• Our Next Concert

    Moving Movie Music

    Sun., April 7, 2023, 2:30 p.m.

    Williams

    Morricone

    Clinton
    with Holly Mulcahy, violin
    Allegrezza Singers
    LaRob K. Rafael, Narrator

    Barber

    Gershwin

    Holly Mulcahy, violino
  • ESO’s
    Share The Stage

    Share the Stage lets you sponsor a chair in the Orchestra. It’s our way of recognizing that the ESO Community is made up of Orchestra Members and Supporters.

  • Our Next Concert

    Soaring Sax and Dvorak’s 8th

    Sun., June 2, 2024, 2:30 p.m.

    Dvořák

    Dukas

    Tomasi
    with Steven Banks, saxophone

    Dvořák

    Steven Banks, saxophone

2023–2024 SERIES: Feel The Passion

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Musical Insights

Free Pre-Concert Preview Series!

April 5, Friday, at 1:30 pm

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.

Meet our soloist, Holly Mulcahy and Composer George S Clinton, at Musical Insights. They and our Maestro Lawrence Eckerling will explore the concert program in depth.

 

The Merion
Friday, April 5 at 1:30 pm,
Merion's Crystal Ballroom at
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.

Give the gift of music

Treat a friend or relative to the ESO

Give the gift of music by ordering directly from our website and purchasing a custom gift certificate in any denomination of your choice! Certificates may be redeemed for single ticket or season subscriptions for any of our concerts.

You will receive an electronic gift certificate or we can mail the certificate to you or directly to the recipient.

Music Fit for a King

William Walton

As the monarchy is central to the history and government of England, so it is part of its musical heritage. Crown Imperial, also known as Coronation March, came to life during a turbulent time for the British crown. Composer William Walton originally composed the march for King Edward VII’s coronation, set for May 12, 1937. However, when Edward abdicated the throne in 1936, his brother, King George VI, became king to the tune of Crown Imperial instead.

Learn More!

Fanciful Folk Songs

Vaughan Williams

Ralph Vaughan Williams was among the wave of European composers of the time who were interested in utilizing and recording folk music. Vaughan Williams found inspiration in English literature and traditional song, often quoting or imitating British folk tunes in his compositions. He was even a member of the English Folk Song Society, whose members sought to collect traditional music of the British Isles. Nine of these tunes found a place in the composer’s three-movement English Folk Song Suite, which was originally written for military band.

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Theme and Variations

Benjamin Britten

If you think the main themes from Benjamin Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra and Henry Purcell’s Rondeau from Abdelazer Suite are similar, you’re right. Purcell, a Baroque composer, wrote incidental music in 1695 to accompany performances of the play by Aphra Behn, Abdelazer, also known as The Moor’s Revenge. The second movement of the 10-movement suite is one of Purcell’s most recognizable tunes and was the inspiration for Britten’s work.

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Spanish Seduction

Rimsky Korsakov

It’s easy to draw parallels between Emmanuel Chabrier’s Espana and Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio espagnol, pieces that the Evanston Symphony Orchestra will perform on February 4 at 2:30 p.m. Both were written about the same time in the 1880s and draw on the music and culture of Spain. But there is another similarity: Neither composer was actually Spanish.

Learn More!

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