Breaking Barriers Festival Sounds and Sights
2023: Women Composers
Building on the successful series of concerts and symposiums focused on women conductors, Breaking Barriers Festival 2023 celebrated women composers — classical and jazz artists as well as singer-songwriters.
Surrounding three evening concerts were panel and roundtable discussions, a workshop pairing composers and conductors, and more events presented in collaboration with New Music USA and The Chicago Network.
Complete Discussions
“Creatives as Entrepreneurs”
Led by Women of the World founder Jude Kelly, Marin Alsop, Fortune Brands Innovations VP Leigh Avsec, composer Augusta Read Thomas, and Randolph Entertainment co-founder Sona Wang discuss how creative women in the arts and corporate America have broken barriers to become successful entrepreneurs.
“Amplifying Women’s Voices in Classical Music”
Composers Clarice Assad and Gabriela Ortiz, Marin Alsop, and D-Composed founder Kori Coleman engage with moderator New Music USA President & CEO Vanessa Reed to assess the underrepresentation of women and BIPOC composers in the orchestral repertory and steps to ensure that concert programming reflects the multitude of voices writing music today.
“Leading with Purpose”
Marin Alsop and Women of the World founder Jude Kelly share guiding wisdom from their experience breaking barriers to their own growth and for other women to serve in pivotal leadership roles, and, in conversation with WTTW-WFMT President & CEO Sandra Cordova Micek, discuss the next steps ahead.
2022: Women on the Podium
Ravinia Chief Conductor Marin Alsop inaugurated the Breaking Barriers Festival in 2022 to continually celebrate underrepresented and diverse artists and leaders in music, and their achievements in advancing visions for future generations in classical music.
The inaugural events centered on women on the podium, additionally recognizing two milestone anniversaries — the Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship in its 20th year supporting young women conductors’ careers and 100th anniversary of the birth of Margaret Hillis, the pioneering conductor who founded the Chicago Symphony Chorus.
Complete Discussions
“Breaking Glass Ceilings”
Chicagoland business and nonprofit leaders UL Solutions President and CEO Jennifer Scanlon and Kinzie Capital Markets founder and partner Suzanne Yoon, along with Marin Alsop and Taki Alsop fellow and business coach Laura Jackson, discuss how historic context, challenges, opportunities, and mentors have forged their leadership styles in a panel moderated by ABC7 News co-anchor Karen Jordan.
“Women on the Podium”
Marin Alsop, chorus leader and Margaret Hillis biographer Cheryl Frazes Hill, and Taki Alsop fellows Anna Duczmal-Mróz and Jeri Lynne Johnson discuss past and present pathways for women conductors in a panel moderated by longtime music journalist Wynne Delacoma.
Park Entrance Exhibit
From the opening of Ravinia’s 2022 summer season, the main entrance was transformed into a walkable exhibit of posters highlighting over 100 groundbreaking women of the past century who have led prominent music organizations across Chicago, the US, and the world. For the 2023 season, the installation expanded to include banners highlighting women composers whose music was been heard at Ravinia in the past three years alone.
