Hilary Hahn and Josh Ritter August 3, 2007

Josh Ritter and Hilary Hahn to Perform Ground-breaking
Joint Tour this Summer

Singer/songwriter Josh Ritter and violinist Hilary Hahn
will tour top festivals this summer with a unique program featuring both
original and traditional works. The diverse musical team will perform at
The Eastern Music Festival on July 17, Verbier on July 24, The Aspen
Music Festival on July 27, and Ravinia on August 3.

Ritter and Hahn have each cultivated an avid and adventurous following
with their dynamic performances and recordings. Conceived in the belief
that music is meant to be relished regardless of title and form, these
unprecedented concerts will widen the perspectives of both the artists
and the audience. Ritter's performance will consist of his refreshing,
intellectual songs, and Hahn's of the most celebrated works from the
solo violin repertoire. They will also perform together throughout each
concert. This juxtaposition of familiar material allows it to be
experienced in an entirely new way as the best that art can offer in any
form: development through the unexpected. The goal, in the words of
Hahn, is "to foster a community accepting of all music and supportive of
a broader artistic culture in the future, exposing musicians, audience
members and media alike to hidden corners of creativity which they might
not otherwise get to discover."

At the age of 27, Grammy® Award-winning violinist Hilary Hahn is one of
the most compelling artists on the international concert circuit and an
ambassador of classical music to new audiences. Renowned for her
intellectual and emotional maturity, she was named "America's Best Young
Classical Musician" by Time Magazine in 2001, and appears on a regular
basis in recital and with the world's great orchestras in Europe, Asia
and North America. A long-time fan of Ritter's music and performance
style, Hahn attributes the success of the project to their connection as
friends and colleagues. "I'm thrilled to perform in recital with Josh,"
said Hahn of the collaboration. "This has turned into a project more
integrated and artistically satisfying than I could have ever imagined.
Josh has taken our ideas and run with them, and while maintaining
musical integrity, we are plunging headlong into the unknown. It will
be a pleasure to share the stage with him once again and express the
best of what we have to offer."

30-year-old Josh Ritter has set aside traditional ideas of what a
guitar-toting, folk-based troubadour should do. Gifted with literary
and historical allusions, and as much in love with words as music, he
places many of his story-songs in intimate settings while also tackling
big ideas and anthemic arrangements. He has been championed by critics
and hailed by fellow artists who share stages with him, and continues to
expand his passionate fan base with his profoundly human communication.
On the project, Ritter writes, "Far from what we're often led to
believe, every piece of music - be it a single song or a symphony - has
origins in the music that preceded it. Hilary and I come from radically
different musical genres, but we both feel that their distinctions are
only superficial, and that our musical inheritance is broad enough to
encompass such widely divergent forms of expression."

Among others, the performances this summer will include Ritter's
"Potter's Wheel", inspired by a Schubert piece called "Gretchen am
Spinnrade," and "Kathleen", an interpretation of the traditional Irish
ballad "I'll Take You Back Home Again Kathleen." Hahn will perform solo
sonatas by Bach and Ysaye, as well as pieces by Paganini and Milstein.
In addition, Ritter and Hahn will both perform versions, in separate
interpretations, of two very famous works: "The Last Rose of Summer" and
"The Erlkönig."

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For additional information, please contact:
Amanda Ameer
First Chair Promotion
Ph: 212.368.5949
E mail: [email protected]

Official Website: http://www.ravinia.org/BuyTickets/EventDetail.aspx?xid_show=99793733