Ravinia 2025 Issue 3

SASHA COOKE Two-time Grammy-winning mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke—appointed co-director of the Lehrer Vocal Institute at the Music Academy of the West in 2022—has frequently been fea- tured by the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, English National Opera, Seattle Opera, Opéra National de Bordeaux, and Gran Teatre del Liceu, among other companies and theaters. She has also been a guest soloist with more than 80 orchestras worldwide, often singing works by Mahler, and her album how do I find you was nominated for the Best Vocal Solo Grammy Award in 2022. Highlights of the past year have included Cooke’s debut at La Monnaie de Munt as Emilie Ekdahl in the world premiere of Mi- kael Karlsson’s Fanny and Alexander and return to Houston Grand Opera as Venus in Wagner’s Tannhäuser , as well as concert performances as Marguerite in Berioz’s La Damnation de Faust at the Bard Festival and Brangäne in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde at the Gstaad Festival. She also recently reprised Laurene Powell Jobs (a role she created in 2017 with Santa Fe Opera) in Mason Bates’s The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs at San Fran- cisco Opera and made role debuts as Brangäne at Opéra de Rouen and as Donna Elvira in Mo- zart’s Don Giovanni at Houston Grand Opera. Appearing extensively on the concert stage, in the past year Cooke has sung Mozart’s Requi- em with the Oslo Philharmonic, Dvorak’s Stabat Mater with the Slovenian Philharmonic, Schön- berg’s Gurrelieder with the Vienna Symphony, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Saint Louis Symphony. Adding to her Mahler credits, Cooke sang Symphony No. 2 with the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, San Francisco Symphony, and Vienna Radio Sym- phony; Symphony No. 3 with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Cologne Philharmonic, and Tuscon Symphony, where she also sang the Rückert-Lieder ; and Des Knaben Wunderhorn with the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra and her husband, baritone Kelly Markgraf. Cooke also joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic and London’s Philharmonia Orchestra for a program of Alma Mahler’s music. Sasha Cooke was a fel- low at Ravinia’s Steans Institute in 2006 and re- turned to Ravinia in 2023 to sing Alma Mahler songs with the CSO. CHICAGO SYMPHONY CHORUS The Chicago Symphony Chorus regularly performs with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Or- chestra 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; in June of that year, ninth CSO music director Daniel Barenboim appointed her successor, Duain Wolfe, who served the ensemble for 28 years until his retirement in 2022. Donald Palumbo has been appointed the chorus’s third director and begins his initial three-year tenure this season at Ravinia. The Chicago Symphony Chorus has performed many times at Carnegie Hall as well as internationally in London, Salzburg, and Berlin. World premieres featuring the chorus have includ- ed 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, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and Staatskapelle Berlin. Since first recording commer- cially 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 recently received a Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance in 2010 for Verdi’s Requiem, led by Riccardo Muti on CSO Resound. The chorus has received an additional nine Grammy Awards for Best Choral Performance. The chorus also has appeared on two movie soundtracks with the CSO: Fantasia 2000 and John Williams’s score for Lincoln , conducted by the composer. DONALD PALUMBO, director CHERYL FRAZES HILL, associate director JENNIFER KERR BUDZIAK and BENJAMIN RIVERA, assistant directors The chorus was prepared for this performance by Donald Palumbo. Michele Braché Agpalo Melinda Alberty Melissa Arning Anastasia Cameron Balmer Madison Bolt Michael Boschert Michael Brauer Matthew Brennan Conor Broaders Terry L. Bucher Anna Joy Buegel Diane Busko Bryks* Katherine Buzard Michael Cavalieri Timothy Christopoulos Joseph Cloonan* Magaly Cordero Sandra Cross Beena David Leah Dexter Chris DiMarco Micah A. Dingler Claire DiVizio Anna Donnelly Katarzyna Dorula Stacy Eckert William Esch Nicholas Falco Christopher Filipowicz Andrew Fisher Megan Fletcher Kirsten Fyr-Searcy Ace T. Gangoso Ruth Ginelle Heald Mary Lutz Govertsen David Govertsen Nida Grigalaviciute Elizabeth Haley Kevin Michael Hall Ashlee Hardgrave Megan Hendrickson Betsy Hoats Alexandra Ioan Ingrid Israel Mikolajczyk Margaret Izard Taylor Jacobson Mark James Meier Garrett Johannsen Alison Kelly Robin A. Kessler Jess Koehn Lisa Kotara Susan Krout Mathew Lake Rosalind Lee Kristin Lelm Lee Lichamer* Amanda Compton LoPresti Dorian McCall Bill McMurray Steven Michael Patrick Eric Miranda Meredith Mollica Stephen Mollica Ian Morris Lillian Murphy Keith A. Murphy Ian Murrell Nathan S. Oakes Máire O’Brien Clarissa Parrish Short Douglas Peters* Cari Plachy* Elvira Ponticelli Brett Potts Angela Presutti Nicholas Pulikowski Margaret Quinnette Leo Radosavljevic Peder Reiff Sladjana Saric Cole Seaton Silfredo Serrano Wha Shin Park Emlynn Shoemaker Aaron Short Elizabeth Shuman Bridget Skaggs Meaghan Smallwood Cassidy Smith Joseph Smith Alannah Spencer Avery Sujkowski Paul W. Thompson Ryan Townsend Strand Scott Uddenberg William Vallandigham Elizabeth Vaughan Angela De Venuto Vince Wallace Peter Wesoloski Debra Wilder Jonathan Wilson * Section leader Chorus Manager Melissa Hilker Assistant Manager and Librarian Olive Haugh Rehearsal Pianists John Goodwin Sharon Peterson Chuck Foster RAVINIAMAGAZINE • JUNE 30 – JULY 20, 2025 74 DARIOACOSTA(COOKE)