Ravinia 2023 Issue 2

Jonathan Rush—a protégé of Ravinia Chief Conductor Marin Alsop and Chicago Sinfonietta Music Director Mei-Ann Chen, and himself artistic director of the Baltimore Youth Symphony Orchestra—has twice been a guest mentor for Sistema Ravinia students while visiting to conduct summer concerts and will now help inspire an even wider group of budding musicians, leading not only their rehearsals and performance but also professional development for their instructors. PATRICK GIPSON/RAVINIA country’s social-service ministries. Similarly, Taylor Conda, who served for three years as a board chair of El Sistema USA, calls Sistema Ravinia a “social-change program” with music as the vehicle. According to conductor Raimundo Pineda, artistic manager of Sistema Ravinia Lake County, the program teaches extra-musical values like solidarity and teamwork, with each individual playing an integral role in an orchestra just as he or she can in society. “Our idea is that if you are a good musician, maybe you could be a good citizen,” he said. Pineda is a Venezuelan immigrant who was part of the first generation of alumni of El Sistema. In addition to his teaching, he is a noted flutist and composer— the music the National Seminario students will be working on includes a piece he wrote specially for the occasion. Alsop and others at Ravinia were looking for a way to broaden the reach of Sistema Ravinia, and Isaac Sinnett, Reach Teach Play’s senior associate director and also an El Siste- ma USA board member, conceived the idea for the National Seminario, and he is overseeing the undertak- ing. “How could we be that space for students who might not otherwise have this opportunity to come togeth- er with students with backgrounds like theirs to work with Chicago Philharmonic musicians and be led by someone as renowned as Marin Alsop?” he said. Before the final concert on July 8, the participating students will take part in three days of morning-to-eve- ning activities, including rehearsals of Maurice Ravel’s famed Bol é ro and three other selections with 38 Chicago Philharmonic members and sectional practices with 25 mentors from the orchestra. “It really is intense,” Sinnett said. “It’s intense from a music-mak- ing standpoint, and it’s intense from a social, community-building aspect.” Rush, who spent 2018–19 on staff at the Chicago Sinfonietta and now serves as both associate conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orches- tra and artistic director of its youth orchestra, felt compelled to take part in the National Seminario as a Black conductor. “My artistic mission,” he said, “is to inspire that next generation of young creators and musicians who look like me, because I didn’t really have it at a younger age. When I look at this El Sistema program, I see a lot of students who are underrepresented or unrepresented, really, inside of the field of classical music, and I think this is perfect opportunity for me to be that example for them, to let them know that if this is a career you want to take on, it’s absolutely possible.” Most of the Seminario activities will take place on the Ravinia campus, but the students will be staying in the dorms at nearby Lake Forest Col- lege, where they will also have some rehearsals. “Even for some of our own students, this is going to be the first time they have stayed away from home,” Sinnett said, “so it’s a big deal, and it’s a big opportunity, and I’m sure it’s scary in many ways and exciting in other ways.” The big difference between the Seminario and many other high-pro- file summer music camps is that there are no required auditions. “I kind of saw this middle ground,” Sinnett said, “where there was this big group of students who weren’t having oppor- tunities, because maybe they weren’t ready to audition into an experience like that or maybe some students just aren’t good auditioners.” Instead, Sistema Ravinia sent invitations to the El Sistema-inspired organizations in the United States and Canada asking them to nominate up to 10 students for the Seminario, and 23 groups responded. “Part of the idea of the non-audition,” Sinnett said, “is that the organizations know their stu- dents better than we could through an audition. They know which students could receive the greatest impact through this type of experience.” Sinnett and others then set up Zoom calls with officials from each organization to discuss their submis- sions and Ravinia’s eventual picks. A little fewer than half the students nominated were chosen, with an over- riding goal to make sure there was a balanced number of musicians across all the sections of the Seminario en- semble. “We joked that we were trying to avoid an orchestra of 47 flutes, 97 violins, a piccolo, and a string bass,” Sinnett said. Another of the Chicago-area students participating is Rafaela Palencia, an 8th-grader at Edith Smith Middle School in Waukegan who is a big fan of the cello. “I like the sound it has,” the young instrumentalist said. “Whenever I play it, I can feel it vibrating with me. It makes my body want to move.” She believes the event will help her decide if she wants to make music her career. With help from the event’s present- ing sponsor, the Chicago-based Ralla Klepak Foundation for Education in the Performing Arts, Ravinia is already committed to presenting the National Seminario in 2024. But after that, Sinnett hopes it will become a biennial rather than annual event. “It’s such a massive project, and it’s so complex with so many logistical layers to it,” he said. “I think also it can be really challenging to keep the mo- mentum going on an annual basis, so we’re hoping to give the programs and students some breath to plan.” Kyle MacMillan served as classical music critic for the Denver Post from 2000 through 2011. He currently freelances in Chicago, writing for such publications and websites as the Chicago Sun- Times , Early Music America , Opera News , and Classical Voice of North America . RAVINIA MAGAZINE • JULY 3 – JULY 16, 2023 14