As Ravinia’s 2026 Grand Opening kicked off Saturday night, two big transformations came into focus. One was the public unveiling of the Hunter Pavilion after its major $70 million overhaul, which delivered sharper acoustics and a bespoke backdrop and successfully ushered in Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s 90th season of residency.
The other was the personal revamp of special guest flutist Lizzo, who dressed up her Yittys and made her Ravinia debut in an evening that also featured renowned pianist Yunchan Lim and was helmed by Chief Conductor Marin Alsop.
The rapper-turned-pop star, best known for her smash hits “Good As Hell” and “Truth Hurts,” may seem like a headscratcher for the Ravinia crowd. Especially the many that came dolled up in satin ballgowns and tuxes for the pre-performance Ravinia Women’s Board Gala.
But the Midwest native, born Melissa Viviane Jefferson, is in fact a classically trained musician who started playing the instrument in elementary school and trained with the Houston Ballet Orchestra before finding her spot in pop culture.
After a performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” from Ravinia Steans Institute soprano Janai Brugger and CSO’s delivery of Bernstein’s Overture to “Candide,” Lizzo joined the ensemble for a three-part suite that included Briccialdi’s “Carnival of Venice,” followed by Delibes’ “Sous le Dome Epais (Flower Duet)” from Lakmé as well as one of her originals, “If You Love Me.”
Though her moment in the spotlight was a tidy 20 minutes, Lizzo felt like a natural and was awarded with a rousing round of applause. A few gave her a standing ovation.
“I’m honored to be here at Ravinia on such an important night, not only helping to open the gorgeous new Hunter Pavilion but also to celebrate your vision of providing access to music education for all,” Lizzo told the audience, echoing the Ravinia Women’s Board mission to raise funds for the Reach Teach Play music education program. One of the alums, flutist Kaylee Johnson, joined Lizzo for the performance of the Delibes’ duet.
“Music education is very near and dear to me because as a young person, playing the flute helped me find my voice and it literally changed my entire life. I wouldn’t be standing on this stage, I wouldn’t have the career that I have and the joy that I have if it wasn’t for discovering and falling in love with classical music at such a young age,” Lizzo said.
“My dream is for every young person out there thinking of picking up an instrument to know that your passion gives you purpose,” she continued. “It creates belonging, and it can help you fulfill your dreams like I did.”
Certainly this rang true for Yunchan Lim. The South Korean pianist got his start as a teen and became a prized star of the classical world as the youngest person ever to win gold at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2022. He returned to Ravinia on this night after an initial appearance in 2023, offering an incredibly nimble performance of Ravel’s “Piano concerto in G Major.”
Symphony invites aren’t a new unlocked achievement for Lizzo. In recent years, she’s performed solos and full suites at the Met Gala and the Grammy Awards. At a 2022 concert in Washington, D.C., Lizzo also notably had the chance to play a 200-year-old crystal flute that once belonged to former president James Madison.
But these once sparse orchestral collaborations have become more frequent as of late. Just last week, she did a full rework of her catalog with the National Symphony Orchestra at Wolf Trap – and the timing is suspect.
The singer who once dominated the charts with a message of self-empowerment has struggled to live up to that brand in recent years after a nasty fallout with several of her backup dancers. Three sued the artist in 2023 alleging sexual harassment, religious/racial discrimination and a hostile work environment, and though some of the lawsuit’s central claims have been dismissed by a judge, Lizzo has still failed win over the court of public opinion.
She has struggled, too, with her fan base. This June she released her fifth album “B*tch” to dismal results, selling fewer than 3,000 copies in the first week and nosediving off the Billboard 200. There are no upcoming tour dates to support the album either, which is telling. That could mean these orchestra dates are a Hail Mary — or perhaps she’s finding a way back to her roots and starting over.
Unearthing her original “If You Love Me” (a track from her 2022 album “Special”) was an especially interesting choice. With lyrics that espouse, “If you love me, you love all of me or none of me at all,” it felt like shots were fired. But on the flipside, with its jazzy showtune energy and a diva-level vocal crescendo, the song deservedly belonged in this environment. “It was made for an orchestra,” Lizzo shared with her audience, and you had to believe her.
In a post-event recap on herInstagram, Lizzo posted a video with Johnson of the duo rehearsing their performance. The caption read, “This is the future of classical music.” Maybe this could be Lizzo’s future, too – it’s “About Damn Tied” she tried something new.