The music continues indoors at Ravinia Festival from now through April 2008. The Rising Stars series features up and coming performers in the world of classical music and is designed to provide gifted young musicians with the opportunity to refine their performing skills. This unique program encourages audiences to experience and support new talent in an intimate setting.

On June 8 & 9 Opera Africa will be performing UShaka, the musical telling of the life of legendary Zulu warrior Shaka.  Seventy singers from South Africa have flown to the U.S. to bring this incredible performance to the Ravinia stage. Before the perfomance, Opera Africa will be participating in several community outreach events including a choral exchange with three professional choirs (Lira, Ngoma, and the Chicago Chamber Choir) on Friday, June 2, and with six high school choirs on Monday, June 5.  This is a fantastic opportunity for the UShaka cast and the local choirs to blend their styles, a learning experience for them both.  We are especially excited for the high school choirs, who will present a pre-concert performance before both UShaka concerts here at Ravinia. It should be very interesting to see and hear the interaction between these widely varied choirs, a fantastic opportunity for everyone involved.UShaka is also exploring the local community, bringing their unique sound and story to the Chicago Botanical Gardens on Saturday June 3 and the St. Sabina Church morning service on Sunday June 4.  We’re eager to see UShaka take an active role in the community, giving the Chicago area a glimpse of African culture.  These are all great chances to see UShaka live before their Ravinia premiere on Thursday and Friday. ~Nick Rego, Marketing InternNick is this summer's marketing intern.  He will be a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and he is majoring in English and Art History. 

Happy April!Tonight we move our clocks ahead an hour and I can’t tell you how symbolic this is for me. I feel like we are moving fast-forward-full-speed-ahead into another season at Ravinia Festival. That means one thing; winter is over! (Crossing my fingers it doesn’t snow at the end of April.)For those of you like me, Ravinia is synonymous with summer. It’s a tradition. It’s the light at the end of the dark, winter tunnel. I remember getting so excited to see the announcement of the season in the paper before I became a part of the Ravinia staff. Memories of sitting on the lawn and listening to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra or Celia Cruz or Bonnie Raitt always reminded me why I love summer at Ravinia.Now it’s weird being on the other end of the schedule and being a part of the team that actually gets the information out to the public. I don’t get the surprise element of seeing the calendar as a whole along with everyone else. I guess that does take away part of the excitement. However, I still think about how nice it is to drink wine and picnic outside while listening to great music. Plus, I get the inside scoop before anyone.I feel like I’m getting performance jitters, even though I’m not performing. Does anyone else get that “rush” before the start of a season? I think part of those jitters is just hoping that everything goes off without a hitch. I’m sure we all dream of wonderful performances, high ticket sales, rave reviews and big success stories. In reality, there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes of any arts organization. The challenge we all face (and the reason this site even exists) is getting people just as excited for classical music as they do popular music. What else can we do to get the younger audience in to fill the seats? We started the “Full House” initiative last year, which was very successful. The surveys we conducted all showed positive reactions from first-time patrons. While seeing a classical concert might not be at the top of a young person’s “To Do” list, I think that a lot of people would enjoy it more than they would expect. The problem is getting them out to experience it and discover that for themselves. From the thunder of the full orchestra or the softness of a soloist, the experience is really magical. Then again, you know that. How do we convince others?

My poor co-workers have to put up with me singing in the office all the time. When I'm not driving them crazy with Christmas songs, I am humming along as I work on our 2006 season calendar. Believe me, I am no singer (unless you count how I like to pretend in the shower or car). No matter what I do, though, I keep going back to this particular piece.

I am sure you've seen the United commercials using this song. Are you humming it now too? The song is George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue."

This summer the Ravinia Festival Women's Board Gala will recreate the night that Gershwin played in the park. I've heard stories about how there were people literally hanging from the trees to get a glimpse of this legendary composer and songwriter. So every time I go past that calendar square, the song keeps playing in my head.

Like many people, I am a big fan of Gershwin music and this is going to be one spectacular evening. "Gershwin at Ravinia: Who Could Ask for Anything More?" commemorates the 70th anniversary of Gershwin's only Ravinia performance in 1936. Four-time Tony winner Audra McDonald, veteran of Ravinia's Sondheim series; vocalist Brian Stokes Mitchell; and conductor/pianist Andrew Litton will headline the 2006 Women's Board Gala Benefit Evening, July 15.

Hershey Felder, creator and star of George Gershwin Alone and Monsieur Chopin, will host and perform a program that includes "Rhapsody in Blue" and selections from Porgy and Bess, taking guests back to that summer when Gershwin took Ravinia by storm.

Paulette talked about the role of music in film in a recent article posted here at Chicago Classical Music. I think it's a great way to remind people how important music is in theater, movies, television and even cartoons. Imagine watching Bugs Bunny run around with no music!

I always tell friends who think they don't like classical music to think about it again. I know they will discover a hidden love (or at least fondness) for it.