Ravinia 2023 Issue 2

Tonight’s performance honors a recent re- imagining of Schiller’s “Ode to Joy” by former United States Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith, commissioned by Carnegie Hall and written in celebration of the 250th anniversary of Bee- thoven’s birth. Smith’s call to cast off darkness and bring a unified song of light and joy into the world (“Lift your voice to touch my voice now, / Let our song bring joy to earth.”) har- monizes with the light-celebrating text of Re- ena Esmail’s See Me that opened this concert. –Program notes © 2023 Todd E. Sullivan “Ode to Joy” O friend, my heart has tired Of such darkness. Now it vies for joy. Joy, bright God-spark born of Ever Daughter of fresh paradise— Where you walked once now walk rancor, Greed, suspicion, anger, fright. Joy, the breeze off all that’s holy, Pure with terror, wild as flame. Make us brothers, give us comfort, Bid us past such fear and hate. If you’ve loved another’s beauty If you’ve craved the warmth of flesh, If your spirit is invested In another’s sense of worth, Lift your voice to touch my voice now, Let our song bring joy to earth. Lift your voice to touch my voice now, Let our song bring joy to earth. Joy like water, milk of mothers. Kind and wicked all deserve Joy’s compassion freely given, Joy which can’t be sold or earned. In the depths of blackest soil In the lightless atmosphere In the atom and the ether, Animating all that is. Let us feel it, let us heed it, Let us seek its deepest kiss. Let us live our brief lives mining That which joy alone can give. Battered planet, home of billions, Our long shadow stalks your face. All we’ve fractured, all we’ve stolen, All we’ve sought blind to your grace. Earth, forgive us, claim us, let us Live in humble thanks and joy. Let our hearts wake from our stupor, Let us praise you in one voice. —Adaptation of “Ode: An die Freude” by Tracy K. Smith, 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States (2017–19) MARIN ALSOP, Ravinia Chief Conductor For Marin Alsop’s biography, see page 42. CHICAGO SYMPHONY CHORUS The Chicago Symphony Chorus regularly performs with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Orchestra Hall and at Ravinia. The history of the CSC began in 1957, when sixth CSO music director Fritz Reiner invited Margaret Hillis to establish a chorus to equal the quality of the orchestra. Hillis accepted the challenge, and the chorus first performed in March and April 1958, in Mozart’s Requiem under Bruno Walter and Verdi’s Requiem under Reiner. Hillis served the chorus for 37 years, until her retirement in 1994; ninth CSO music director Daniel Barenboim appointed Duain Wolfe as her successor in June of that year, and he led the CSC as chorus direc- tor and conductor until his retirement in February 2022. The CSC first performed in Carnegie Hall in 1967 in Henze’s Muses of Sicily and Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe under seventh CSO music director Jean Martinon, and most recently in 2015 with Riccardo Muti for Scriabin’s Prometheus and Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky . Touring internationally with the CSO, the chorus traveled to London and Salzburg in 1989 with Georg Solti for performances of Berlioz’s The Damnation of Faust and to Berlin in 1999 with Barenboim for Brahms’s A German Requiem and Pierre Boulez for Schoenberg’s Moses und Aron . World premieres featuring the CSC have included Ned Rorem’s Goodbye My Fancy , John Harbison’s Four Psalms, and Bernard Rands’s apókryphos . With visiting orchestras, the chorus has collaborated with the Berlin Philharmonic under Claudio Abbado, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Seiji Ozawa, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra with Zubin Mehta, and the Staatskapelle Berlin under Barenboim. Since first recording commercially in 1959—Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky under Reiner—the CSC has amassed a discography that includes hallmarks of the choral repertoire and several complete operas. The chorus most re- cently received a 2010 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance for Verdi’s Requiem, led by Riccardo Muti on CSO Resound. The chorus has received an additional nine Grammy Awards for Best Choral Performance CHERYL FRAZES HILL, associate director JENNIFER KERR BUDZIAK, assistant director ANDREW LEWIS, assistant director BENJAMIN RIVERA, assistant director The chorus was prepared for this performance by Benjamin Rivera. Christina Adams Gretchen Adams Michele Braché Agpalo Geoffrey Agpalo Alicia Monastero Akers Melinda Alberty Melissa Arning Anastasia Cameron Balmer * Megan E. Bell Annie Bennett Laura Boguslavsky Madison Bolt Eileen Marie Bora Michael Brauer Evan Bravos Matthew Brennan Conor Broaders Terry L. Bucher Diane Busko Bryks * Michael Cavalieri Timothy Christopoulos Bethany Clearfield Joseph Cloonan Magaly Cordero Ryan J. Cox Sandra Cross Beena David Leah Dexter Hannah Dixon McConnell Katarzyna Dorula Kathryn Kinjo Duncan William Esch Nicholas Falco Andrew Fisher Leigh Folta Kirsten Fyr-Searcy Ace T. Gangoso Nida Grigalaviciute Amy Gwinn-Becker Elizabeth Haley Kevin Michael Hall Ashlee Hardgrave Adam Lance Hendrickson Megan Hendrickson Betsy Hoats Alexandra Ioan Ingrid Israel Mikolajczyk Taylor Jacobson Garrett Johannsen * Amy Allyssa Johnson James Judd Robin A. Kessler Gabriella Klotz Jess Koehn Lisa Kotara Susan Krout Kristin Lelm Lee Lichamer * Rahim Mandal Bill McMurray Mark James Meier Eric Miranda Rebecca S. Moan Ian Morris Keith A. Murphy Lillian Murphy Ian Murrell Kasey Nahlovsky Máire O’Brien Steven Michael Patrick Cari Plachy Elvira Ponticelli Emily Price Ian R. Prichard Nicholas Pulikowski Margaret Quinnette Alexia Rivera Liliana Schiller Cole Seaton Silfredo Serrano Elizabeth Shuman Bridget Skaggs Cassidy Smith Joseph Smith Ryan Townsend Strand Avery Sujkowski Paul W. Thompson * Tetyana Vakhnovska William Vallandigham Elizabeth Vaughan Aaron Wardell Debra Wilder Megan Wilhelm * Section leader Chorus Manager Shelley Baldridge Assistant Manager and Librarian Heather Anderson Rehearsal Pianists John Goodwin Sharon Peterson Andrew Rosenblum BENJAMIN RIVERA Benjamin Rivera has prepared and conduct- ed choruses at all levels—from elementary school through adult, volunteer and profes- sional—in repertoire from sacred polyph- ony and chant, choral and orchestral mas- terworks, opera, and contemporary pieces to gospel, pop, and folk. He has served as chorus director and regular conductor of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic since 2013, and has appeared multiple times as guest chorus director of the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago and guest music director of Chicago a cappella. Rivera also serves as choirmaster of the Church of the Ascension and High Holidays choir director at Temple Sholom in Chicago, both featuring fully professional ensembles. After one season as associate con- ductor of the Washington Chorus (in DC), he joined the conducting staff of the Chi- cago Symphony Chorus in 2018. Rivera was named chorus master of Milwaukee’s Floren- tine Opera Company in 2019, and he served as guest chorus director for Chicago’s Music of the Baroque for three programs during the 2021–22 season. A professional singer in the Chicago Symphony Chorus for more than 20 seasons—including 12 as bass section lead- er—Rivera also sings professionally with the Grant Park Chorus. He sang for many years with Chicago a cappella and several other en- sembles, appearing as a soloist on numerous programs and singing on dozens of record- ings. Especially adept with languages, Rive- ra frequently coaches in German, Spanish, and Latin, among others. He holds degrees in voice and music theory from North Park University and Roosevelt University, respec- tively, and a doctorate in choral conducting from Northwestern University. RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIA MAGAZINE 35