Ravinia 2019, Issue 6, Week 11

RACHEL PLATTEN Born in New York City and raised in Massachu- setts, Rachel Platten learned to play guitar and piano in her youth and sang with the all-female Trinitones at Trinity College, where she stud- ied international relations. Today an Emmy Award winner and multiplatinum-selling re- cording artist, Platten first hit the airwaves in 2011 with “1,000 Ships” off her album Be Here , but few artists in the past decade have struck a chord of hope and resilience like she did with her empowering 2015 hit “Fight Song.” Listeners instantly adopted the transformative anthem as their own, and fans around the globe bonded over their tales of personal empowerment. Plat- ten topped countless radio and iTunes charts worldwide with her major-label-debut album Wildfire , which also included the platinum Billboard Hot 100 hit, “Stand By You.” In 2017, Platten released Waves , which delivered another searing, emotionally and socially relevant pop gem in “Broken Glass,” which again connected audiences and moved women to stand up for each other while also amplifying the power of individuality. She co-wrote each of the disc’s 13 tracks, collaborating with such songwriters and producers as Ryan Tedder, Stargate, Jason Evi- gan, and Ian Kirkpatrick on such other stand- outs as the sultry and infectious “Shivers” and more intimate songs, such as the bewitching “Collide,” the piano-tinged “Hands,” and the album’s moving closer “Grace.” Most recent- ly, while awaiting the arrival of her daughter, Platten released “You Belong” as an anthem for expectant moms everywhere. Rachel Platten is making her Ravinia debut. 8:30 PM FRIDAY, AUGUST 16, 2019 PAVILION SHANGHAI SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ‡ LONG YU, conductor ALISA WEILERSTEIN, cello QIGANG CHEN Wu Xing ( The Five Elements ) * Shui (Water) Mu (Wood) Huo (Fire) Tu (Earth) Jin (Metal) DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto Allegro Adagio ma non troppo Finale: Allegro moderato Alisa Weilerstein –Intermission– RACHMANINOFF Symphonic Dances Non allegro Andante con moto (Tempo di valse) Lento assai—Allegro vivace ‡ Midwest debut * First performance at Ravinia Ravinia expresses its appreciation for the generous support of Featured Sponsor The Dancing Skies Foundation . QIGANG CHEN (b. 1951) Wu Xing ( The Five Elements ) Scored for three flutes and piccolo, three oboes, three B-flat clarinets, E-flat clarinet, bass clarinet, three bassoons, four horns, trumpet in C, two trumpets in B-flat, three trombones, tuba, vibraphone, xylophone, two sets of six temple blocks, bass drum, four log drums, two marimbas, chimes, triangle, two sets of six wood blocks, suspended cymbal, glockenspiel, large gong, metal chimes, bamboo chimes, harp, piano, celesta, and strings The first record of wuxing , a traditional Chinese way of describing the dynamic interactions of natural phenomena, survives from the Shang dynasty (ca.1600–ca.1046 BCE) in the form of inscriptions on oracle bones. Its full mod- ern meaning appears to have coalesced during the Han dynasty (202 BCE–220 CE), outlining five phenomena—wood, fire, earth, metal, and water—that govern cycles of change in multiple realms, from the cosmos and mortality to aes- thetics and spatial arrangement ( fung shui ). Two primary cycles influence wuxing : “generative” and “destructive.” (For example, wood produc- es fire [generation] but metal conquers wood [destruction].) Unlike the elements in classical Greek philosophy that designate the physical es- sence of matter—fire, air, water, and earth, later joined by ether—the wuxing characterize active processes, so that the term might best translate as “five phases.” Qigang Chen absorbed this philosophy grow- ing up in Shanghai and Beijing. His father was a well-known painter and calligrapher, as well as an admirer of traditional Chinese music, and his mother was a pianist and piano teacher. At the age of 13, Chen entered the middle school attached to the Central Conservatory of Music, primarily to study clarinet. His musical studies RAVINIA MAGAZINE | AUGUST 12 – AUGUST 18, 2019 94