Ravinia 2019, Issue 6, Week 11

A MESSAGE FROM ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY Allstate is proud of our strong partnerships with local nonprofit organizations that nurture the cultural richness of our hometown of Chicago. We applaud Ravinia for its long-term commitment to diversity, world-class performances and the many community and educational programs that enrich the lives of so many people in our city. PENTATONIX Texas natives Kirstin Maldonado, Mitch Grassi, and Scott Hoying began singing as an a cappel- la trio while in high school, initially for a local radio competition to meet the cast of Fox’s pop- ular show choir show Glee . Though they didn’t win the contest, their rendition of Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” later gained wider attention on YouTube. The trio then auditioned for the third season of NBC’s a cappella competition show The Sing-Off , adding bass Avi Kaplan and vo- cal percussionist Kevin Olusola to complete the group’s sound, adopting the name Pentatonix af- ter the musical term for a five-note scale to rep- resent the five members. With an broad stylistic range encompassing not just contemporary pop and rock but also electronica, dubstep, reggae, and R&B, Pentatonix cruised to victory on the show, making a final statement with a perfor- mance of Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger.” The quin- tet relocated to Los Angeles and released several more covers on YouTube, including Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” and fun.’s “We Are Young,” while working on their first album. PTX, Vol. 1 emerged in summer 2012, featuring those two songs among other covers, plus two original tracks. After the Christmas EP PTXmas was released later that year, Pentatonix regrouped for the 2013 EP PTX, Vol. 2 , which featured the Daft Punk medley that earned the group the first of its three Grammy Awards to date. PTX, Vol. 3 and a second Christmas album arrived in 2014, followed by the group’s first full disc of original songs , Pentatonix , in 2015. The album debuted atop Billboard ’s charts, as did 2016’s A Pentatonix Christmas , which featured a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” that tallied 20 million views in its first week online. Pentatonix’s Grammy-winning cover of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” was a feature of the group’s 2017 EP, PTX, Vol. 4–Classics . Kaplan departed the group following the final leg of its 2016–17 world tour, which included its first stop at Ravinia. Matt Sallee became Pentatonix’s bass vocalist later that year and has appeared on the group’s two latest albums: PTX Presents: Top Pop, Vol. 1 (its first without any original songs) and Christ- mas Is Here! , both released in 2018. Pentatonix is making its first return to Ravinia. 7:30 PM THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 2019 PAVILION THE WORLD TOUR RACHEL PLATTEN † –Intermission– PENTATONIX † Ravinia debut AUGUST 12 – AUGUST 18, 2019 | RAVINIA MAGAZINE 93