Ravinia Festival and CSOA sign new agreement

On October 31, 2025, Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association President Jeff Alexander and Ravinia President and CEO Jeffrey P. Haydon signed a new eight-year agreement to maintain the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s annual summer residency periods at the iconic summer music festival on Chicago’s North Shore from 2027 through 2034. The new agreement follows a previous, eight-year agreement from 2019 through 2026 and retains a six-week CSO concert residency period each summer.

Ravinia President and CEO Jeffrey P. Haydon said, “Ravinia is thrilled to have the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as its orchestra in residence. It’s very fitting that as we go into the 90th anniversary of the Orchestra’s first residency at the Festival and reopening our grandest stage this coming summer that we’re extending our agreement for another eight years.”

Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association President Jeff Alexander added, “What an incredibly long and fruitful relationship our two organizations have had.  It’s always an honor for the Orchestra to play in such a beautiful venue for enthusiastic audiences.  We are delighted the agreement for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to perform at Ravinia each summer has been extended for another eight years and look forward to the many exciting performances that will take place there.”

The agreement anticipates the Orchestra’s performances in summer 2026, which marks the 90th anniversary of the CSO’s first summer residency at Ravinia in 1936. That historic residency opened with a program featuring Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 and Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite led by conductor Ernest Ansermet. The 2026 Ravinia season will begin on July 11, with Chief Conductor Marin Alsop leading the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and pianist Yunchan Lim in the grand opening concert in the newly renovated Hunter Pavilion. This special evening will also serve as Ravinia’s annual Women’s Board Gala.

The summer 2026 residency will also include concerts on August 6 and 7 led by the CSO’s Zell Music Director Designate Klaus Mäkelä, with Ravinia’s summer 2026 concert dates and program details to be announced on March 12, 2026.