Colon surgery forces Conlon to cancel Ravinia concert

James Conlon, the music director of the Ravinia Festival, has been forced to cancel two August concert dates due to surgery to remove an inflamed portion of his colon, as a result of diverticulitis.

According to Conlon’s publicist he will undergo the surgery in New York and the “prognosis is for a full recovery following three or four weeks recuperation after surgery.”

The Ravinia cancellation will be for the Aug. 17 performance of Benjamin Britten’s “The Burning Fiery Furnace,” with singers from Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute and members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. A second cancellation is for an Aug. 23 engagement in California.