Lawrence Eckerling, Music Director

2009–2010 Season

Spectacular Sounds

FRENCH KEYBOARD EXTRAVAGANZA

OCTOBER 25, 2009 • 2:30 PM

Irina Kotlyar & Gregory Shifrin
piano

Details

TRUMPET SPECTACULAR

FEBRUARY 7, 2010 • 2:30 PM

Don Cagen
trumpet

Details

THE ROMANTIC
CELLO

MARCH 21, 20109 • 2:30 PM

Wendy Warner
cello

Details

RUSSIAN
FOLKFEST

MAY 2, 2010 • 2:30 PM

Irina Muresanu
violin
 

Details

AN EVANSTON SYMPHONY CHRISTMAS

DECEMBER 6, 2009 • 3:00 PM

A festive start to the holidays
for the whole family

Details

Singers wanted:

The ESO is looking for chorus members for the Dec. 6, 2009, Evanston Symphony Christmas concert. Learn how you can join.

Everyone’s talking about
Evanston Symphony Orchestra!

Click the links below to see our most recent reviews:
February 2009 Concert Review Link or Review PDF

Older reviews:
March 2008 Concert Review Link or Review PDF
January 2008 Concert Review Link or Review PDF

Don't miss the opportunity to hear the Evanston Symphony Orchestra members in performance over the summer at a FREE outdoor concert!

Westfield Old Orchard Shopping Center
Sunday, June 28 at 2:00 pm.

Highlights of this free concert will include Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait with Harry Porterfield as narrator and Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, plus other Fourth of July favorites such as Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever.

Subscribers always get the best prices. Now they get the best seats, too! Subscribers are guaranteed the same seats at every performance, and from year to year.

When you subscribe to our wonderful 2009–2010 season, you also keep access to your seats for next year’s fabulous 65th season including such favorites as Rhapsody in Blue with Maestro Lawrence Eckerling as both conductor and piano soloist.

SAVE: 20% or more off the box office price! A subscription is $80. Seniors (age 62+) save even more—four concerts for only $64. ESO tickets are a great value—and there are no increases for the 2009–2010 season.

RESERVE: Subscribers are guaranteed the same seats at every performance.

FREE EXCHANGES: If you are unable to attend any concert, call 847-864-8804 at least 24 hours in advance to exchange your tickets for a later concert.

RECEIVE: a subscription to KeyNotes plus exclusive invitations to special ESO events.

EXISTING SUBSCRIBERS: Keep your seats when you renew by June 15. Current subscribers get priority for seat changes.

ONLINE SALES START AUGUST 1 AT www.evanstonsymphony.org Save on service charges for subscriptions by using phone or mail order. (Please call 847-864-8804 for all orders with children’s tickets.)

 

Our Next Concert:

Irina Kotlyar &
Gregory Shifrin,
Piano

Concert One

Buy Tickets

2:30 pm on Sunday, October 25, 2009

FRENCH KEYBOARD EXTRAVAGANZA

This keyboard extravaganza includes not just the two grand pianos of Poulenc’s melodious tribute to Mozart and Paris, but also the power and grandeur of that ultimate combination of organ and orchestra, the Saint-Saëns “Organ” Symphony. Ravel’s piano suite, Le Tombeau de Couperin, in its purely orchestral form, will spotlight the ESO woodwinds.

RAVEL

  1. Le Tombeau de Couperin

POULENC

  1. Concerto in D Minor for Two Pianos and Orchestra
  2. Kotlyar-Shifrin Piano Duo

SAINT-SAËNS

  1. Symphony No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 78 (“Organ Symphony”)
  2. Jeannie Richardson, Organ

more details

Pick-Staiger Concert Hall
Northwestern University, Evanston

Our Next Concert:

Don Cagen,
Trumpet

Concert Two

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2:30 pm on Sunday, February 7, 2010

TRUMPET SPECTACULAR

Eleven trumpets and two tenor tubas join an augmented ESO in the blockbuster Sinfonietta of Janáček, inspired by Czech folk music and village bands. Don Cagen, ESO principal trumpet, who played at a Presidential inaugural ball, performs the Haydn trumpet concerto. Tuneful favorites by Vaughan Williams and Dvořák round out this spectacular program.

ALTENBURG

  1. Concerto for 7 Trumpets and Timpani

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

  1. Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis

HAYDN

  1. Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra in E Flat Major
  2. Don Cagen, Trumpet

DVOŘÁK

  1. Scherzo Capriccioso, Op. 66

JANÁČEK

  1. Sinfonietta

more details

Pick-Staiger Concert Hall
Northwestern University, Evanston

Our Next Concert:

Concert Three

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2:30 pm on Sunday, March 21, 2010

THE ROMANTIC CELLO

This all-Romantic program culminates in Dvořák’s impassioned memorial to his lost love, unsurpassed in the repertory for cello and orchestra. Beethoven’s witty and rollicking 8th Symphony is sure to entertain, and the opening horn call of Weber’s evocation of Shakespeare sets the stage for an enchanting afternoon.

WEBER

  1. Overture to Oberon

BEETHOVEN

  1. Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93

DVOŘÁK

  1. Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104
  2. Wendy Warner, Cello

more details

Pick-Staiger Concert Hall
Northwestern University, Evanston

Our Next Concert:

Irina Muresanu,
Violin

Back by popular demand!

Concert Four

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2:30 pm on Sunday, May 2, 2010

RUSSIAN FOLKFEST

Irina Muresanu’s ESO debut two years ago was so successful that she is returning in Tchaikovsky’s dazzling concerto. We finish the season with Petrushka, a popular favorite since its 1911 premiere by the Ballet Russes. The Russian folk tunes which permeate its four scenes will be contrasted with the Romantic folksong arrangements of Liadov.

LIADOV

  1. Eight Russian Folk Songs, Op. 58

TCHAIKOVSKY

  1. Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D Major, Op. 35
  2. Irina Muresanu, Violin

STRAVINSKY

  1. Petrushka (1947 Version) (Complete Ballet)

more details

Pick-Staiger Concert Hall
Northwestern University, Evanston

Our Next Concert:


An Evanston Symphony Christmas

Sunday, December 6, 2009
3:00 PM

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Buy Family Package

Get your Christmas spirits into high gear at the best holiday event in Evanston. Share this Yule celebration with family and friends and you'll be caroling all the way home from An Evanston Symphony Christmas.

Details

Enhance your concert experience with a sneak preview — Composers come alive and their passions take center stage when ESO General Manager David Ellis and ESO Maestro Lawrence Eckerling take you on an insider’s tour of the history and highlights behind the music. Meet our soloist, Irina Kotlyar and Gregory Shifrin, at Musical Insights. They and our Maestro Lawrence Eckerling and lecturer David Ellis will explore the October concert program in depth.

Friday, October 23 at 1:30 pm,
Westminster Place of Presbyterian Homes
3200 Grant St., Evanston
FREE.


The Illinois Council of Orchestras named
The Evanston Symphony Orchestra’s Penelope Sachs as President of the Year, 2009

How to join the ESO:

The ESO is a volunteer orchestra that meets every Tuesday at 7:30 at ETHS. Learn how you can join.