Ravinia 2022, Issue 4

RICK OLIVIER RICK OLIVIER CAROUSEL STAGE 7:30 PM WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2022 NATHAN & THE ZYDECO CHA CHAS † † Ravinia debut MARTIN THEATRE 7:00 PM THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 2022 1:00 PM SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2022 CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA JAMES CONLON, conductor IN ORDER OF VOCAL APPEARANCE: CRAIG COLCLOUGH, Leporello RACHEL WILLIS-SØRENSEN, Donna Anna † LUCAS MEACHEM, Don Giovanni † KRISTINN SIGMUNDSSON, Commendatore SAIMIR PIRGU, Don Ottavio NICOLE CAR, Donna Elvira † ERICA PETROCELLI, Zerlina † BRENT MICHAEL SMITH, Masetto † APOLLO CHORUS OF CHICAGO STEPHEN ALLTOP, director VLAD IFTINCA, harpsichord, assistant conductor GARNETT BRUCE, stage director † MOZART Don Giovanni Overture Act One –Intermission– Act Two Supertitles by Kim Witman † Ravinia debut Ravinia expresses its appreciation for the generous support of Featured Sponsor The Negaunee Foundation and Sponsors Winnie & Bob Crawford and Betsey & Dale Pinkert . NATHAN & THE ZYDECO CHA CHAS Nathan Williams plays zydeco, the fast and furious accordion-driven dance music of the South Louisiana Creole distinguished by trademark rubboard percussion, electric guitars, and R&B influences. Growing up in a Creole-speaking home in St. Martinville, LA, Williams eagerly sought out the music’s originators, including Clifton Chenier, even risking injury to sneak listens when he was too young to attend club gigs. He soon ded- icated himself to learn the accordion while family members focused on other instru- ments, eventually forming the Zydeco Cha Chas. Shortly after their first gig at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, the band got its lucky break when Buckwheat Zydeco recommended Williams to Rounder Records for a project in need of an accordionist—the label picked up the Zydeco Cha Chas and released their first albums, Zydeco Live! (with Boozoo Chavis) and Steady Rock , in 1989. After 1991’s solid Your Mama Don’t Know , the band hit a musical highlight with Follow Me Chicken in 1993, providing both energetic original songs as well as inspired covers of bluesman Z.Z. Hill’s “I Need Someone to Love Me” and Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely,” given a Creole translation as “Elle Est Jolie.” On their next disc, 1995’s Creole Crossroads , the Zydeco Cha Chas teamed up with Cajun sing- er-songwriter Michael Doucet for a powerful blend of Louisiana heritage. The group’s 1997 live album I’m a Zydeco Hog was followed by 2000’s Let’s Go and 2006’s Hang It High, Hang It Low , where Nathan’s brother Dennis Paul not provided jazz-influenced guitar chops but original art for the album cover, their last on Rounder. The Zydeco Cha Chas have since appeared on several New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival compilation albums as well as the independently recorded A New Road (2013), which featured whirling transformations of Ray Charles’s “I Can’t Stop Lov- ing You” and Jim Croce’s “Leroy Brown” among their signature originals. Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas are making their Ravinia debut. RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIA MAGAZINE 35