Ravinia 2026 Issue 1

HARRYSILVERSTEIN e director of DePaul Opera eatre since , Harry Silverstein has developed a repu- tation as one of the most successful interpreters of Mozart’s operas. His original production of e Magic Flute for San Francisco Opera, Op- era Carolina, and Opera Omaha premiered in and was later reprised by Washington Na- tional Opera, which broadcast it to an audience of , at Nationals Park. Similarly, his staging of Verdi’s Rigoletto for San Francisco Opera was shown to , at AT&T Park. Af- ter apprenticing on the sta of the Lyric Op- era of Chicago, Silverstein made his company debut staging Verdi’s La traviata and returned in to direct Bizet’s Carmen . Also a former apprentice and sta member of Houston Grand Opera, he has directed both Rigoletto and La traviata for the company, as well as Mozart’s Don Giovanni , e Marriage of Figaro , and Così fan tutte . Further Mozart credits include Don Giovanni for Dallas, Wolf Trap, and Chautauqua Operas; e Marriage of Figaro for Opera Paci c and Washington National Opera; Così fan tutte for Dallas and Utah Operas; and Idomeneo for Opera Northern Ireland. Silverstein has staged such other standard repertoire as Puccini’s La bohème (San Francisco Opera) and Madama Butter y (Victorian State and Auckland operas), Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor (Dallas Op- era) and Don Pasquale (Opera Mobile), Verdi’s Il trovatore (Tulsa Opera), Puccini’s Tosca and Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah (Opera Paci c), Wag- ner’s e Flying Dutchman (Utah Opera), and Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila (Opera Omaha). In contemporary opera, Silverstein has worked closely with Philip Glass on productions of the composer’s Satyagraha , Akhnaten , e Fall of the House of Usher (South American premiere), e Making of the Representative for Planet (European premiere), and e Marriages Be- tween Zones ree, Four, and Five (American premiere). He has also directed the premieres of Stephen Barlow’s King and Conrad Cummings’s Tonkin , among other works. Harry Silverstein has directed Ravinia semi-stagings of Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio ( ), Così fan tutte ( ), e Marriage of Figaro ( , ), and Idomeneo ( ) in the Martin eatre as well as concert performances of Così fan tutte ( ) and e Marriage of Figaro ( ). HUNTERPAVILION 8:00 PM FRIDAY, JULY 17 , 2026 8:00 PM SATURDAY, JULY 18 , 2026 A Quiet Celebration PAUL SIMON PAUL SIMON One of the most distinguished singer-songwrit- ers of our time, Paul Simon has been inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame both as a solo artist as half of Simon & Garfunkel. ough the duo had been making music together since the early ’ s, inspired by the vocal harmonies of the Everly Brothers, they rst began performing as Simon & Garfunkel with the folk revival of the early ’ s, quickly establishing themselves in New York’s clubs and landing a record deal with Columbia. eir debut album, Wednes- day Morning, AM , was initially an obscuri- ty, prompting Simon to explore the folk scene overseas in England, where he created his rst solo album, e Paul Simon Songbook , in . Around the same time, a remixed version of “ e Sound of Silence” featuring a rock rhythm section became a massive hit, coaxing Simon & Garfunkel to reunite early the following year for Sounds of Silence , which featured several songs from Simon’s solo album. ey recorded three more albums together, culminating in the worldwide number-one Bridge Over Troubled Water ( ), and also contributed heavily to the soundtrack to ’s e Graduate , including “Mrs. Robinson,” which AFI ranked among the top movie songs of all time. Simon began his solo career anew in with an eponymous album, followed by ere Goes Rhymin’ Simon ( ) and Still Crazy A er All ese Years ( ), each a top- ve hit. en in he released the critically acclaimed album Graceland , which like Bridge and Still Crazy was awarded the Grammy for Album of the Year, and followed up in with the similarly lauded e Rhythm of the Saints . Simon received the Kennedy Center Honors in , a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in , and the inaugural Gershwin Prize for Popular Song from the Library of Congress in . He has continued to be a vital singer-songwriter following these honors, most recently releasing Seven Psalms in , in addition to the top- ve hits So Beautiful or So What ( ) and Stranger to Stranger ( ). Paul Simon made his Ravinia debut in and is returning to the festival for the rst time. RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIAMAGAZINE 83 JAKEEDWARDS(SIMON)