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Ravinia Festival is a primarily outdoor music venue in Highland Park, Illinois. It hosts a series of outdoor concerts and performances every summer from June to September in a wide variety of musical genres from classical to pop. The first orchestra to perform at Ravinia Festival was the New York Philharmonic under Walter Damrosch on June 17, 1905, with the Chicago Tribune praising its "musical entertainment so satisfying in quality and so delightful in environment." It has been the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) since 1936. Located in the Ravinia neighborhood, the venue operates on the grounds of the Ravinia Park, with a variety of outdoor and indoor performing arts facilities, including the architectural prairie style Martin Theatre. The Ravinia Festival attracts about 400,000 listeners to some 100 to 120 events.
The Ravinia neighborhood, once an incorporated village before annexation in 1899, is actively maintained by the Ravinia Neighbors Association, who work to enhance and preserve Ravinia's architecture, history, and environment. The business district on Roger Williams Ave., within walking distance from the Ravinia Festival grounds, includes neighborhood service businesses and restaurants. Ravinia takes its name from the numerous steep-sided ravines that slice the shoreline near Lake Michigan.
The Ravinia Festival has been widely acclaimed throughout its history. In the 1920s, it was known as the summer opera capital of the world due to businessman Louis Eckstein, who booked all-opera seasons and artists from the Chicago Opera and New York Metropolitan Opera Companies. By 1930, Ravinia had featured performers including Yvonne Gall, Edward Johnson, and Giovanni Martinelli. However, the high costs of opera performances ultimately led to financial ruin for Ravinia, and it closed for four years. In 1936, North Shore residents raised enough funds to attract the Chicago Symphony Orchestra who then made Ravinia its permanent summer residence.
In addition to symphony concerts, often with guest soloists, the venue hosts opera, jazz, blues, Folk music, Rock music, and popular music performances, plus ballet, drama, and Reach Teach Play educational programs which take place year-round. These educational programs serve around 50,000 people each year in Chicago area schools without a music program. The longest running program—Jazz Mentors and Scholars—assembles the best Chicago Public School musicians with city musicians to create a larger ensemble.
Over the years, Ravinia Festival has hosted many famous artists. Recent artists who have performed at Ravinia include Kygo, John Legend, Aretha Franklin, Bryan Ferry, Diana Ross, Maroon 5, Common, Carrie Underwood, The Beach Boys, Tom Jones, Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga, Josh Groban, Dolly Parton, Sheryl Crow, Patti LaBelle, Andrew Bird, Darius Rucker, Mary J. Blige, Gladys Knight, James Taylor, Santana, Stevie Nicks, Patti LuPone, Smokey Robinson, Sting and John Mellencamp among others.
In November 2023, The Ravinia Festival Association, organizer of North America's oldest outdoor music festival, filed a federal lawsuit against Ravinia Brewing Company for trademark infringement, alleging that the brewery's use of the name and imagery is misleading consumers into believing there is a relationship with the festival. The dispute escalated following the opening of a second brewery location and release of a summer music-themed beer. The legal case concluded with a settlement resulting in the defendant changing its name to Steep Ravine Brewing Company.
Metra provides rail service to Ravinia Park on the Union Pacific North Line at a station outside the front gate with special stops before and after concerts. It is the last private train stop in Illinois. The noted British conductor Thomas Beecham, who guest-conducted the CSO there in 1940, referred to Ravinia as "the only railway station with a resident orchestra." Visitors get dropped off and picked up right at the front gate.
° Levine was named "Conductor Laureate" in April 2017, to begin performances in summer 2018. On December 4, 2017, the Ravinia Festival severed all ties with Levine, in the wake of sexual abuse allegations against him, dating back to decades earlier at the Ravinia Festival. "Ravinia Festival cuts all ties with former music director James Levine over sexual misconduct allegations," Chicago Tribune.
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