Ravinia 2021 - Issue 2

PINCHAS ZUKERMAN, conductor and violin Equally respected as a violinist, violist, con- ductor, pedagogue, and chamber musician, Pinchas Zukerman has been a leading mu- sical figure in North America for over four decades. He first arrived in the United States in 1962 to study at The Juilliard School with Ivan Galamian, and he has since led an epon- ymous performance program at the Manhat- tan School of Music for over 25 years, includ- ing the pioneering use of distance-learning technology in the arts. Zukerman also estab- lished the Institute for Orchestra Studies at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, as well as its Summer Music Institute that includes programs for young artists, conductors, and composers. Now Conductor Emeritus of the National Arts Centre Orchestra, he was its music director for 17 years, having previ- ously held that position with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra for seven years. Zuker- man has been principal guest conductor of London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for 12 years, recently leading the ensemble on a US tour. In his fifth season as Artist-in-Res- idence of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, he toured with the ensemble to China and Korea as well as premiered Avner Dorman’s Double Concerto for Violin and Cello with Amanda Forsyth. His chamber music engage- ments have included Zukerman Trio tours throughout North and South America, Eu- rope, and Asia, and he recently joined Daniel Barenboim to perform Beethoven’s complete violin sonatas in Berlin. Zukerman’s discog- raphy of over 100 albums, including two that have won Grammy Awards among more than 20 nominations, has most recently featured a recording of Baroque works with the Na- tional Arts Centre Orchestra and an album of Elgar and Vaughan Williams with the Roy- al Philharmonic Orchestra. His honors also include the National Medal of Arts, the Issac Stern Award for Artistic Excellence, and the King Solomon Award from the America-Is- rael Cultural Foundation. Tonight Pinchas Zukerman makes his 37th season and 76th concert appearance at Ravinia, where he has performed as a soloist, chamber musician, and conductor since 1970. 7:30 PM FRIDAY, JULY 30, 2021 RUBEN STUDDARD † Sings Luther Vandross –Intermission– BRIAN MCKNIGHT † † Ravinia debut PAVILION RUBEN STUDDARD R&B, pop, and gospel singer Ruben Stud- dard rose to fame as the winner of the second season of American Idol , earning a Grammy nomination in 2003 with his rendition of the Carpenters hit “Superstar,” the first single off his debut album. He has released six albums since that chart-topping, platinum-selling disc, Soulful , including his number-one gos- pel follow-up, I Need an Angel (2004). Stud- dard’s hit singles have also included “Flying Without Wings,” “Sorry 2004,” and “Change Me,” but he has also earned fans through a variety of stage and television performanc- es. In 2007 Studdard embarked on a theater tour with Robin Givens starring in the come- dy-drama Heaven I Need a Hug while preparing to join a national tour revival of Ain’t Misbehavin’ the following year, with which he starred as Fats Waller and appeared on the Grammy-nominat- ed soundtrack. He returned to the recording studio and released Love Is in 2009, followed by Letters from Birmingham in 2012 and Unconditional Love in 2014. The latter disc saw Studdard team up with the Verve label and producer-pianist David Foster, and his collaborators on the col- lection also included Lalah Hathaway, with whom he toured in support of the album. Studdard’s most recent record, Ruben Sings Luther , a tribute to Luther Vandross, was released in 2018. Later that same year he made his Broadway debut reuniting with Clay Aiken, who was runner-up in his season of Idol , for Ruben & Clay’s Christmas Show . Studdard’s Idol story traces back to his youth in Birmingham, AL: For years he sang gospel in church, and when he entered Alabama A&M University on a football scholarship, he joined the Phi Mu Alpha music fraternity. Majoring in voice studies, he sang with the local jazz/R&B band Just a Few Cats. He accompanied a fellow band member to an Idol audition; added his own, covering Stevie Wonder’s “Ribbon in the Sky,” he became a local finalist and was soon on the televised competition show. Ruben Studdard is making his Ravinia debut. BRIAN MCKNIGHT Approaching the 30th anniversary of his plat- inum-selling debut album, Brian McKnight has gained international and domestic recog- nition that has long since earned him a spot in contemporary music history as a singer and multi-instrumentalist playing piano, guitar, bass, drums, percussion, trombone, tuba, flugelhorn, and trumpet. With now 20 records to his name and over 30 million al- bums sold worldwide, he has a still-growing legacy of 16 Grammy Award nominations and dozens of top-10 hits, among them sev- eral chart-toppers. His first album, Brian McKnight , was released in 1992 and spent 37 weeks on Billboard ’s top 200 albums chart, paving the way for his third disc, Anytime , told hold that ground for over a year, going double platinum while climbing into the top 20 and hitting number one on the R&B chart. The title track from that set was nominated for Best Male Video at the 1998 MTV Vid- eo Music Awards. Between those discs, Mc- Knight scored a major mainstream hit in 1993 with “Love Is,” a duet with Vanessa Williams featured on the soundtracks of Beverly Hills, 90210 , and Melrose Place . He would eclipse that number-three hit with the title track to 1999’s Back at One —the gold-selling single that led the charge on the album going triple platinum and kicking off his string of four top-10 discs, stretching through gold-sellers Superhero (2001) and U Turn (2003) plus 2005’s Gemini , all on the Motown label. Out- side the recording studio and concert stage, he also found success starring as Billy Flynn in Chicago on Broadway in 2007 and parlay- ing his vast music business knowledge and experience as a red carpet host for the Extra! TV series. McKnight’s most recent music has been released by the SoNo Recording Group. Genesis (2017) led off with the top-20 R&B single “Forever,” and Exodus followed in 2020, preceded by another top-20 hit, “When I’m Gone.” He returned to the top 10 with his most recent single, “Nobody,” released last summer. Brian McKnight is making his Ra- vinia debut. RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIA MAGAZINE 43