When audiences return to the Ravinia grounds June 3 to Sept. 23, they’ll find a newly refurbished Pavilion — now rechristened the Hunter Pavilion, in honor of donors Maxine M. and Thomas B. Hunter III.
The Ravinia Festival’s wide-ranging 2026 season, announced Thursday, celebrates that facelift. It also coincides with the 250th anniversary of the United States — acknowledged with programming throughout the season — and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s 90th season at the campus.
The new Hunter Pavilion officially reopens with a special CSO concert on July 11, led by Ravinia chief conductor Marin Alsop. Pianist and frequent Alsop collaborator Yunchan Lim joins the orchestra in Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G, whose jazz-age vintage nods to Art Deco references in the new Pavilion design. So will the flutist Lizzo.
Ravinia president and CEO Jeff Haydon said in a statement that the Pavilion renovation “marks a historic milestone for Ravinia.”
“It is particularly meaningful that this state-of-the-art venue will serve as the inaugural stage for our debut artists,” he said.
Indeed, several A-listers appear at the festival for the first time this summer. Actor Hugh Jackman takes the Pavilion with the Chicago Philharmonic (Aug. 9), in the spirit of symphonic evenings with other Broadway stars. Billy Idol (July 12) and Rod Stewart (Sept. 5) make belated festival debuts, as do Chicago’s own Chance the Rapper (Aug. 8) and Latin superstar Ricky Martin (Aug. 20).
Saxophonist Ravi Coltrane (playing alongside composer and trumpeter Terence Blanchard, June 3), the late Jimmy Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band (July 28), soul-rockers Alabama Shakes (Aug. 21), R&B unit Kool & The Gang (Aug. 27), singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne (Aug. 29, celebrating the 20th anniversary of “Trouble”) and country crooners Miranda Lambert (Aug. 30) and Martina McBride (Sept. 19) also join the festival guestbook for the first time this year.
Making his Ravinia debut, too, is CSO music director designate Klaus Mäkelä. He cuts the late-summer heat with a wintry program on Aug. 6: Richard Strauss’ “Alpine Symphony” and Jean Sibelius’ violin concerto, with soloist Daniel Lozakovich, who also joined Mäkelä for his CSO debut in 2022. The following evening is anchored by an encore performance of Igor Stravinsky’s complete “Firebird,” also featured on that debut concert.
Among these first meetings is a farewell. Alsop, who has led the festival as chief conductor since it reopened in 2021, departs after her contract expires this summer. But it’s a “see you later,” not a goodbye: According to a Ravinia spokesperson, plans are already underway to invite her back for future summers.
Alsop’s exit spells the end — at least temporarily — of a signature of her Ravinia tenure: Breaking Barriers, her festival-within-a-festival championing women in various professional fields. (A festival spokesperson said Ravinia is “exploring how the series may evolve or return in future seasons.”) This year’s salute focuses on film and television music, with a CSO concert co-curated by Emmy-winning composer Laura Karpman (July 24).
Joining them for the weekend is pop-rock auteur St. Vincent, who herself toed into the silver screen in her 2020 mockumentary “The Nowhere Inn.” She performs selections from her discography with an orchestra for the first time in a July 25 concert with the CSO.
Other classical notables: more semi-staged Mozart from former Ravinia baton James Conlon, this time “The Abduction from the Seraglio” (July 16 and 18); the CSO debut of buzzy violinist María Dueñas (July 19); Carlos Simon’s “Good News Mass” for choir, orchestra, and spoken-word artist, a Ravinia co-commission (July 31); the 50th anniversary of keyboard dean Emanuel Ax’s CSO debut, celebrated with John Williams’ piano concerto (Aug. 1); a Quincy Jones tribute (Aug. 13); and the Ravinia debut of British cellist Steven Isserlis, performing alongside the Music of the Baroque orchestra and conductor Dame Jane Glover (Sept. 3).
On the festival’s smaller stages, you can catch violinist Joshua Bell and pianist Jeremy Denk (June 5); jazz singer Kurt Elling and pianist Fred Hersch (June 6 & 7); cellist Alisa Weilerstein and pianist Inon Barnatan (June 7); violinist Augustin Hadelich (July 22); vocal ensemble Chanticleer, in a very American program (July 26); the Danish String Quartet (Aug. 5); mezzo-sopranos Frederica von Stade and Susan Graham, sharing a stage (Aug. 16); a unique multimedia presentation by cellist Karen Ouzounian (Sept. 5); and multi-instrumentalist and social media sensation Jacob Collier (Sept. 23).
Hannah Edgar is a freelance critic.
Pavilion concerts for summer 2026
Select pop, rock and hip hop artists currently announced for the Hunter Pavilion; this lineup is subject to change. Tickets go on sale to the public on April 23 (presale for donors on March 17) at ravinia.org.
July 12: Billy Idol
July 15: Harry Connick Jr.
July 17-18: Paul Simon
July 26: Emmylou Harris & Graham Nash
July 28: Jimmy Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band with guest The Docksiders
Aug. 1: Laurie Berkner
Aug. 8: Chance the Rapper
Aug. 11: Brian McKnight & Gladys Knight
Aug. 12: Joe Bonamassa
Aug. 15: Moe. and Umphrey’s McGee on the moe.mentUM Tour
Aug. 20: Ricky Martin
Aug. 21: Alabama Shakes with guest Liam Kazar
Aug. 22: Bonnie Raitt
Aug. 23: “Grease” Sing-Along
Aug. 25: Deep Purple with guest Kansas
Aug. 26: Brandi Carlile
Aug. 27: Kool & The Gang with guests Morris Day & The Time and ConFunkShun
Aug. 28: Alabama
Aug. 29: Ray LaMontagne with guest The Weather Station
Aug. 30: Miranda Lambert
Sept. 5: Rod Stewart with guest Richard Marx
Sept. 6: Squeeze with guest Adam Ant
Sept. 12: Alison Krauss & Union Station with Jerry Douglas and guest Theo Lawrence
Sept. 13: 10th Fiesta Ravinia: Los Tigres del Norte
Sept. 17: Ziggy Marley and Thievery Corporation
Sept. 18: Tom Jones
Sept. 19: Martina McBride
