.
Photography by Russell Jenkins
Photography by Russell Jenkins
Photo Essay: Backstage with an Artist
Bill T. Jones at Ravinia Festival on May 19, 2009 during an interview with Deborah Pickett. Look for the article this summer in Ravinia Magazine. Photo by Russell Jenkins.
Bill T Jones is one of the most interesting individuals I have had the opportunity to photograph. The energy around this man, this charismatic artist, is unparalleled.
Russell Jenkins
Manager of Graphic Arts and Photography
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Free Wifi in the Park!
Ravinia is now offering free Wifi on the lawn this summer, so bring your favorite mobile device and connect from the comfort of your own picnic! And if you haven’t already, become a Ravinia fan on Facebook, be our friend on Myspace or follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-moment news and updates!
Amy Schrage
Associate Director of Communications
Come One, Come All!
This weekend was our Customer Appreciation Day where Ravinia fans enjoyed a ticket discount, free food tastings and goodies, music performances and a live broadcast on WFMT with Ravinia President and CEO Welz Kauffman and on-air talent Carl Grapentine.
The radio broadcast was full of great chat, music of the season, live performances and call-in interviews with 2009 artists such as Bill T. Jones, Ramsey Lewis, Marc Robin and Sylvia McNair. Beethoven expert Robert Greenberg and Kurt Weill aficionado Kim Kowalke also spoke on the air about the incredible composers that we are featuring and Spiaggia chef Tony Mantuano called in to talk about his guest chef appearance at Ravinia this summer.
It was great to see so many people get a glimpse of the park before we officially open on June 5, taking in the beauty of the greenery and enjoying the beautiful weather today. The season is almost here, can’t wait to see you all in a few weeks!
Amy Schrage
Associate Director of Communications
Welz Kauffman and Carl Grapentine chat about the 2009 season
Ravinia staff helps patrons with their ticket forms
The radio broadcast was full of great chat, music of the season, live performances and call-in interviews with 2009 artists such as Bill T. Jones, Ramsey Lewis, Marc Robin and Sylvia McNair. Beethoven expert Robert Greenberg and Kurt Weill aficionado Kim Kowalke also spoke on the air about the incredible composers that we are featuring and Spiaggia chef Tony Mantuano called in to talk about his guest chef appearance at Ravinia this summer.
It was great to see so many people get a glimpse of the park before we officially open on June 5, taking in the beauty of the greenery and enjoying the beautiful weather today. The season is almost here, can’t wait to see you all in a few weeks!
Amy Schrage
Associate Director of Communications
Welz Kauffman and Carl Grapentine chat about the 2009 season
Ravinia staff helps patrons with their ticket forms
Monday, May 11, 2009
Camelot Update
Conductor Paul Gemignani has agreed to conduct Ravinia Festival’s opening night concert presentation of Camelot. Gemignani will lead Sylvia McNair, George Hearn and Rod Gilfry in director Marc Robin’s original stand-and-sing vision of the show. Erich Kunzel was originally scheduled to conduct, but medical treatments for his recently diagnosed cancer will prevent his appearance at the season opener on June 5. Gemignani last conducted at Ravinia in 2006 when Patti LuPone stepped into the character of Mama Rose for the first time singing “Gypsy” with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She later brought the role to Broadway to great acclaim and a Tony Award. Gemignani is a longtime collaborator of Stephen Sondheim and the music director on many Sondheim cast albums. This will be his fourth appearance at Ravinia, where he also conducted Sondheim’s “Passion,” “Sunday in the Park with George” and “Anyone Can Whistle.”
Tickets are available here.
Conductor Paul Gemignani has agreed to conduct Ravinia Festival’s opening night concert presentation of Camelot. Gemignani will lead Sylvia McNair, George Hearn and Rod Gilfry in director Marc Robin’s original stand-and-sing vision of the show. Erich Kunzel was originally scheduled to conduct, but medical treatments for his recently diagnosed cancer will prevent his appearance at the season opener on June 5. Gemignani last conducted at Ravinia in 2006 when Patti LuPone stepped into the character of Mama Rose for the first time singing “Gypsy” with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She later brought the role to Broadway to great acclaim and a Tony Award. Gemignani is a longtime collaborator of Stephen Sondheim and the music director on many Sondheim cast albums. This will be his fourth appearance at Ravinia, where he also conducted Sondheim’s “Passion,” “Sunday in the Park with George” and “Anyone Can Whistle.”
Tickets are available here.
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Ravinia Receives a Four-Star Rating on Charity Navigator
We got word last week that Ravinia received a four-star rating for the fourth consecutive year from America’s premier independent charity evaluator, Charity Navigator . Charity Navigator rates organizations by evaluating two broad areas of financial health; their organizational efficiency, defined by functional expenses spent on programs, services and mission; and their organizational capacity, which refers to an organization’s ability to sustain its programs over time. They use a set of financial ratios and performance categories to rate each of these two areas and issue an overall rating that combines the not-for-profit’s performance in both areas. Can you believe that only seven percent of the charities evaluated in Charity Navigator’s database have received four consecutive four-star ratings? We are so honored!
Amy Schrage
Associate Director of Communications
Amy Schrage
Associate Director of Communications
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