Ravinia 2026 Issue 2

Left: On July 3, 1936, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and conductor Ernest Ansermet reinaugurated Ravinia and the pavilion stage where the ensemble is now spending its 90th summer. Below: The CSO’s first concert in residence included Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, which would be featured on its first concert back at Ravinia in 2021, as well as a suite of music fromStravinsky’s Firebird , which the orchestra will perform in its entirety later this summer with Zell Music Director Designate Klaus Mäkelä. Below Left: After a fire destroyed Ravinia’s pavilion in May 1949, a new stage and seating were quickly constructed to ensure that the CSO’s summer season would go on as scheduled. Led by Fritz Busch in the first concert that year, the orchestra performed under an airplane hangar tent until the permanent roof was built in 1950. That roof design still covers the venue today, now as the state-of-the-art Hunter Pavilion. RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIAMAGAZINE 7