Ravinia 2026 Issue 2

CHANTICLEER Known around the world for its eclectic rep- ertoire and dazzling virtuosity, the Grammy Award-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer was founded in San Francisco in by singer and musicologist Louis Botto, and the group quickly took its place as one of the most pro- li c recording and touring ensembles in the world—an “orchestra of voices” performing thousands of live concerts and selling more than one million recordings. Rooted in the Re- naissance, Chanticleer’s repertoire has expand- ed to include a wide range of classical, gospel, jazz, and pop music. With a deep commitment to the commissioning of new compositions and arrangements, Chanticleer foregrounds Amer- ican repertoire and a distinctively American sound, complementing the group’s signature di- versity in terms of membership and genre. e ensemble has dedicated much of its vast record- ing catalogue to these commissions, garnering Grammy Awards for its recordings of Sir John Tavener’s Lamentations & Praises and the am- bitious collection of commissioned works en- titled Colors of Love . Chanticleer’s album Our American Journey was inducted into the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in . Chanticleer is the recipient of Chorus America’s Dale Warland Commission Award and the Chorus America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming. e group’s Music Director Emeritus, Joseph H. Jennings, received the Brazeal Wayne Dennard Award for his contribution to the African American choral tradition during his -year tenure as both singer and music director. Chanticleer, named for the “clear-singing” rooster in Geof- frey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales , was named Ensemble of the Year by Musical America in and inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame. e group’s award-win- ning education programs were recognized with the Chorus America Education Outreach Award, and have engaged tens of thousands of students since the ensemble began. Chanticleer rst performed at Ravinia in and most re- cently in ; this is the ensemble’s th season at the festival. HUNTERPAVILION 7:00 PM SUNDAY, JULY 26 , 2026 Two Legends, One Legendary Evening EMMYLOU HARRIS and GRAHAM NASH EMMYLOUHARRIS Born into a military family, Emmylou Harris grew up across the southeastern United States before settling in at the University of North Carolina–Greensboro’s performing arts school on a drama scholarship. ere she cultivated a passion for folk music and soon moved to New York, issuing her debut album, Gliding Bird , in . e record label soon shuttered, however, and Harris spent a few years away frommusic— until she began working with Gram Parsons on his albums GP ( ) and Grievous Angel ( ), becoming immersed in country music. Follow- ing Parsons’s sudden death, she reunited with the musicians that brought her to his attention and cra ed her major-label debut album, Pieces of the Sky ( ). Harris’s cover of the Louvin Brothers’ “If I Could Only Win Your Love” on the album became a top- ve country hit and set her up to score number-one country records with her next two albums, Elite Hotel ( ) and Luxury Liner ( ), the former earning Harris her rst of career Grammy Awards. Over the next decade, she not only continued to cra her own hits but also became a proli c guest artist, contributing to albums by Linda Ronstadt, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and many others. In , a long-standing collaboration between Harris, Ronstadt, and Dolly Parton was for- malized on the international top- hit album Trio , including a rendition of “To Know Him Is to Love Him” whose music video was directed by George Lucas. In addition to being a frequent presence in the top of Billboard’s country charts with her solo and collaborative albums—including Old Yellow Moon ( ) and e Traveling Kind ( ) with Rodney Crowell, who worked with Harris on her earliest hit albums—Harris joined the all-star cast of country artists on the soundtracks to ’s Oh Brother, Where Art ou? and ’s Brokeback Mountain . She also teamed up with Mark Knop er on ’s international hit All the Roadrunning . Harris was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in and earned a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award in . Emmylou Harris rst played Ravinia in and tonight makes her th appearance at the festival. RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIAMAGAZINE 85 STEPHENK.MACK(CHANTICLEER)