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 1                       HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS, The Ravinia Festival will  celebrate  its  100th
 3    anniversary in 2004; and

 4        WHEREAS,  The  Ravinia  Festival has achieved a worldwide
 5    reputation  as  a  concert  venue  of  distinction  for  both
 6    classical music and popular entertainers from  the  world  of
 7    jazz, folk, pop, country, opera, and dance; and

 8        WHEREAS,   The  Ravinia  Festival  began  as  a  carnival
 9    intended to attract riders  to  the  3-year-old  Chicago  and
10    Milwaukee Electric Railroad; and

11        WHEREAS,  The  original Ravinia Park opened on August 15,
12    1904 as a year-round amusement park that featured an electric
13    air swing, skating rink, toboggan slide,  electric  fountain,
14    pavilion, casino, and even a small hotel; and

15        WHEREAS,  In  1906,  classical  music  made  its debut at
16    Ravinia when Walter Damrosch conducted the New York  Symphony
17    at the park, setting the tone for nearly a century of stellar
18    musical entertainment; and

19        WHEREAS,  All  these  attractions  failed  to lure enough
20    riders to the fledgling rail line, and in 1908,  the  Chicago
21    and Milwaukee Railroad fell into receivership; and

22        WHEREAS,  The  Ravinia Park Association raised $15,000 to
23    keep the park open; and

24        WHEREAS, In 1911, the Ravinia Park Company purchased  the
25    park from the floundering railroad company; and

26        WHEREAS,  On opening night in 1918, Ravinia abandoned its
27    usual format of  presenting  arias  or  individual  acts  and
28    presented a full-length production of the opera "Aida"; and

29        WHEREAS, During the darkest days of the Great Depression,
 
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 1    Ravinia  closed  its  doors  from  1932  to  1936 rather than
 2    continue operation with diminished-quality performances; and

 3        WHEREAS,  In  1936,  Ravinia  reopened  as  the   Ravinia
 4    Festival,  an  Illinois  not-for-profit  corporation, and the
 5    Chicago  Symphony  Orchestra  signed  to  play  a   five-week
 6    program; and

 7        WHEREAS,  In  1944,  the  park  was deeded to the Ravinia
 8    Festival  Association,  which  still  operates  the  Festival
 9    today; and

10        WHEREAS, In 1949, the  original  wooden  pavilion  burned
11    down  and a new concrete pavilion doubled the capacity of the
12    burned-down structure and remains with some modifications the
13    centerpiece of the Festival today; and

14        WHEREAS, In 1969, the London Symphony Orchestra made  its
15    Ravinia premiere and a new sound system was installed; and

16        WHEREAS,  In  the  1970s,  the  first  rock concerts were
17    staged at Ravinia  and  featured  such  performers  as  Janis
18    Joplin and attracted crowds of upwards of 25,000 people; and

19        WHEREAS, Many jazz greats performed at Ravinia, including
20    Benny  Goodman  and  his  band, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis,
21    Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie,  Thelonious
22    Monk,  Wynton  Marsalis,  Herbie Hancock, and Oscar Peterson;
23    and

24        WHEREAS, In 1993, Ravinia began an intensive overhaul  of
25    the  park  and  state-of-the-art  facilities were open to the
26    public  in  time  for  the  60th  anniversary  of   Ravinia's
27    reopening in 1995; and

28        WHEREAS,  These changes brought expanded customer service
29    and enhanced dining opportunities; and

30        WHEREAS, Today,  Ravinia  Festival  offers  an  ambitious
 
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 1    schedule  of  concerts  and  educational programs year-round;
 2    therefore, be it

 3        RESOLVED,  BY  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES   OF   THE
 4    NINETY-THIRD  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
 5    SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we  congratulate  the  Ravinia
 6    Festival  on  its  upcoming one-hundredth anniversary in 2004
 7    and the many musical and educational programs it provides  to
 8    its community; and be it further

 9        RESOLVED,  That  a  suitable  copy  of this resolution be
10    presented to Mr. Welz Kauffman, President and Chief Executive
11    Officer of the Ravinia Festival.