Rachel Barton Pine performs with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on Friday, July 16, 2021. (Courtesy of the Ravinia Festival)

It was quite a weekend at the Ravinia Festival. On Friday evening virtuoso violinist Rachel Barton Pine filled in for the indisposed Midori with just a few hours of advance notice, and aced Prokofiev’s fiendishly difficult “Violin Concerto No. 1.”

The Pedersen-McCormick Boys and Girls Club. (WTTW News)

After a year of being cooped up inside, many Chicago teens are ready to get outside. We talk with youth organizations about low- or no-cost activities young people can do right now and through to the fall.

Reyna Ortiz works with Taskforce Prevention and is one of four LGBTQ+-identifying Latinx Chicagoans featured in the documentary. (Courtesy of Soapbox Productions)
,

A new documentary explores inequities through the experiences of four Latino Chicagoans who identify as LGBTQ-plus as they navigate the COVID-19 pandemic in their personal and professional lives.

Footage taken from the stage at a previous Fiesta del Sol (Courtesy of Fiesta del Sol)

In Chicago, summer is synonymous with festival season. This year, with Chicagoans hungrier than ever for summer food and festivities, two signature Latino festivals are set to stage their comebacks.

FILE - A large crowd gathers outside the Roberts Temple Church of God In Christ in Chicago, Sept. 6, 1955, as pallbearers carry the casket of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African-American boy who was slain while on a visit to Mississippi. The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund is awarding $3 million in grants to help preserve the site and dozens more across the nation. (Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Recipients of money from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund include a consortium of civil rights sites and Black churches in Alabama; work to establish an African American heritage trail in Colorado; and preservation of the church where Emmett Till's funeral was held in Chicago after his lynching in Mississippi in 1955.

Monty and Rose's plover chicks, 2020. (Courtesy of Bob Dolgan)
,

The full-length documentary captures the story of Monty and Rose from their hatching in 2017 to their status as standard bearers for piping plover conservation efforts. 

The Francis Apartments were designed in 1895, early in Frank Lloyd Wright’s career. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress)

Today we know Frank Lloyd Wright as one of the most influential American architects, but early in his career he designed projects you might have trouble recognizing as his — even if you lived in the building.

Music director Carlos Kalmar leads the Grant Park Orchestra in 2019. (Courtesy of the Grant Park Music Festival)

From Grant Park to Ravinia, music and dance are returning in a big way this summer. Theater critic Hedy Weiss is returning, too, to talk about some recent live shows.

Candace Parker looks to pass during practice for the WNBA All-Star Basketball team, Tuesday, July 13, 2021, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo / John Locher)

Candace Parker grew up playing video games, and now she’ll be the first female basketball player on the cover of one. The Chicago Sky star will appear on the NBA 2K22 cover for the WNBA 25th Anniversary special edition when it’s released Sept. 10.

(Credit: Dan Barker of Fly By Chicago)

Tacos and tamales, cars, tribute bands and vintage wares usher in the weekend. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago.

Chicago-based musician Juan Pastor, left, plays the cajon with his band Chinchano. (WTTW News)

Juan Pastor plays a traditional instrument in a modern jazz setting. How many drummers do you see who actually play the seat they’re sitting on? We meet the Chicago-based musician to learn how he imports South American rhythms to the Northern Hemisphere.

This image released by Disney+ shows Pedro Pascal in a scene from “The Mandalorian.” (Disney+ via AP)

During an oppressive pandemic in which housebound Americans relied more than ever on television for distraction, TV academy voters recognized a varied mix of storytelling and a diverse group of actors and creators.

Zell Music Director Riccardo Muti on the podium during the CSO’s May 9, 2019 program of works by Mozart and Stravinsky. (Photo credit: Todd Rosenberg)

In addition to the series of Maestro Riccardo Muti’s concerts, the fall season will mark the arrival of violinist Hilary Hahn, visits by many guest conductors and artists, plus a vast and varied lineup under the Symphony Center Presents banner. Here’s what else to expect.

Visual artist Marcella Torres. (WTTW News)

Marcella Torres, an artist-in-residence at the Pilsen garden described as an “outdoor community center,” tells us about the new project she’s creating for the space with a little help from volunteers.

Angelica Aguilar was born in Mexico, but she didn’t develop an interest in making gelatin art until she was a young adult in Chicago. (WTTW News)
,

For many people, the idea of gelatin desserts conjures up images of the jiggly retro novelty that appears at church potlucks and in school lunchboxes. But in Mexican culture, gelatins are not just a sweet treat, but an art form. 

Workers remove the monument of Confederate General Robert E. Lee on Saturday, July 10, 2021 in Charlottesville, Va. The removal of the Lee statue follows years of contention, community anguish and legal fights. (AP Photo / John C. Clark)

A statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was hoisted away from its place of prominence and carted off to storage, years after its threatened removal became a rallying point for white supremacists and inspired their violent 2017 rally that left a woman dead and dozens injured.