Schedule:

Hits from the American Songbook at Bennett Gordon Hall
Kurt Elling curates a program of music theater and jazz standards for the RSMI Singers

The Program for Singers offers a unique setting for 15 classical singers to delve deeply into the vast repertoire of art song for three weeks. Fellows are paired with staff collaborative pianists to work with a faculty of distinguished musicians, pedagogues, and scholars on varied aspects of vocal performance, including style, technique, language, diction, dramaturgy, performance, and career preparation. In addition to a series of public masterclasses that focus on growing the fellows’ experience and interpretations of specific repertoire, the musicians participate in several afternoon and evening concerts presented during the summer, some with specially curated themes and others featuring repertoire selected by the performers.

This program is curated by Kurt Elling, the two-time Grammy winner who is Ravinia’s Audrey L. Weaver Jazz Advisor through the 2026 season. Without question the foremost male vocalist in jazz, Elling is renowned worldwide for his unparalleled virtuosity and flair for trailblazing artistic exploration. From his stunning reinvention of timeless standards to his own captivating original songcraft, the Chicago-based musician has fused his dazzling talents across a panoply of musical approaches, emblazoning each with signature imagination, insight, and emotional intelligence. After performing alongside RSMI Jazz Program co-Artistic Directors Billy Childs, Rufus Reid, and Steve Wilson in the Martin Theatre last season, he recently joined a quintet of RSMI Jazz Program alumni plus Reid and Wilson for a pair of touring concerts at the Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro in New Orleans.

Program:
A glittering finale to the summer programs at Ravinia Steans Music Institute, this afternoon of music theater and jazz songbook standards uniquely taps into each singer’s stage persona to tug at a vast range of emotions within this music of our time. Each of this season’s 15 fellows is featured, further spotlighting their dramatic range in arrangements of these stage and club classics by Jeremy Kahn, one of Chicago’s busiest pianists between jazz venues and pit orchestras. Kahn returns as bandleader for the revue, joined by his crack rhythm section of bassist Larry Gray and drummer Joel Spencer.

Performers
Kurt Elling, Ravinia Jazz Advisor and program curator
Jeremy Kahn, piano and arranger
Larry Gray, string bass
Joel Spencer, percussion
RSMI Singers Program Fellows

Gates Open: 12:30 PM
Concert Starts: 1:30 PM

Tickets: Reserved Seats: $25

The Roots at Pavilion
With special guests Digable Planets and Arrested Development
Three genre-blurring and globally influential hip hop groups come to Ravinia as The Roots, Digable Planets, and Arrested Development take the stage at the Pavilion.

Hailing from Philadelphia and founded by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, The Roots approach hip hop with live instruments and touches of jazz and improvisatory pop. They won their first Grammy with "You Got Me," featuring Erykah Badu, and went on to win more with "Hang On in There" and the album Wake Up!, both in collaboration with John Legend. They have played as the house band on both of Jimmy Fallon's late night shows, serving that role since 2009.

Digable Planets burst into the music scene in the early '90s with their Grammy Award-winning "Rebirth Of Slick (Cool Like Dat)." Made up of Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler, Craig "Doodlebug" Irving, and Mary Ann "Ladybug Mecca" Vieira, the trio carved out a unique style of jazz-informed hip hop. Digable Planets' debut album, Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time And Space), was certified gold and praised by Pitchfork as "a world within a world, complete with its own language and monuments." Melding jazz samples and complex rhymes, they have touched on themes from the nuances of city life to women's rights.

Hip-hop trailbalzer Arrested Development has been a champion of cultural consciousness and empowerment since their foundation in the early 90's. Their merge of African sounds, rhythm, and fashion has left a notable mark on hip hop culture, and they continue a mission of social activism through support of groups like the National Coalition of The Homeless and the African National Congress. The album 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life of... earned Arrested Development two Grammy Awards, two MTV awards, a Soul Train Music Award, and the NAACP Image Award.

Performers
The Roots
Digable Planets
Arrested Development

Donor Gates Open: 4:30 PM
Gates Open: 5:00 PM
Concert Starts: 7:30 PM

Tickets:
Reserved Seats: $115
Lawn Reserved Blocks: $95
Lawn General Admission: $54