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Evanston Symphony Orchestra

Lawrence Eckerling, Music Director

allthatjazz

Performance & Reception

Friday, October 23 at 7:00 pm

ESO & All That Jazz

Featuring Lawrence Eckerling & Don Cagen

Tickets on sale now ($50)

A fundraising concert and reception featuring Music Director Lawrence Eckerling on piano, and Principal Trumpet Don Cagen on trumpet leading a quartet in a concert of jazz favorites to support ESO community outreach programs.

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AKAR AUDITORIUM @The Church
2715 Hurd Ave. Evanston, IL
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October 18, 2026

Celebrating Beethoven’s Brilliance

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February 14, 2027

Great Romantics

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April 4, 2027

Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony

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May 23, 2027

A Mass for Peace

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Musical Insights

Free Pre-Concert Preview Series!

Musical Insights Icon

Enhance your concert experience with a sneak preview — Composers come alive and their passions take center stage when ESO Maestro Lawrence Eckerling takes you on an insider’s tour of the history and highlights behind the music. Get a chance to see and hear our guest soloist for each concert!

Merion’s Crystal Ballroom

529 Davis St, Evanston.
FREE and open to the public.

Please RSVP to 847-570-7815.

Light refreshments will be served and casual tours of apartments will be available after the program.

Orchestra News

The ESO Welcomes New General Manager Michelle Pranger

The Evanston Symphony Orchestra has appointed Michelle Pranger its general manager effective May 1, 2023.

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ESO receives generous bequest

The Evanston Symphony Orchestra has received a generous bequest from the estate of Anne Dow Weinberg. Ms. Weinberg regularly attended our concerts and was a good friend of Rick Greene, one of our longest serving French Horn players. Ms Weinberg is now a member of our KeyNote Society.

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Young Persons’ concert raises money for District 65 Orchestra Program

The Evanston Symphony Orchestra played a wonderful free concert on May 19 with a finale that included 120 D65 middle school students.

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Musical Notes

Les Jacobson writes in Evanston Roundtable: "On playing the Shostakovich 5th Symphony"

I’ve written about the Shostakovich Fifth Symphony before. It’s one of the masterworks of the classical repertoire, alongside the great symphonies of Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Brahms and Mahler. But it’s also a great deal more. A man’s life depended on this symphony. That man was the composer himself.

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Young Persons' Concert on March 9

This one-hour concert at Pick-Staiger is the ideal introductory orchestral concert for children 5–13 years, but will also be fun for parents and grandparents. The concert is designed to show the wonderful storytelling nature of music.

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The Evanston Symphony Orchestra May 14 Concert and May 12 “Musical Insights” Feature Violins of Hope Instruments

Evanston, Ill.—When the Evanston Symphony Orchestra plays Berlioz, Tchaikovsky, and Mussorgsky at its May 14 concert, six members will be bowing string instruments played by Jewish musicians before and during the Holocaust, as the ESO participates in the Violins of Hope program.

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