Brant Taylor walked onto the stage of the Ravinia Festival’s Hunter Pavilion to rehearse for the first time since a $70 million gut renovation and noticed a huge difference.
鈥淚 found that in the previous iteration of the shell, I was having to wear protective earplugs quite a lot,鈥� the cellist said. 鈥淭here was a desire to make the stage clearer and a bit softer for us.鈥�
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s summer home, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of the city, starts its season Saturday night with chief conductor Marin Alsop leading a program with and . A crowd of up to 12,758 can fill the pavilion and lawn in Highland Park, Illinois.
Venue has hosted music for more than a century
Ravinia opened in 1904 and its first pavilion was built the following year. That one burned down in 1949 and was replaced the following year by a structure used through 2024 with only a modest modifications.
A geometric Arts and Crafts style pattern found in the windows of the Martin Theatre, which dates to Ravinia鈥檚 opening, inspired the design of stage ceiling and walls made of rigid foam clad with 3M vinyl. Threshold Acoustics consulted with Brandt and flute and piccolo player Jennifer Gunn.
鈥淭he 1950 pavilion is iconic, particularly the roof line,鈥� Ravinia president Jeffrey Haydon said. 鈥淎nd so we want to have audiences return to the renovated pavilion feeling like it鈥檚 the new model version of the classic pavilion that they love.鈥�
A total of 335,500 tickets for all events were sold for the 2025 season and 94 programs are scheduled for this summer.
The pavilion’s capacity was lowered from 3,350 to 2,840 as wider seats were installed and made compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. LED lights have lowered the stage temperature, and nine ventilation fans were installed to push hot air through the ceiling.
Alsop also hoped for a cooler sound.
鈥淭he amplitude 鈥� is that the right word? 鈥� of sound on stage can get very, very hot. It鈥檚 really loud sometimes and it鈥檚 especially loud in the area of the brass,鈥� she said. 鈥淥ne of the big acoustical improvements that I hope they鈥檝e addressed is trying to spread out that.鈥�
Alsop first conducted at Ravinia in 2002 and . At the first rehearsal Wednesday, she led Mahler’s Sixth Symphony, a work the CSO will perform on July 23. Acoustical panels over the stage were folded up midway through the practice session, softening the brass. Overall sounds were more diffused than before, when there were hot and cold spots.
鈥淩avinia Festival offers their patrons many different kinds of performances from classical music to big rock bands, recitals, occasionally movie nights with the orchestra playing along,鈥� said Michael Barnes of Lohan Architecture, the design architect for the pavilion renovation. 鈥淭he stage has to be very flexible in terms of how it is configured for those different kinds of performances. So the stage walls, some of them move.鈥�
Outdoor venues have a more relaxed atmosphere
Haydon, who became Ravinia’s president in 2020, planned the reconstruction with ideas he learned from previous outdoor venues where he worked, including the Aspen Music Festival, the Ojai Music Festival and the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts. A women’s locker room was built for the orchestra along with piano storage, practice rooms, offices and a new music library.
鈥淲e actually dug underground,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e expanded underneath the audience area, and we also dug out the crawl space of the adjoining administrative building to grab more space.鈥�
A private concert was scheduled for this Friday for an audience of construction workers, the design team, elected officials, donors and staff of the festival and the CSO.
Ensconced in auditoriums for much of the year, orchestras experience a different vibe when they head outdoors for the summer.
鈥淚t鈥檚 more family oriented,鈥� Alsop said. 鈥淧eople come with their picnics and a lot of the musicians bring their families with them to picnic. So I think it鈥檚 a much more relaxed and receptive attitude.鈥�
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