Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship alum Carolyn Kuan leads this year's Tchaikovsky Spectacular, complete with Ravinia's signature performance of the 1812 Overture with cannons. She and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra perform Act I from The Nutcracker and 1812 Overture. They welcome soloist Desirée Ruhstrat of the Lincoln Trio, who the Berlin Taggespiegel praised for "intensive fire and assuredness stormily celebrated by the audience," for the cherished Violin Concerto. Both Kuan and Ruhstrat make their CSO debuts on this concert.