Breaking Barriers
2026 Festival: Women in Film and Music
Breaking Barriers Festival at Ravinia
Curated by Chief Conductor Marin Alsop, Breaking Barriers is an annual festival that spotlights and celebrates leading women in classical music—particularly in areas where they are underrepresented, such as conducting and composing—as well as female standouts in complementary fields.
Founded in 2022, the inaugural festival championed women on the podium. Other past themes have included women leaders in the culinary arts (2025), outer space expiration and studies (2024), and music composition (2023). Inspiration for Breaking Barriers began with recognizing two milestones: the 20th anniversary of the landmark Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship and the 100th birthday of Margaret Hillis, the pioneering founder of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, which were further highlighted by a walkable exhibit of more than 100 women conductors from the past century.
Each year, the festival pairs concerts with panels and experiences that illuminate the intersections of classical music with the selected complementary field. The 2026 Breaking Barriers events shine a light on women in film—learn more about this summer’s performances and more below.
Event Schedule
Friday, July 24 – Saturday, July 25
Day 1Friday, July 24
Panel & Dinner: “The Female Perspective through the History of Film”
6:00 – 7:30 p.m. in the Tree Top Lounge
With a VIP ticket add-on, join us before the Breaking Barriers signature concert for a discussion with Ravinia Chief Conductor Marin Alsop, Oscar-nominated composer Laura Karpman, and special guests from the making and study of cinema, sharing the stories within the stories being told through music on screen. This engaging panel conversation also includes a private dinner in celebration of Women Composers in Film.
Featured Guests
- Marin Alsop, conductor and Breaking Barriers ’26 co-curator
- Laura Karpman, composer and Breaking Barriers ’26 co-curator; co-founder, Alliance for Women Film Composers
- Allyson Nadia Field, Associate Professor, Cinema and Media Studies, University of Chicago
- Nicola McCafferty, Programmer, Chicago International Film Festival
- Additional guests to be announced
Performance: “On the Movies” with Alsop & Karpman
8:00 p.m. in the Hunter Pavilion
Marin Alsop and Laura Karpman present highlights of original orchestral music’s magic in screen storytelling. A 30-year veteran of prestige TV, documentary, game, and Marvel scores, Karpman has collaborated with some of the most renowned filmmakers of our time, including Francis Ford Coppola, Cord Jefferson, Nia DaCosta, and Steven Spielberg. Nominated for an Oscar in 2024 for her work on American Fiction, Karpman continues to push the boundaries of storytelling with her powerful, imaginative scores.
With performances by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra led by Alsop, Karpman demonstrates how music can guide interpretation of a film scene, sharpening dramatic tension and revealing layers of meaning that might otherwise remain unseen. Together, Karpman and Alsop bring the focus to women composers—long under-represented on the screen—sharing music by the likes of Shirley Walker, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Rachel Portman, and Chanda Dancy.
Alsop premieres Karpman’s Unsung, featuring music for iconic female characters who never before had a theme, and Taki Alsop Conducting Fellow Chi-Yuan Lin leads Star Wars themes by John Williams and Natalie Holt, the first woman to compose for the storied franchise.
Program
Chicago Symphony Orchestra Marin Alsop, conductor and co-curator Laura Karpman, composer and co-curator Chi-Yuan Lin, guest conductor
The Science of Scoring: “Perception & Touch of Evil” Bernard Herrmann: “Scène d’amour” from Vertigo
Arturo Márquez: Danzón No. 2
Henry Mancini: Original scene audio from Touch of Evil “The Female Lens” Suite Anna Meredith: Nautilus (arr. Jack Ross)
Chanda Dancy: Main Titles from Lawmen: Bass Reeves
Rachel Portman: Main Titles from Cider House Rules
Hildur Guðnadóttir: “Confessions” from A Haunting in Venice
Germaine Franco: Encanto Suite Natalie Holt: “Hanging Out” from Obi-Wan Kenobi
John Williams: Star Wars Title Theme Conducted by Chi-Yuan Lin –Intermission– Leonard Bernstein: Symphonic Suite from ‘On the Waterfront’ Laura Karpman: Unsung: A Symphonic Suite for the Superhero Women of Classic Hollywood (Ravinia commission)
Day 2Saturday, July 25
Workshop/Performance: “The Science of Scoring”
6:00 p.m. in the Sandra K. Crown Theater
As Oscar-nominated composer Laura Karpman explains it, “the absolute magic of music in film is contingent on a strange bargain between an audience and a composer—it’s pure witchcraft.” Karpman and Ravinia Chief Conductor Marin Alsop lead an interactive presentation with a studio-size ensemble, workshopping sounds that demonstrate “The Science of Scoring” to create heroic, sad, suspenseful, and more moods.
Featured Guests
- Marin Alsop, conductor and co-curator
- Laura Karpman, host and co-curator
- Midwest Young Artists Conservatory musicians
This interactive performance and master class will run approximately 50 minutes, without intermission.
“The Science of Scoring” precedes this evening’s concert by St. Vincent with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Tickets to this special event do not include park admission for the evening, which must be purchased additionally.
