Ravinia 2025 Issue 3

TODDROSENBERG(PALUMBO) PAVILION 7:30 PM SATURDAY, JULY 19, 2025 CLASSIC ALBUMS LIVE THE EAGLES Hotel California –Intermission– THE EAGLES More Greatest Hits CLASSIC ALBUMS LIVE Founded in 2003 by Craig Martin, Classic Al- bums Live stands out as the destination for music lovers who want to hear the greatest rock albums of all time performed live without gimmickry or cheesy impersonations. The musicians go to great lengths to faithfully re-create every sound heard on the original album. While there is a core group of musicians who are frequently part of the group’s productions, specialists of whichever in- struments are required—such as sitarists, orches- tras, choirs, or schoolchildren—are brought in as needed. The group has performed albums by The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Bruce Spring- steen, Supertramp, Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones, the Eagles, Guns N’ Roses, Queen, Radio- head, AC/DC, U2, David Bowie, The Doors, and many others. Classic Albums Live previously re-cre- ated Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon at Ravinia in 2013 and 2023, as well as The Beatles’ Abbey Road (2014) and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (2018), Led Zeppelin’s second and fourth eponymous albums at Ravinia in 2015 and 2021, respectively, David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (2016), and Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours (2019). DONALD PALUMBO Donald Palumbo was born in Rochester, NY, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston University. His career was launched at the Dallas Opera in the 1980s, where he served as the assistant to Roberto Benaglio, the renowned Italian chorus master of La Scala. Following a 16-year tenure as chorus director at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, from 1991 to 2007, Palumbo assumed the same position at the Metropolitan Opera. There he was respon- sible for the Met Chorus’s participation in more than 20 opera productions each season, and his work with the chorus was honored with seven Grammy Awards for Best Opera Recording. Af- ter stepping down from his position at the Met in June 2024, he returned the following season to prepare the chorus in a new production of Verdi’s Aida . Palumbo’s appointment as the third chorus director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus was recently announced, and he begins an initial three-year tenure with tonight’s per- formance. Palumbo was the music director of the Chorus pro Musica of Boston and has also served as chorus master of the Canadian Opera Company, Dallas Opera, Banff School for the Arts Summer Opera Program, the Opera Com- pany of Boston, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. In Europe, Palumbo has held the po- sition of chorus master at the Opéra de Lyon, the Aix-en-Provence Festival, the Théâtre du Châtelet, and the Teatro Massimo in Palermo. From 1999 to 2001, Palumbo was the chorus di- rector of the Salzburg Festival, the first Ameri- can to hold that position. Since 2014, Palumbo has been a vocal coach for the Apprentices of the Santa Fe Opera, and since 2016 has been on the faculty of the Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts at the Juilliard School. MARIN ALSOP, Ravinia Chief Conductor For Marin Alsop’s biography, see page 69. RAVINIA.ORG  • RAVINIAMAGAZINE 75