Lizzo Brings Flute Skills and Classical Roots to Ravinia Opening as the Rebuilt Hunter Pavilion Debuts

CHICAGO, IL — Ravinia’s 2026 season opened Saturday night with two debuts at once: the newly overhauled Hunter Pavilion and Lizzo’s first appearance at the longtime summer music venue. The evening marked the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s 90th year in residency at Ravinia, with the refreshed pavilion promising sharper acoustics and a new backdrop for big nights ahead.

Lizzo arrived as the special guest, joining pianist Yunchan Lim and conductor Marin Alsop for a short but high-profile set that blended pop star power with classical polish. For an audience dressed up for the Ravinia Women’s Board Gala, the choice might have seemed unexpected at first, but the performance quickly made the case for her musical fit.

How Lizzo fit the evening’s classical mood

Best known for hits like “Good As Hell” and “Truth Hurts,” Lizzo has long described herself as a classically trained musician, and Saturday’s program leaned into that background. Born Melissa Viviane Jefferson and raised in the Midwest, she began playing flute in elementary school and later trained with the Houston Ballet Orchestra before becoming a pop force.

After Janai Brugger sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra opened with Bernstein’s overture to Candide, Lizzo joined the ensemble for a three-part suite. The set included Briccialdi’s “Carnival of Venice,” Delibes’ “Sous le Dome Epais (Flower Duet),” and her own song “If You Love Me.”

Why this Ravinia performance carried extra meaning

Lizzo used the stage to speak about music education, tying the performance to Ravinia’s Reach Teach Play program and the mission of the Women’s Board gala. She told the crowd that learning flute as a young person helped her find her voice and changed her life, adding that she hoped every child considering an instrument could discover that same sense of purpose and belonging.

The emotional lift was matched by the music itself. Kaylee Johnson, an alum of the Ravinia Steans Institute, joined Lizzo for the Delibes duet, and the performance drew strong applause and a standing ovation from some in the audience. For a brief 20 minutes, the crossover felt less like a novelty and more like a genuine homecoming.

A possible reset as orchestral work becomes more frequent

The Ravinia set also fits a pattern that has been building for Lizzo. She has appeared in orchestral and symphonic settings before, including performances at the Met Gala and the Grammy Awards, and she famously played James Madison’s historic crystal flute in Washington, D.C., in 2022. Last week, she also reworked songs from her catalog with the National Symphony Orchestra at Wolf Trap.

That growing list of classical collaborations comes as Lizzo is trying to reframe her public image after a difficult few years and a disappointing commercial response to her June album B*tch. Saturday’s appearance suggested a possible reset, one grounded in the instrument that first shaped her career and in the musical world where she once felt most at home.

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