Ravinia_2018_Steans_Music

ashups have been the mother of invention

for decades. From music to language, a whole that’s more than the

sum of its immediately familiar parts gives us the newness that we

crave from the comfort of what we already enjoy. ey’re the in-

spired shu e buttons that have given us the likes of YouTube sensations e Piano

Guys and Pentatonix. It’s also where we get new words like

hangry

. But going

beyond putting together words and sounds, creating a fusion of music down to its

very roots so that the parts occupy the same space rather than simply share it, is

something di erent. Composers of music throughout history have regularly dared

to twist the familiar into the unexpected with a little help from something unex-

pectedly familiar—that’s how we created rock and roll right here in the US. But can

a new fusion catch on? How many di erent ways can one sound before it becomes

something new again? Does it even sound good? Howmany people agree it’s worth

making or listening to? ese are the sorts of questions Ravinia opened up for

the asking when it created an international musical composition competition this

past winter, and the answers will come during a rst-of-its-kind concert at the

festival on June . at night will also mark the rst summer entry in celebrat-

ing the th anniversary of Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, the festival’s summer

conservatory that connects some of the best young professional musicians from

around the world with an esteemed faculty for concerts, master classes, and more

learning opportunities onsite in the John D. Harza Building and from its Bennett

Gordon Hall stage. “For decades, our musical leaders and supporters dreamed of

having a college-level conservatory right here at Ravinia, and they made it hap-

pen in

. It’s become a major source of pride for Ravinia, and an important

opportunity for performers,” said Ravinia President and CEO Welz Kau man.

RAVINIA’S STEANS MUSIC INSTITUTE