By HANNAH EDGAR | Chicago Tribune
The Ravinia Festival announced its 2024 summer programming Thursday, running June 7 to Sept. 15. The lineup, spanning more than 100 concerts, includes 59 artist debuts and the programming details of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s annual six-week residency.
Among the musicians appearing at the Highland Park festival for the first time Violent Femmes, playing their debut album with the Chicago Philharmonic (June 21); Ben Platt, who originated the title role in “Dear Evan Hansen” (June 28); singer-songwriters KT Tunstall (June 29) and Meshell Ndegeocello, the latter sharing a bill with vocal luminary Angélique Kidjo (Aug. 8); and prolific pianist/composer/producer Robert Glasper (Aug. 14).
The effervescent vocalist Samara Joy also makes a festival debut this year, bubbling to the top of the festival’s jazz billing (Aug. 25). So do the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra and the Captain Black Big Band, squaring off in a “battle of the big bands” alongside singer Kurt Elling, bassist Rufus Reid and Steans Music Institute fellows (June 16). The following month, Norah Jones and Mavis Staples perform together at the Pavilion in another high-wattage double bill (July 14).
Festival first-timers also headline the eighth annual Fiesta Ravinia: singer-songwriter Julieta Venegas and the very danceable Grammy darlings La Santa Cecilia (Sept. 15).
Read more here.
To view the 2024 schedule (so far), visit Ravinia.org. Tickets for most performances go on sale April 24.
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