Ravinia 2021 - Issue 4

Lloyd Wright. The second movement, prai- rie , is my musical interpretation of his unique contribution to the Prairie School architec- ture style. This movement is a chaconne asso- ciated with the Frederick C. Robie House, one of Wright’s most iconic Prairie-style designs. To me, this structure is about space, symme- try, simple complexity, and style.” The elongated horizontal lines and subtle ornamentation of the Robie House exterior inspired the repeating chaconne bass melody (linear Prairie style) and slow waltz rhythm (Arts and Crafts elegance), which is spread over three measures of music. One waltz phrase introduces the chaconne, first heard in the low piano register. Twenty-two repeti- tions of the chaconne provide a substructure to this movement—the speed of repetitions 7–18 increases, reducing the number of mea- sures per repetition from 12 to three—as the higher instruments add various types of me- lodic ornamentation. “The last movement is named after architect Daniel Burnham, a staple in the Beaux Arts architecture movement. Burnham designed Chicago’s Union Station, a monumental structure that is an amalgam of neoclassicism and modernism. This movement is my artis- tic expression of those styles propelled by the century-old hustle and bustle that still, to this day, fills the halls of Union Station.” The violin spins a long line, reminiscent of a Baroque fugue subject, which the cello pairs with a slower, hymn-like countersubject. Other Baroque techniques and textures—toc- cata, two-part invention, canon, and augmen- tation—enter and disappear as examples of “classical” style while the Gospel style heard in the center of the movement reflects the “modern.” –Program notes © 2021 Todd E. Sullivan Union Station by Daniel Burnham LINCOLN TRIO Borrowing the nickname of its home state, the Lincoln Trio was formed in 2003 by vio- linist Desirée Ruhstrat, cellist David Cunliffe, and pianist Marta Aznavoorian—each an internationally recognized performer. Ruh- strat has performed throughout the United States and Europe, appearing at the White House and with the Berlin Radio Orchestra on worldwide broadcasts, Cunliffe has toured as a member of the Balanescu Quartet and performed with the BBC and Royal Scottish Orchestras, and Aznavoorian has appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and at the Kennedy Center and Sydney Opera House. The trio has performed across the United States, including at Le Poisson Rouge, Bargemusic, Alice Tully Hall, and Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, as well as on the Dame Myra Hess Series and Indianapolis Beethoven Chamber Music Series. A number of works have been written specially for the Lincoln Trio, including Ravinia-commissioned works for the Lincoln Bicentennial, seven works by members of the Chicago Composers Consor- tium, a commission by Juan Antonio Cuéllar from Columbia, and tonight’s premiere from Shawn E. Okpebholo. The trio also cham- pions cultural diversity with its music, sup- porting the Chinese Fine Arts Society and the Korean Sejong Cultural Society, which commissioned three works based on Korean themes for the trio to premiere at the Uni- versity of Chicago in 2013. This passion for new music inspired the Lincoln Trio’s debut album, Notable Women , featuring works by Joan Tower, Lera Auerbach, Stacy Garrop, Augusta Read Thomas, Laura Schwendinger, and Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Higdon. The trio collaborated on the Grammy-nom- inated recording of the chamber version of James Whitbourn’s Annelies , a choral setting of the diary of Anne Frank, which they gave the Chicago premiere of at Ravinia in 2013. The trio received their own Grammy nom- ination with their 2016 album, Trios from Our Homelands , featuring works by Rebecca Clarke, Arno Babajanian, and Frank Martin. Their most recent album, Trios from the City of Big Shoulders , highlighting the work of Chicagoans Leo Sowerby and Ernst Bacon, was released earlier this year. The Lincoln Trio made its Ravinia debut in 2008 and re- turns tonight for its 13th season. CAROUSEL STAGE 7:30 PM THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2021 FRANK ORRALL DJ MADRID † JOE BRYL † † Ravinia debut FRANK ORRALL The founder, bandleader, and lead singer of Poi Dog Pondering, Frank Orrall is a multi-instru- mentalist, poet, and composer with a host of side projects, including the Mod dub rockers Thiev- ery Corporation—for which he is the drummer and singer—as well as Palm Fabric Orchestra, Lost Souls of the Great lakes, Soft Explosion, 8fatfat8, and Mourning Doves, which recently cut its first album. Raised in Hawaii with a solar physicist and a folk singer for parents, he learned guitar from his mother and a love of poetry and nature from his father. Orrall began recording in the days of tape decks, putting out his first cassette albums as Poi Dog Pondering on con- signment at stores in Hawaii and Southern California. Gathering collaborators across stints in San Francisco, New York, Austin, and Chicago, he’s since released eight full-length LPs with his longtime band. As a producer and DJ, Orrall brings a global and eclectic style of “acous-tronic groove music” that melds his influences from across Brazil, Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, and the Americas. Frank Orrall has performed at Ravinia four times with Poi Dog Pondering be- tween 1997 and 2014. DJ MADRID With one of the first mixes he recorded, Madrid captured the coveted position of Resident DJ for Virgin Megastore Chicago, a position he occupied for six years. While there, he endlessly explored the vast and eclectic Virgin Music library, pulling in music from around the world. Madrid’s wide-ranging tastes flourished and matured exponentially as he crisscrossed the spec- trums of decades, genres, and rhythms. Whether playing at a private palace in Istanbul, an ex- clusive event in Buenos Aires, the World DJ Conference in Korea, or an intimate lounge in Paris, Madrid’s exceptional talents, sophisticated style, and contagious excitement are what attracted such clients as Louis Vuitton, Ferrari, Bentley, Vogue and GQ Magazines, YSL, DVF, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Menil Collection Houston, Michelle Obama, and Oprah Winfrey. Madrid welcomes the worldwide travels he has shared with his clients as opportunities to discover and study the music and history of the places he visits. What he finds on these important journeys is fascinating and unforgettable sound, and the rich mixes he creates as a result are distinctly and unmistakably DJ Madrid. JOE BRYL Joe Bryl, previous co-owner and musical director of Chicago nightclub Sonotheque, has focused on a wide-range of eclectic, underground sounds. He has been working in the club and entertain- ment industry for the last 30 years and was an original partner in the creation of the renowned music venue HotHouse, exposing Chicagoans to a wide range of left-field dance music, including rare groove, Latin, funk, Brazilian, steppers, African, acid jazz, neo-soul. Bryl was also involved in early days of The Funky Buddha Lounge while also holding positions at The Green Mill and Maria’s Packaged Goods. He is also an accomplished DJ and record collector, once named the city’s “Most Interesting DJ” by the Chicago Tribune , with an extraordinary knowledge of music genres and history from around the world. He has deejayed with Os Mutantes, Gilles Peterson, Seu Jorge, Thievery Corporation, and many other cutting-edge artists. RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIA MAGAZINE 61