A Resplendent Summer at the Steans Institute, Da Capo al Fine

By Molly Sender

“They treat us like kings!” read an Instagram Story caption, superimposed on a photo of an overflowing plate in front of the pristine green of Ravinia’s South Lawn. Behind the lens, drummer Myles Martin sat with 14 other up-and-coming jazz musicians, enjoying a break from their intensive music making to share a meal outside of Bennett Gordon Hall. In that moment, their residency at the Ravinia Steans Music Institute was coming to a close, but RSMI had just begun its triumphant return to in-person programming. Looking back on the past 12 weeks, the joy that accompanied the music in the halls of the John D. Harza Building after a hushed 2020 found even greater resonance and provided the perfect anacrusis—the pickup notes—for Ravinia’s 2021 season.

Composer Steven Feifke (right) chats with saxophonist Greg Ward after the premiere performances of his and the other two winning works from the 2020 Bridges Competition.

The Steans Music Institute kicked off the summer a full month before the gates opened at Ravinia Festival, presenting the long-awaited Third Bridges Composition Competition Concert, livestreamed from Bennett Gordon Hall. The winning composers from 2020—whose works were selected by the jury of RSMI Program for Jazz directors—finally had the chance to spend several days workshopping their pieces written for string quartet and jazz trio (some with an additional solo instrument) with an ensemble of alumni from both the RSMI Programs for Jazz and Piano & Strings. The June 4 concert saw the belated premieres of the works by Addison Frei, Steven Feifke, and Zachary Rich, as well an encore performance of the 2019 winner by Michael Orenstein, in a multimedia presentation incorporating video interviews with the composers explaining their musical influences and introducing their pieces. The concert overlapped with the arrival of the Program for Jazz fellows, kicking off their residency with a heaping dose of inspiration and creating the most supportive of audiences for the competition winners while indoor, in-person performances were still limited.

The artists behind the June 4 Bridges concert—RSMI Jazz Program directors Steve Wilson, Billy Childs, and Rufus Reid (center, cream shirt/gray jacket to black shirt/light gray jacket [L to R] ) with the 2020 and 2019 winning composers and alumni musicians from the RSMI Jazz and Piano & Strings Programs

Saxophonist Veronica Leahy, bassist Gerson Lazo-Quiroga, and trumpeter Joey Archie play original music as part of a quintet on the 2021 RSMI Jazz Grandstand.

At the one-week Program for Jazz (June 3–12), the 15 fellows represented the diversity and future of jazz music, comprising nine men and six women hailing from coast to coast as well as from South Korea, Chile, and Indonesia. Having attended RSMI virtually in 2020, the musicians were already familiar with one another, but coming off the year of isolation—punctuated by the loss of nearly all performance opportunities—making live music together was a particularly invigorating experience. Drummer Eliza Salem noted, “The human connection that comes with being a musician and meeting new people through music motivates me to keep going. I never feel more connected to people than when we’re playing music together. I have also just come out of a period of time when I was unable to play. Coming out of that has made me even more appreciative of music, and the feeling of sitting at a drum set.”

RSMI’s focus on creating a collegial and supportive atmosphere only added to the camaraderie between this special group of fellows. “The fact that everybody here is so talented and yet so nice and humble—there’s no ego here, no drama—it’s so refreshing to be in an environment like this,” said trumpeter Joey Archie. “You don’t find many places like this with high-quality people at all levels, from the faculty to the assistants. Everybody is so warm, and Ravinia Steans Music Institute definitely lives up to its motto, ‘Everything for the Artist.’ ” The program wrapped with the first-ever livestream of its Jazz Grandstand concert, featuring original compositions by all 15 fellows, garnering almost 700 views on YouTube in its first 24 hours—nearly twice the audience of a sold-out Bennett Gordon Hall.

RSMI faculty cellist Timothy Eddy joined three fellows—violinists SooBeen Lee and Julian Rhee and violist Charles Galante—for a performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s third “Razumovsky” Quartet on a concert dedicated to the memory of longtime RSMI faculty member Leon Fleisher.

Filling five weeks, from June 20 to July 23 this summer, the Program for Piano & Strings at RSMI immediately required a host of new considerations for the wellbeing of the faculty, fellows, and staff—nearly twice as many resident musicians (28, slightly fewer than the usual 35) would be onsite daily and some of the faculty artists would rotate weekly, plus Ravinia would be open to the public starting July 1. In order to reduce risk factors for the participants, RSMI operated as a “hive,” keeping fellows on campus and closing the Harza Building to anyone outside of the program. Once the musicians settled in, however, the day-to-day was nearly unchanged from normal years: daily coachings and lessons with the world-renowned faculty, as well as time and space for individual practice and small group rehearsals, plus 10 concert dates over the course of the residency.

The 2021 RSMI Piano & Strings Program fellows with program director Miriam Fried (seated, far left) and other faculty and staff

Though RSMI concerts weren’t heard by public audiences in Bennett Gordon Hall, two were enjoyed by listeners on Ravinia’s South Lawn with a view of the performance on the video screen, and every date was livestreamed on YouTube.

While cheering audiences and outings to downtown Chicago were certainly missed, the unique environment of the hive lent itself to as friendly and close-knit a community as any in RSMI’s 33-year history. As violinist Ellinor D’Melon observed, “There is a big family feeling. Everyone is staying in the same place, eating dinner together, living together.” Cellist Connor Kim added, “I was taken aback by how free and nurturing Steans is. It really is a place where you can come, make music, and not worry about anything else. The camaraderie between friends here—everyone is so interested in learning about each other.” Though in-person audiences were limited to program participants and a handful of special guests, the concerts continued to be viewed far and wide via livestreams as in recent years, amassing over 13,000 views and 2,200 hours of watch time throughout the summer. As soon as Ravinia’s gates opened for the 2021 season, RSMI was quickly featured on the new Pavilion screen facing the South Lawn, treating over 500 guests to big-screen views of chamber music under the stars with performances by the Piano & Strings faculty on July 2 and the fellows on July 14.

Baritone Ben Schaefer performs a set of Robert Schumann’s songs with pianist Javier Arrebola during his RSMI fellowship.

The final 2021 residency saw 15 highly skilled classical singers enter RSMI’s oasis of immersive study of art song for a little over three weeks, from July 27 to August 20. The Program for Voice hosted the summer’s only public master class with maestro James Conlon, offering fellows a unique opportunity to gain insight from the world-renowned conductor on performance practice, practical methods, diction, and stage presence. Alongside five staff collaborative pianists, each fellow worked with RSMI’s rotating faculty to prepare for six livestreamed concerts, consisting of a wide range of repertoire, from the early music of Handel and Bach to contemporary artists who can still hear their work performed. Acclaimed composer Tom Cipullo even “attended” the August 8 livestream of his song cycle Late Summer performed by soprano Magdalena Kuźma and pianist Javier Arrebola, commenting, “Stunning performance! Magnificent!”

The 2021 RSMI Voice Program fellows with program director Kevin Murphy (second row, center) and other faculty and staff

RSMI’s fellows put on full display the range of what art song has to offer, and they shined brightly as its future performers and champions. Bass-baritone Brandon Bell summed up the experience beautifully: “This is a place for exploration. You’re already an artist, you’re already a great singer and communicator, and this is not the place to try and ‘prove’ that to anyone. This is the place for you to discover all of the crayons in the box, test them out, decide which ones work for you in this specific place and time, and share them.” RSMI cannot wait to share a kaleidoscopic future with the Ravinia community and beyond.

Rewatch the full 2021 lineup of RSMI concerts on Ravinia Festival’s YouTube page. Applications for the 2022 season open in mid-September on Acceptd. ■

Molly Sender is the director of the Ravinia Steans Music Institute.