James Conlon announced this week that he will end his run as musical director of the Ravinia Festival at the end of the 2015 summer season.
The Ravinia Festival takes place in Highland Park, IL, and according to the festival’s website has been a performance site since 1905. Every year the festival attracts hundreds of thousands of people to its summer seasons which include up to 150 musical events of different styles and genres. People who have performed at past festivals range from George Gershwin to Janis Joplin. Conlon has been musical director of the festival for 11 years according to the Chicago Business Journal .
The 2015 season will now be a celebration of Conlon and his musical contributions as the musical director of the Ravinia Festival. According to the Ravinia Festival’s programming, Conlon is scheduled to conduct the Chicago Symphony in a repetoire that will include works by Mozart and Brahms.
Speaking of Conlon’s imminent departure, Chairman John Anderson from the Ravinia Board of Directors stated, “James is a true believer, a lover of music and a musician with boundless capacity for empathy and artistry. He will be missed almost as much as he is admired by the Ravinia family."