Breaking Barriers

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
• Additional guests to be announced

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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 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
Chanda Dancy: Lawmen: Bass Reeves excerpt
Rachel Portman: Cider House Rules excerpt
Hildur Guðnadóttir: A Haunting in Venice excerpt
Germaine Franco: Encanto Suite Natalie Holt: Obi-Wan Kenobi Themes
John Williams: Star Wars Title Theme Conducted by Chi-Yuan Lin –Intermission– Leonard Bernstein: Symphonic Suite from ‘On the Waterfront’ Laura Karpman: Unsung (Ravinia commission)

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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.

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