Chicago Symphony Orchestra returns in 2026 for 90th residency at Ravinia Festival (July 11–Aug 16)

Season includes Midwest premiere of Carlos Simon’s Good News Mass led by Marin Alsop; flutist Lizzo; Abduction from the Seraglio conducted by James Conlon; and the Ravinia debut of CSO Zell Music Director Designate Klaus Mäkelä

(July 2026) — This summer, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) celebrates its 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 debutconducting 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).

Ravinia President and CEO Jeffrey P. Haydon comments:

“The grand opening of the Hunter Pavilion marks a historic milestone for Ravinia. It is particularly meaningful that so many renowned classical artists will make their Ravinia debuts on The Negaunee Stage, including conductor Klaus Mäkelä, violinist María Dueñas, and soloists Daniel Lozakovich, Kymberli Joye, Zebulon Ellis, among many others. We are finding that the pavilion’s enhanced acoustics and sophisticated production capabilities are a powerful draw for world-class talent eager to perform in a venue that doesn’t just host music but creates an atmosphere that leaves both artists and audiences equally inspired.”

Erik Soderstrom, Ravinia’s Senior Director of Programming, adds:

“Ravinia is uniquely positioned to present popular artists with an orchestra. We have been doing this for many years, and it continues to grow as an art form. This year in particular, we are featuring artists like St. Vincent, who debuted her orchestral music last summer at the Proms in London and is now bringing that tour to the United States. She will perform with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, featuring her music uniquely arranged for an orchestral setting.”

Ravinia’s 36-acre park is nestled in a gently wooded area, making it an enchanting place to experience music this summer. Guests can bring their own picnics or eat at one of the park restaurants. Tickets begin at just $17 and are available only at Ravinia.org. Ravinia has no affiliation with websites that resell tickets. Third-party ticket prices and locations are pure speculation, and frequently add large markups.

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).

Mahler was famously quoted as having said: “A symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything.” About the composer’s sixth contribution to the genre – nicknamed the “Tragic,” though not by the composer – Marin Alsop wrote for NPR: “I’m not sure there has ever been a more fitting symphony for our time than Mahler’s Symphony No. 6. … Today, as we have become immune to shock, where nothing seems too extreme and where hyperbole rules, Mahler and his Sixth Symphony seem to fit right in.” Alma Mahler was the source of the most explicit information about the symbolism of the notorious “Mahler hammer” in the finale: “In the last movement, Mahler described himself and his downfall, or as he later said, that of his hero. ‘It is the hero on whom fall three blows of fate, the last of which fells him, as a tree is felled.’ Those were his words” (July 23).

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 the likes of 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 Williamsand 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).

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. Speaking to The New York Times, Simon reflected on the universality he seeks in his music: “If this music is done in the right way, if it’s being honest, it doesn’t matter whatever your language, whatever your background, whether you’re white, Black, whoever – it goes straight to you. And that’s what I always strive for” (July 31).

The “always thoughtful, lyrical, and lustrous” (The Washington Post) pianist Emanuel Axcelebrates 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 works for the concert hall includes a symphony, chamber works, and concertos for more than a dozen instruments, but he has long resisted writing for piano, remarking simply, “I just thought it was impossible.” Now in his 90s, Williams overcame his resistance with the aid of his trusted friend and colleague, Emanuel Ax. Having Ax as his inspiration, as the composer puts it, “broadens the way and lights it – just knowing you’re going to have that glow on a few notes” (The New York Times) (Aug 1).

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. All three have appeared extensively on Broadway, from Parade and Prince of Broadway to The Great Gatsby.Repertoire includes “Summertime,” “A Change Is Gonna Come,” “Shenandoah,” “Over the Rainbow,” the “Hoe-down” from Copland’s Rodeo, and many more (Aug 2).

Ravinia also continues its tradition of pop and orchestral crossovers with several exciting shows. One of the most innovative artists in modern music, six-time Grammy winner St. Vincent calls art “a safe place to explore all emotions, all ideas, no matter how dark or complicated” (NPR). Praised by M-A Chronicle as “uniquely authentic and exhilarating,” she makes her CSO debut with a kaleidoscope of sonic and visual exploration that is part of a limited, first-time run of performances with orchestra. She joins the CSO alongside Grammy-winning orchestrator and conductor Jules Buckley – making both his CSO and Ravinia debuts – to share a new dimension on music from her whole catalog of acclaimed albums, from Marry Me to All Born Screaming (July 25).

One of history’s most versatile musicians, Quincy Jones amassed 30 Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Awards as the composer/producer behind iconic music like “Soul Bossa Nova,” “P.Y.T.,” and “Stuff Like That”; scores for The Wiz, The Italian Job, and The Color Purple; and the Thriller, Bad, and The Dude albums. Decade-long Jones collaborator Jules Buckley leads the CSO in tribute to the remarkable catalogue of the Chicago-born artist. The evening also showcases two standout vocalists: artist and actress Sheléa, a protege of Jones, and Grammy-winning vocalist, songwriter, and producer Darrel Walls(Aug 13).

A multi-hyphenate music powerhouse and creative visionary, Steve Hackman has been praised as having “an innovative brilliance and style reminiscent of the late, great maestro Leonard Bernstein” (On the Aisle). The conductor and producer makes his CSO and Ravinia debuts leading the orchestra and three 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. Brahms X Radiohead offers a fresh take on the two works by seeing each through the lens of the other, exploring the tension and deep pathos they have in common. Brahms’ 19th-century orchestral sound palette is used throughout, with the melodies and music of Radiohead woven in, superimposed, and inserted. Note: Radiohead does not perform in this concert (Aug 14).

The festival also offers new takes on timeless classics this season. James Conlon leads two performances of Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio, featuring soprano Kathryn Lewek – famed for singing Mozart’s stratospheric Queen of the Night “better than anyone alive” (The New Yorker) – and the CSO debut of tenor Miles Mykkanen, praised as “a singer of vast power and lyricism, whose dramatic abilities match his fine vocal apparatus” (Opera Today). Morris Robinson joins them in the role of Osmin, with Sarah Dufresne and Brenton Ryan rounding out the cast. Harry Silverstein directs the semi-staged production, sung in German with the action narrated in English (July 16 & 18).

Gramophone’s Young Artist and Instrumentalist of the Year for 2025, María Dueñas, makes her CSO and Ravinia debuts under Alsop’s baton in Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, playing her own “bold, languorously romantic” cadenzas (The Strad), as recorded on her debut album, Beethoven and Beyond (2023). The New York Times praises the violinist’s ability to breathe “new life into well-known pieces,” proclaiming her to be a “violinist who has something to say, and the skill to say it brilliantly.” The all-Beethoven program is rounded out with Alsop and the CSO’s performance of the composer’s “Pastoral” Symphony No. 6. The day also features the Ravinia Associates Board’s annual get-together, “Beer, Brats, and Beethoven” (July 19).

Hailed as “a rivetingly energetic presence” (The New York Times), CSO Zell Music Director Designate Klaus Mäkelä conducts Sibelius’s Violin Concerto with soloist Daniel Lozakovich, both artists making Ravinia debuts in an echo of their widely acclaimed joint CSO debuts in 2022, when WTTW proclaimed them “the stellar young talent that will keep classical music thriving.” Lozakovich, for his part, has been praised for his “stunning interpretative maturity” and “exquisite musicality” (OperaWorld). The program is rounded out with Mäkelä and the CSO’s performance of Richard Strauss’s An Alpine Symphony, an enormous tone poem lasting 50 minutes and calling for an orchestra of about 125 players (Aug 6).

Klaus Mäkelä returns to lead the CSO the following night in Stravinsky’s complete score for The Firebird, a work that he conducted during his 2022 debut with the orchestra, earning raves from WTTW for an “altogether thrilling performance.” The review went on to declare that the “dazzlingly sophisticated” young artist “conducted with all the grace of a dancer” in Stravinsky’s groundbreaking work. Completing this summer’s program, Mäkelä leads Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun and Ibéria, the latter of which was characterized as an “intoxicating spell of Andalusian nights” by Spanish composer Manuel de Falla (Aug 7).

The CSO’s 90th summer residency concludes with the nearly 50-year Ravinia tradition of an all-Tchaikovsky evening, including the triumphant 1812 Overture punctuated with cannons for the finale. The performance welcomes back two Steans alumni to the Ravinia stage, Solti Conducting Award winner Earl Lee – making his CSO debut – and violinist Stella Chen. Praised for her “silken grace” and “brilliant command” (The Strad), the American violinist first gained international recognition as the winner of the 2019 Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition and was named Young Artist of the Year at the 2023 Gramophone Awards. Lee opens the program with the Polonaise from Eugene Onegin, followed by Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, featuring Chen, and continuing with the Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture. The iconic 1812 Overture concludes the program, and the CSO season (Aug 16).

Visit the website for the most up-to-date programming and protocols. Tickets are on sale now.

Artists, dates, and programs are subject to change.

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Media Contacts:
[email protected]
Kate Hogan Berger, 847-252-1122
Elizabeth Fildes, 847-266-5012
Emily Walker, 847-266-5070

About the Ravinia Festival

Ravinia believes in the power of shared, live-music moments to inspire ourselves, our communities, and the world. Ravinia’s historic 36-acre park is home to North America’s longest-running outdoor music festival and serves as an enchanting place to experience concerts throughout the summer. With a foundational focus on classical music, featuring the long-standing annual summer residency of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Ravinia is one of the most artistically diverse music festivals in the world, spotlighting renowned rock, pop, jazz, R&B, indie, and country artists across the concert schedule.

A not-for-profit organization, Ravinia also enriches lives through professional music performance training in the Steans Institute as well as through youth and adult educational programs and community engagement with Reach Teach Play. Ravinia’s initiatives and programming create memorable experiences that connect people, foster curiosity, and ensure that the joy of live music is accessible to all.

Ravinia is located about 20 miles north of Chicago in Highland Park, IL. Bordered by Green Bay and Lake Cook Roads, Ravinia has the only private train platform in Illinois, with Metra’s Union Pacific North Line stopping at the Grand Entrance during the summer.

Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia

All concerts take place in the Hunter Pavilion unless otherwise specified

July 11
Hunter Pavilion Grand Opening: Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major
Chicago Symphony Orchestra + Marin Alsop, conductor
Yunchan Lim, piano
Lizzo, flute*^
Janai Brugger, soprano #
SMITH/KEY (arr. Frederick Stock): “The Star-Spangled Banner”
BERNSTEIN: Overture to Candide
Works featuring Lizzo with the CSO
R. STRAUSS (arr. Artur Rodziński): Suite from Der Rosenkavalier, TrV 227d
RAVEL: Piano Concerto in G

July 16 & 18
Martin Theatre
Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio
Sung in German with English supertitles and English narration
Chicago Symphony Orchestra + James Conlon, conductor
Kathryn Lewek, soprano (Konstanze)
Miles Mykkanen, tenor^ (Belmonte)
Sarah Dufresne, soprano*^ (Blonde)
Brenton Ryan, tenor*^ (Pedrillo)
Morris Robinson, bass (Osmin)
Jefferson Mays, actor (Pasha and narrator)
Chicago Symphony Chorus
Harry Silverstein, stage director
Madeline Slettedahl, head coach
Adrienne Bader, stage manager

July 19
Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony, Beethoven’s Violin Concerto
Chicago Symphony Orchestra + Marin Alsop, conductor
María Dueñas, violin*^
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 6 in F, Op. 68 (“Pastoral”)
BEETHOVEN: Violin Concerto in D, Op. 61

July 23
Mahler’s Symphony No. 6
Chicago Symphony Orchestra + Marin Alsop, conductor
MAHLER: Symphony No. 6 in A minor

July 24
Breaking Barriers Festival: Spotlighting music’s descriptive magic for screen media with scores written by women and about women characters
Chicago Symphony Orchestra + Marin Alsop, conductor and co-curator
Chi-Yuan Lin, guest conductor*^
Laura Karpman, film composer and co-curator
HERRMANN: “Scène d’amour” from Vertigo
MÁRQUEZ: Danzón No. 2
MANCINI: Original scene audio from Touch of Evil
Anna MEREDITH (arr. Jack Ross): Nautilus
Chanda DANCY: Main Titles from Lawmen: Bass Reeves
Rachel PORTMAN: Main Titles from Cider House Rules
Hildur GUÐNADÓTTIR: “Confessions” from A Haunting in Venice
Germaine FRANCO: Encanto Suite
Natalie HOLT: “Hanging Out” from Obi-Wan Kenobi
John WILLIAMS: Star Wars Title Theme conducted by Chi-Yuan Lin
BERNSTEIN: Symphonic Suite from On the Waterfront
Laura KARPMAN: Unsung: A Symphonic Suite for the Superhero Women of Classic Hollywood (Ravinia commission, premiere)

July 25
St. Vincent^ with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Jules Buckley, conductor*^

July 31
Dvořák’s “New World” Symphony, Carlos Simon’s Good News Mass (Ravinia co-commission)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra + Marin Alsop, conductor
Marc Bamuthi Joseph, librettist and spoken word artist*^
Kymberli Joye, soprano*^
Zebulon Ellis, tenor*^
Bernard Holcomb, tenor
Adrian Dunn Singers
Melina Matsoukas, visual artist
DVOŘÁK: Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 [B. 178] (“From the New World”)
Carlos SIMON: Good News Mass (Ravinia co-commission, Midwest premiere) with video by Melina Matsoukas

Aug 1
John Williams’s Piano Concerto, Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances, John Adams’s Short Ride in a Fast Machine
Chicago Symphony Orchestra + Marin Alsop, conductor
Emanuel Ax, piano
John ADAMS: Short Ride in a Fast Machine
John WILLIAMS: Piano Concerto (Midwest premiere)
RACHMANINOFF: Symphonic Dances, Op. 45

Aug 2
“This Land: America in Song” with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Ted Sperling, conductor
Micaela Diamond, vocalist*^
Bryonha Marie, vocalist*^
Noah J. Ricketts, vocalist*^

Aug 6
Sibelius’s Violin Concerto, R. Strauss’s Alpine Symphony
Chicago Symphony Orchestra + Klaus Mäkelä, conductor*
Daniel Lozakovich, violin*
SIBELIUS: Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47
R. STRAUSS: An Alpine Symphony, Op. 64 [TrV 233]

Aug 7
Stravinsky’s The Firebird, Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun and Ibéria
Chicago Symphony Orchestra + Klaus Mäkelä, conductor
DEBUSSY: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
DEBUSSY: “Ibéria” from Images for Orchestra
STRAVINSKY: The Firebird

Aug 13
The Music of Quincy Jones with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Jules Buckley, conductor
Sheléa, vocalist
Darrel Walls, vocalist*^

Aug 14
“Brahms X Radiohead” with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Steve Hackman, conductor and creator*^
Kéren Tayar, vocalist
Will Post, vocalist
Andrew Lipke, vocalist

Aug 16
Tchaikovsky Spectacular: Polonaise from Eugene Onegin, Violin Concerto, Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture, and 1812 Overture with cannons
Chicago Symphony Orchestra + Earl Lee, conductor#^
Stella Chen, violin#
TCHAIKOVSKY:
Polonaise from Eugene Onegin, Op. 24
Violin Concerto in D, Op. 35
Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture
1812 Overture, Op. 49 (with cannons)

*Ravinia debut
#Steans Institute alum
^CSO debut