Ravinia's final concerts salute Weill, Galway
With the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's annual Ravinia Festival residency heading into its closing weeks, two special events are on tap this weekend: an all-Kurt Weill concert featuring longtime Ravinia favorite Patti LuPone on Saturday and a 70th birthday tribute to legendary Irish flutist Sir James Galway on Sunday.
LuPone, the star of several Ravinia music theater presentations this decade (including the multiyear Stephen Sondheim celebration), will be making her first Ravinia appearance since winning the Tony Award for her triumphant portrayal of Mama Rose in the musical "Gypsy," which she first performed at Ravinia in 2006 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Saturday's 7:30 p.m. CSO concert will include Weill's "The Seven Deadly Sins" ("Die sieben Todsünden"), followed by a selection of Weill's music written for Broadway, contrasting the emigré composer's German and American compositional careers.
The concert also reunites LuPone and Ravinia music director James Conlon, whose Los Angeles Opera DVD of Weill's "The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny" in February won Best Classical Album and Best Opera Recording Grammy Awards.
Saturday's concert is part of Conlon's ongoing "Breaking the Silence" series, which examines lesser-known music by composers whose work and personal lives were suppressed by the Third Reich during the 1930s and '40s. Weill is this summer's featured composer.
Before the concert (6 p.m. in the Martin Theatre), Weill's life and work will be discussed by Conlon, Ravinia president/CEO Welz Kauffman and Kim Kowalke, president of the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music.
At 5 p.m. Sunday, Conlon and the CSO will honor Galway with a concert featuring the renowned flutist and his wife, Lady Jeanne Galway. The program will include Mozart's Serenade No. 10 in B-flat Major, K. 361 ("Gran Partita"), the "Carmen Fantasy" by Francois Borne (arranged by Galway) and Franz and Karl Doppler's "Rigoletto Fantasy."
From 3 to 4:30 p.m. on the north lawn before Sunday's pavilion concert, Ravinia will host a family space for various activities including music-related crafts and storytelling and an instrumental "petting zoo" in which children can explore and play instruments. A free vocal preview concert featuring artists from Ravinia's Steans Institute will be given in Bennett-Gordon Hall at 2:30 p.m. This preview concert will not be broadcast to the lawn.
For tickets, call the Ravinia box office at (847) 266-5100 or go to ravinia.org.
Woodstock festival
The second weekend of the Woodstock Mozart Festival's 23rd season will take place at 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9, at the historic Woodstock Opera House, 121 Van Buren St.
The two orchestral concerts under guest conductor Arthur Arnold will include free preconcert conductor conversations in the Opera House Community Room, one half-hour before each performance.
Music on the program includes W.A. Mozart's Divertimento in D Major, K. 136; Felix Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 9 in C Major ("Swiss") and P.I. Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings.
Arnold, a native of the Netherlands, is principal guest conductor of the Academy of the Pacific in Canada, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra and Seoul (South Korea) National Symphony. He also served as assistant conductor at the St. Louis Symphony under former music director Hans Vonk.
For the festival's final weekend Aug. 15-16, three concerts are scheduled, including a chamber music sampler concert matinee at 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 15. It will feature Woodstock Mozart Festival general director Anita Whalen (piano), along with violinist/conductor Mark Peskanov, the festival's artistic adviser and principal guest artist; plus festival orchestra members Karin Kelleher (violin), Erin Pipal (viola), Loretta Gillespie (viola) and Nazar Dzuhryn (cello).
The mainstage concerts are at 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 15, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 16. Peskanov will lead works of J.S. Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Antonio Vivaldi and Pablo de Sarasate. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 will feature flutists Robin Fellows and Janice Bjorkman.
Mozart Festival tickets are available at the Woodstock Opera House box office for $20 to $55. Orders for tickets may be made with Visa, Mastercard and Discover by calling (815) 338-5300, or online at woodstockoperahouse.com. More information about the festival can be found online at mozartfest.org.
St. Charles Singers seek executive
The St. Charles Singers, one of the nation's most acclaimed professional chamber choirs, is seeking candidates for the newly created post of executive director, a part-time position.
Jeffrey Hunt, the ensemble's founder and artistic director, says the organization's increasingly ambitious concert plans, fundraising goals and community outreach efforts necessitate finding a professional arts administrator. Hunt will continue to oversee all aspects of music programming and performance.
The executive director's duties will include financial operations and budgeting, assisting the board of directors in long-term planning, and pursuing concert-tour opportunities, among other responsibilities.
Prospective candidates can download an application form and detailed job description at stcharlessingers.com/ed; or they can call (630) 513-5272.
During the group's 2009-10 concert season, the 30-voice mixed choir will launch its "Mozart Journey," a six-year initiative to present all of W.A. Mozart's sacred choral music. The St. Charles Singers also will make a guest appearance with the Elgin Symphony Orchestra in performances of Antonio Vivaldi's "Gloria" at the Hemmens Theatre in Elgin. The season begins Dec. 5-6 with the ensemble's traditional "Candlelight Carols" holiday concerts.