Ravinia 2021 - Issue 3

DAVID MCCLISTER (THE WAR AND TREATY) PAVILION 7:30 PM SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2021 7:30 PM MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2021 BIGGER LOVE TOUR THE WAR AND TREATY † –Intermission– JOHN LEGEND † Ravinia debut A MESSAGE FROM WINTRUST Wintrust is proud to support Ravinia Festival and the joy it brings to so many during the summer season. At Wintrust, we believe in supporting local organizations, such as Ravinia, that help make a positive difference in the communities where our customers and employees live and work. We are an enthusiastic patron of the arts in Chicago and its surrounding neighborhoods and are proud to serve as a Ravinia corporate sponsor again this year. Wintrust is a financial holding company providing commercial and community banking, wealth management and treasury management services, and mortgage origination. Wintrust Community Banks have more than 175 locations around the Chicagoland, southern Wisconsin, and Northwest Indiana areas, including in Ravinia’s neighborhood in Highland Park, Glencoe, Deerfield, Lake Forest, Northbrook, and Winnetka, to name a few. At a Wintrust Community Bank, you get the resources of a big bank with the exceptional service and community focus that can only come from a local community bank. We value our partnership and are pleased to join Ravinia in welcoming you here tonight and to the 2021 season. JOHN LEGEND The first African American man to earn the complete EGOT entertainment awards, in- cluding 11 Grammys, John Legend got his start working as a session musician coming out of the University of Pennsylvania, where he had also found eager audiences for his blend of gospel, soul, and classical music training. After working with such artists as Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys, and Jay-Z, he was signed by Kanye West’s GOOD Music label, and in 2004 he released his debut album, Get Lifted , which earned Legend the Grammy for Best New Artist and two other honors. His 2006 follow-up, Once Again , cemented his place in the soul music pantheon, quickly achieving platinum sales, and 2008’s Evolver marked his third consecutive top-five album. Legend teamed with The Roots in 2010 to record Wake Up! , an album of socially con- scious songs of the ’60s and ’70s, which won an NAACP Image Award. The collection also included his Grammy-winning song “Shine,” which was featured in the award-winning documentary Waiting for “Superman . ” Leg- end’s 2013 album, Love in the Future , featured the international mega-hit “All of Me,” which has surpassed diamond-level sales. The fol- lowing year, he teamed with Common to write “Glory” for the film Selma ; the track won both a Golden Globe and an Oscar for Best Original Song. Legend collaborated with Miguel and Chance the Rapper on 2016’s Darkness and Light , which included the hit single “Love Me Now.” Returning to film, he was featured in La La Land —both on screen and in the soundtrack—and recorded the title song to 2017’s Beauty and the Beast with Ari- ana Grande. Legend took to the stage starring in NBC’s live broadcast of Jesus Christ Super- star in early 2018, closing out the year with the holiday album A Legendary Christmas , and he has been a coach on The Voice since sea- son 16 in early 2019. His latest album is Bigger Love , featuring the single “Conversations in the Dark.” A dedicated philanthropist, Leg- end was named BET’s Humanitarian of the Year in 2010, and in 2015 he founded the Free America campaign to seek criminal justice and mass incarceration policy reform. John Legend is returning for his fourth season at Ravinia, where he first appeared in 2009. THE WAR AND TREATY Named the 2019 Emerging Act of the Year by the Americana Music Association, the hus- band-and-wife team of Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Blount-Trotter dynamically blend Southern soul with elements of gospel, coun- try, rock-and-roll, and blues as The War and Treaty. Despite the deep sense of communion that infuses their music, Michael and Tan- ya hail from wildly different backgrounds. Originally from just outside Washington, DC, Tanya discovered her vocal skills at a young age and promptly pursued a career in music and acting. Meanwhile, Michael grew up in Cleveland and DC, spending part of his childhood in homeless shelters and later enlisting in the US Army. While stationed in one of Saddam Hussein’s palaces several years after 9/11, he gained access to a piano and captivated his fellow troops with his own vocal presence. Soon tasked with writing and performing songs in memoriam to his unit’s fallen soldiers, Michael cultivated a distinct songwriting voice that he further developed upon returning home. After he and Tanya shared the stage at a music festival, the two began creating music together, eventually marrying and forming The War and Treaty. Their EP Down to the River arrived in July 2017, and the duo made their full-length de- but with Healing Tide in 2018, carving out a spot on Billboard ’s Heatseekers chart at num- ber 11. Newly signed to Rounder Records, they spent much of 2019 not only working on their sophomore album but also touring with the likes of Brandi Carlile and Jason Isbell, as well as joining Al Green for a run of dates at such iconic venues as Radio City Music Hall. The duo teased the new disc with a pair of singles—“Hustlin’,” featuring Jerry Douglas and Chris Eldridge, and “Jealousy”—in early 2020, also releasing the standalone track “We Are One” and a video for “Five More Min- utes” that summer, before issuing Heartstown last fall. The War and Treaty is appearing at Ravinia for the first time. RAVINIA MAGAZINE • AUGUST 18 – SEPTEMBER 6, 2021 54