Chicago Sinfonietta's 34th Season Kicks Off With Ravinia Festival Concert

Chicago Sinfonietta (CS) offers a preview of its coming season with a special preview performance at Ravinia this September. The influence of different cultures shines in this fusion of works spanning three centuries in a thrilling choreography of symphonic dance featuring two Chicago Sinfonietta signature works.

"We are thrilled to open our 34th season with a return to Ravinia, one of the country's revered music festivals," said Chicago Sinfonietta Chief Executive Officer Blake-Anthony Johnson. "As we re-engage our CS family and invite them back to live performances, we also welcome new audiences to Chicago Sinfonietta, this program offers the community a taste of our 2021-22 season."

English composer Samuel Coleridge -Taylor's stirring Danse Négre from African Suite, Op. 35 highlights the African influence in Great Britain during the 19th century, juxtaposed against the German influence heard in Johann Strauss II's On the Beautiful Blue Danube, one of two Chicago Sinfonietta signature works on this concert. Polish composer Frederic Chopin's first published waltz, the Grande valse brillante in E-flat major, Op. 18, arranged by Stravinsky for Sergei Diaghilev's 1909 ballet Les Sylphides, introduces the world of ballet, while another Sinfonietta signature work, Florence Price's buoyant, lyrical Dances in the Canebrakes from 1953, reintroduces African influences from a 20th century American composer's point of view. Traditional folk tunes inspire the next two works: Smetana's tune in Vitava (The Maldau) is derived from an old Czech folk song, Kočka leze dírou ("The Cat Crawls Through the Hole") while music in the style of a fiery Bohemian dance is spotlighted in Dvorak's popular, fiery Slavonic Dances Op. 46, No. 8. Closing out the concert is a dance-inspired work accompanied by an audience engagement activity, Arturo Márquez's Conga del Fuego Nuevo (New Fire).

Additional details and ticket information can be found at ravinia.org.