Ravinia Schedule for 2017!

Ravinia just released its schedule for 2017, and as always there's a ton of great music to be heard.

In case you were unaware, Ravinia is an outdoor park in the Northern suburbs of Chicago, easily accessible by car or by Metra (there is a Metra station right out front!) During the summer, they present world-class musicians in a pastoral and beautiful setting.  You can bring a picnic, make a day of it, and listen to some amazing music.  They focus on classical, but have a fair amount of classic rock and jazz, and occasionally even some more alternative music (Blondie and Garbage are making appearances this year.)

One of the most amazing things about Ravinia (other than the music of course) is the picnicking! You can see all kinds of elaborate picnic setups.  I'm hoping to go a couple of times this summer just to take photos of some of the best picnic solutions!  Or you can just go look at this Pinterest board.

Click image to see larger, or view the Ravinia calendar on their site.

I've included a screen captured shot of their full schedule to the right.  You can click here to see the schedule in all of its fabulous glory.

Tickets are various prices, and they do have deals for kids, seniors, and those who buy tickets in bulk.

If you are a textual person, you can look below to see their schedule in list format or download  from this link.

Here are some of the highlights, with special attention to stuff that is kid and family friendly.  I'm not even including all of the many CSO concerts, or some of the special events like Aretha Franklin or Joshua Bell.

GREAT KIDS SHOWS
AT RAVINIA 2017

June 3 at 11 am, 2 pm, and 5 pm Catskill Puppet Theatre performs Sister Rain and Brother Sun.

June 17 at 11 am
Ko-Thi Dance Company performs

June 18 at 8 pm
Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra performs live accompaniment to the movie La La Land

June 29 at 7 pm Stars of the Peking Acrobats

July 15 at 12 noon Laurie Berkner performs a solo concert.

July 29 at 11 am
The Joyous String Ensemble

August 18-20 at 7 pm
The CSO, the Chicago Children's Choir, the Chicago Chorale, and the Lakeside Singers provide live musical accompaniment to The Lord of the Rings Trilogy.  Each night, one movie plays.

August 29 at 11 am 
Opera For the Young’s The Elixir of Love 

September 16 & 17 
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, a performance by the Performer’s School has 5 performances spread out over the two days.

Click image to see larger, or click here for PDF version

The Hot concert of the week: Justin Roberts at Ravinia

Just found out about this, and we are super excited to go check it out-- Justin Roberts, local Chicago guy who is one of the kingpins of kindie music, is playing at Ravinia this weekend. And we are going!

For the last 20 years, Justin Roberts and his band The Not Ready for Naptime Players have traveled the globe, from Hong Kong to New York, and Miami to Seattle. Justin has performed in front of millions of people on The Today Show, he's been featured on Nick Jr. TV, and his song "Get Me Some Glasses" was on a World Series broadcast. He’s received two GRAMMY nominations, for Jungle Gym in 2010 and Recess in 2013. Recent appearances include performances at NYC's New Victory Theater, DC's National Geographic Live, LA's Getty Museum, Seattle's Moore Theater, Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, and much much more.

We saw Justin a couple of years ago in a bar setting, and I think Ravinia will be much more conducive to the family-friendly atmosphere that Justin excels in (and he was great at the bar.)

Looking at the literature, he's also getting ready to release his 13nth album for kids and their families  Entitled  Lemonade, it is Justin's 13th album for families, and it contains 12 new original songs.   Sounds like a lot of fun! PRE-ORDER LEMONADE ON AMAZON NOW

Here's how to buy tickets for the Ravinia show:

https://www.ravinia.org/ShowDetails/Index?id=1200

Find out more about Justin Roberts:
http://www.justinroberts.org

And here are some of Justin's albums on Amazon!

Laurie Berkner at Ravinia this weekend!

This weekend kindie music icon Laurie Berkner comes to the Ravinia festival for an amazing afternoon of music.

I met up with her a couple of years ago at Kindie fest,  (and again when I reviewed her musical Wanda's Monster in NY for the City Dads Group)

She's a great person. a great musician, and has the magic touch with kids.  She's delightful and a little magical in person, and it shows in her music.

Her concert is sure to be a blast (in fact, lawn tickets are already sold out!)

If you want to go, you should get the reserved tickets.  Your kids will have a great time!

Here's the link to buy tickets directly from Ravinia.

The concert starts at 1 pm, but there's a kids lawn that is supposed to be a lot of fun from 12-1 pm.  Bring plenty of sunblock, and plenty of delicious food!

To get you in the mood, here's some links to some of her best albums via Amazon.

These albums should have links to listen to song samples on them.

Fantasia at Ravinia July 12 at 7 pm

Ravinia is the oldest outdoor musical festival in the US.  It's been going since 1904, and each year it attracts nearly 600,000 visitors to listen to world-class music.  My wife has been raving about Ravinia since I've known her.  Now that we live in Chicago, a trip to Ravinia has become a must.  So on Sunday our family is off to Highland Park for our first trip there, an afternoon of fun, music, and Disney.

Fantasia & Fantasia 2000 available on
Amazon.com

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra will play the soundtrack for Walt Disney's classic movie Fantasia, and sections of Fantasia 2000. (which was a continuation of Fantasia, with the idea of giving more classical music the Disney Fantasia treatment)

The history of Fantasia is pretty fascinating and covered thoroughly (along with the CSO connection to Fantasia 2000) on the Ravinia blog.

We've got lawn tickets, which means that we'll be bringing a blanket and some chairs, as well as picnic stuff.  (according to the Ravinia Firsttimers guide, photographic/video equipment is NOT ALLOWED inside Ravinia, so don't bring your expensive cameras.)  There are restaurants, bars, gift shops, and other shopping available at Ravinia, as well as chair rental.  There's also a Pavilion which is under cover.  You see, at Ravinia, the rain falls mainly on the plain. (sorry, I couldn't resist!)

At most concerts at Ravinia, the stage is not actually viewable from the Lawn, but there will be a lawn-screen for this concert. Ravinia also will have fun stuff for kids to do on the North lawn, their "KidsLawn", with interactive exhibits, including a classic "instrument petting zoo." Sounds like a blast!

It's going to be an afternoon of lots of fun, and an evening of lots of great music.  Here's the program:

Disney’s Fantasia and Fantasia 2000
Beethoven:		Movement 1 from Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67   Movements 3–5 from Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68
Tchaikovsky:		The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a
Debussy (orch. Stokowski):		Clair de lune from Suite bergamasque
Stravinsky:		Suite from The Firebird (1919 version)
Ponchielli:		“Dance of the Hours” from La Gioconda
Dukas:		The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Elgar (adapt. Schickele):		Marches Nos. 1–4 from Pomp and Circumstance, Op. 39
Respighi:		Pines of Rome, P. 141

To find out more and purchase tickets for Fantasia, visit the Ravinia site online.

Ravinia has a number of other upcoming concerts suitable for families, including Laurie Berkner, the Ko-Thi Dance Company, and a production of  Beauty and the Beast.  See their kid's concert page.