Ravinia Cancels 2020 Season
The below statement was posted on ravinia.org on Friday, May 1, 2020:
5/1/20 Update:
In response to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Ravinia, the oldest music festival in the country, has been forced to cancel its 2020 season. Ravinia has operated continually since its 1904 opening except for 1932â1935, when the park was silenced by the Great Depression. The not-for-profit festival was to have presented more than 120 events from June 12 through September 16, including the annual summer residency of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The festivalâs summer conservatory, Raviniaâs Steans Music Institute, will also be closed this summer.
Ravinia President and CEO Welz Kauffman, who late last year announced that 2020 would be his final season at the helm, explained that factors driving this decision prioritized the health and safety of Raviniaâs artists, audiences, staff, and neighbors, and follows similar cancellations of other summer festivals, along with their training programs.
Since February, Ravinia has been working with its guest artistsâsome of whom have already canceled their entire 2020 summer toursâto determine how best to proceed, including opportunities to rebook these performers into future seasons. Raviniaâs leadership has also been closely monitoring the evolving warnings of local, state, and national authorities to avoid large gatherings.
âRavinia benefits from an informed and responsible Board of Trustees and engaged family of volunteers, and our lengthy and thorough discourse on this topic has brought us to the conclusion that it is impossible to move ahead with the season,â Kauffman said.
Anyone who purchased tickets can receive refunds or vouchers for future performances, or they can convert those funds into much-needed tax-deductible donations.
In addition to online concert footage and interviews in support of the May 15 national PBS broadcastpremiere of BernsteinâsMassfilmed last summer, Kauffman emphasized that he and the Ravinia staff are developing ideas to give the festival a âfrom homeâ presence across social platforms, including âvirtualâ opportunities for lectures, master classes, and rehearsals for the Lake and Cook County elementary school students who participate in Reach Teach Play, as well as for the young professionals who won acceptance to RSMI this year.
âThe lives of these young students have been thrown in total disarray, so it is important that Ravinia helps where it can to provide the structure of these virtual classrooms. Our programs give young people a means of expression and connection with each other and their own quarantined families. We teach them that music is their superpower, and what better time than now to have a superpower?â Kauffman said.
âThe crisis created by the Covid pandemic has impacted so much of our lives in dramatic ways. Ravinia will do its part in helping the nation recover,â said Ravinia Board Chairman Don Civgin, âand we will celebrate that recovery with music under the stars next summer.â