Ravinia 2019, Issue 1, Week 1

CONCERT DANCE INC. VENETIA STIFLER, artistic director Emmy-nominated choreographer and director Venetia Stifler is the executive and artistic direc- tor of the Ruth Page Center for the Arts as well as the artistic director of Concert Dance Inc., the official contemporary dance company of the Ruth Page Center, which performs choreogra- phy by Stifler and other leading contemporary artists while also exploring and reenvisioning Ruth Page’s work. Since assuming directorship of the Ruth Page Center for the Arts in 2000, Stifler has helped to bring into greater focus its mission of being a platform for developing great artists and connecting them with audiences and community. Stifler has choreographed over 35 major works, including the critically acclaimed Chicago Project , a collaborative work combining original music and photography that used Chi- cago’s rich architectural landscape as a vibrant backdrop. This seminal work was premiered over 2017–18 at Ravinia as The Chicago Project: Future Present and was developed using today’s multimedia technology and with the eyes of a choreographer whose creative process and point of view have evolved. Stifler’s reenvisioned pro- duction of Ruth Page’s groundbreaking 1947 “ballet cartoon” Billy Sunday came alive again in 2007 with several stage presentations and in a PBS documentary that garnered several Emmy nominations. Stifler has also served as artistic director for the Ruth Page Dance Series, pro- duced in conjunction with Northeastern Illinois University, a festival of dance that showcases the rich variety of dance styles and artists in Chi- cago and has produced over 40 Chicago-area dance companies over the last 25 years. In 2015 she was named to NewCity ’s annual “Players” list, which honors leaders within the Chicago arts and culture community, recognizing those who work tirelessly behind the scenes to make art happen. Dances With Words and Music is sponsored in part by The Poetry Foundation. CHRISTINA KALOYANIDES, soprano Christina Kaloy- anides is a dra- matic soprano of Greek and Polish heritage from Chicago. She has performed inter- nationally throughout Italy, Austria, Prague, Mexico, and the United States. She has earned particular acclaim for her performances of Strauss’s Vier letzte Lieder , the title role of Pucci- ni’s Tosca , Magda in Menotti’s The Consul . In ad- dition to concertizing, Kaloyanides spends time developing, supporting, and nurturing the work of artists and the arts, as well as giving back to the community in general. Her background in arts administration, performing, teaching, fundraising, and business management gives her a unique perspective. She maintains a vocal studio in Chicago and is on staff at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Kaloyanides earned a Master of Music degree from the University of Texas in opera performance and a bachelor’s de- gree in vocal performance with minors in vocal pedagogy and French horn performance from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roo- sevelt University. JAMES MOREHEAD, piano James Morehead is artistic director of the Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus, music director of VOX3, and choir director at Im- manuel Lutheran Church in Evanston, IL. He primarily works as a coach, accompanist, and music director for the theater conservatory of Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roos- evelt University, where he has also served as an adjunct professor of music theory and history and German diction. Morehead earned an MM in piano performance and music theory from Roosevelt University and a BM from Duquesne University. As a music director, Morehead worked on See What I Wanna See in the 2013 Steppenwolf Garage series and has also earned Jeff Award nominations with productions of The Wiz , Dessa Rose , bare , and Passing Strange . He has been a featured pianist at the Green Mill and at 54 Below in New York City, among many other venues, as well as in concert at the Audi- torium Theater, Chicago Cultural Center, Har- old Washington Theater, and Ravinia and with the Juliani Ensemble, the Grande Prairie Choral Arts Singers, Anaphora, Lyric Opera Kids, and ChiArts. WELZ KAUFFMAN, piano Welz Kauffman has fostered a love for music since age 4, when he began listening to a wide variety of recorded music, and began playing piano at age 5. His classical training extended through studies at Occiden- tal College and Tanglewood and has included master classes with such artists as Leonard Ber- nstein, John Browning, Gilbert Kalish, Alicia de Larrocha, Lang Lang, Alfred Brendel, Mal- colm Frager, Rudolf Serkin, and Karl Schnabel. Equally comfortable in garage bands, music theater, and jazz, Kauffman takes special satis- faction in collaborating with soloists, including flutists Sir James and Lady Jeanne Galway and such acclaimed vocalists as sopranos Sylvia Mc- Nair, Nicole Cabell, and Michelle Areyzaga. As president and CEO of Ravinia, Kauffman was named the Chicago Tribune 2018 Chicagoan of the Year for classical music for programming an expansive celebration of the Leonard Bernstein centennial. He has been responsible for both the artistic and the financial integrity of Ravin- ia since his appointment in 2000, and he is the first artistic director to program all classical and nonclassical programming at North America’s oldest music festival. BRIAN TOROSIAN, guitar Brian Torosian is an active soloist and chamber mu- sician versed not only in the stan- dard six-string guitar, but also baroque guitar, Terz guitar, and 10-string guitar replicas. Torosian is president of the Chicago Classical Guitar Society and directs the guitar program of Northeastern Illinois University, where he is a multiple recipient of the Instructor Excellence Award. He earned bachelor’s, mas- ter’s, and doctoral degrees from Northwestern University as a student of Anne Waller, and he also studied with Oscar Ghiglia at the Acca- demia Musicale Chigiana, where he received the Diploma of Merit. Torosian has appeared in con- cert with such ensembles as the Chicago Sym- phony Orchestra, Grant Park Symphony, Chi- cago Opera Theater, His Majestie’s Clerkes, and Classical Symphony Orchestra. An exponent of the music of J.K. Mertz, Torosian has published several editions of his works, including the first complete edition of his Opern-Revue , his op. 32 Der Prophet divertissement, an anthology of operatic concert works, and new editions of his selected works published by Chanterelle Verlag, Heidelberg. Torosian’s recordings include a col- lection of Mertz’s guitar and piano duos. RAVINIA MAGAZINE | MAY 31 – JUNE 9, 2019 94