Ravinia Festival tickets now on sale

Forget the calendar. Summer runs from June 6 through Sept. 15 at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, with more than 120 events, including more than 80 festival debuts.

Top musical talent sings at Siddons show

Thirteen of Chicago’s finest musical theater professionals will sing some of their favorite songs under the direction of Dominic Missimi and music direction of Doug Peck. Sounds like a must-see show.

Anne Frank-inspired concert at Ravinia

Anne Frank died at the age of 15 in a Nazi concentration camp, but her diary, left behind when she and her family were arrested in Amsterdam by German police, has made her name a household word.

Nelson twins pay tribute to famous father

Matthew and Gunnar Nelson return to the Raue Center for the Arts Saturday to perform their loving multi-media tribute to their late father in “Ricky Nelson Remembered.”

Chamber music fest warms up winter at NU

If it’s January, it must be time for the Winter Chamber Music Festival at Northwestern University. This is the 17th year chamber music fans will gather in the 989-seat Pick-Staiger Concert Hall alongside Lake Michigan, heedless of the wind and weather, to enjoy performances by local, national and even internationally acclaimed chamber musicians.

‘Sing-Along Messiah’ a crowd favorite

If you’ve always wanted to sing Handel’s “Messiah” but never had a choir breaking down your door asking you to join them, now is your chance.

The Voices in Harmony community choir and the McHenry County College Choir, under the direction of Steven Szalaj, will …

New look, new sound for Matisyahu

The past year has been a time of significant developments for the recording artist Matisyahu.

Born Matthew Paul Miller, he first made a name for himself by combining his Hasidic faith (a branch of Orthodox Judaism) with a potent blend of stripped-down reggae, beatboxing and …

Ravinia extends classical concert season

Building on the success of the summer’s many classical concerts in Bennett Gordon Hall for $10 each, the Ravinia Festival is presenting eight programs in the 450-seat theater this season for that very attractive price.

Titled “BGH $10 classics,” the series runs October through April …

Hall & Oates bringing ‘rock ’n’ soul’ to Ravinia

Darryl Hall and John Oates, one of the most influential rock duos during the Reagan years, return to Ravinia on Sept. 1. Better known as Hall & Oates, the two men rocked the pop stage with their rock and R&B fusion throughout the late ’70s and early ’80s, en route to being named Billboard’s best duo of all time.

Knights with stars at Ravinia

Ravinia closes its summer seaon with a star-studded, three-day program. The Knights, an orchestra with a fresh approach to the standard repertoire and beyond, will take up residence in the pavilion and bring as guest soloists cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Itzhak Perlman, and soprano Dawn Upshaw.

Symphony opener celebrates Dvorak

From the podium and in private conversation, Alan Heatherington, artistic director of the Lake Forest Symphony, has hailed the Czech master Antonin Dvorak as one of the great composers of the later Romantic period. So it is no surprise that the opening concert of the …

Piano virtuoso playing at Ravinia

“As I pianist, I feel we’re all so different,” said Barnatan, an Israeli-born piano virtuoso. “I never believed that if somebody is getting a concert, they’re getting a concert that could have been mine. Or vice versa. I feel like if you do what you believe in and if you’re good enough, there will be a spot for you.”

Ravinia Festival   2012

AUGUST Chicago Symphony Orchestra, all-French program, James Conlon, conductor, Jean Yves Thibaudet, piano. Aug. 7, 8 p.m.—Pavilion. Tickets: $70-$40/Lawn $10/Ticket & dining package $75/Park opens at 5 p.m. Yefim Bronfman, piano, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, James Conlon, conductor. Aug. 8, 8 p.m.—Pavilion. Tickets: $70-$40/Lawn $10/Park opens …

Robinson plays ragtime in Barrington

After years as a world renowned ragtime pianist, Reginald Robinson is now dabbling in other areas of jazz. The 5th Element, a jazz sextet he formed, played the Chicago Jazz Festival last year and will be playing more, including a show on Aug. 11 at …