Guest Artist Appearances sponsored by
Todd Wiener and Paula Jacobi
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, Josefien Stoppelenburg, soprano, at Musical Insights. She and our Maestro Lawrence Eckerling will explore the April concert program in depth.
Friday, April 4 at 1:30 pm,
Merion's Emerald Lounge 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 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.
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.
Evanston, Ill.—The Evanston Symphony Orchestra and its Board of Directors’ Past Pres. Margaret Gergen have been honored with major 2024 awards from the Illinois Council of Orchestras. The ESO was named “Orchestra of the Year” in the community orchestra category. Gergen received the “Board President of the Year” Award.
In naming the ESO the community “Orchestra of the Year,” the Council noted the symphony’s high standards of performance, its creative and adventurous programming, and its extensive outreach to the Evanston and North Shore communities. This includes youth education programs such as “Music in our World,” a biennial young persons’ concert, an annual holiday concert that prominently features other local music and dance groups, and a free outdoor summer concert.
Gergen, who led the ESO board from 2019 through 2023, was recognized not only for her leadership during the challenging Covid pandemic—the ESO didn’t perform for 18 months and had no concert revenues for nearly two years—but also for her skillful management of the disruption caused by the sudden and unexpected passing of the ESO’s long-time General Manager David Ellis. Gergen worked with other board members to maintain financial reporting, and spearheaded efforts to hire an interim GM who helped the organization weather the first season following Ellis’ loss, and current GM Michelle Pranger.
The ICO represents community, youth and other nonprofessional orchestras and chamber ensembles in Illinois. The awards are presented annually after review by a panel of judges drawn from the Council’s board of directors and independent professional musicians representing orchestras, youth orchestras, and chamber ensembles from throughout Illinois.
The City of Evanston's Mayor Daniel Biss presenting a proclamation declaring June 2024 "Evanston Symphony Orchestra Month" to Maestro Lawrence Eckerling.
ESO Music Director Lawrence Eckerling, commenting on the “Orchestra of the Year” award, said, “It’s an honor and a privilege to be part of the ESO that was recognized with a ‘Community Orchestra of the Year’ award. This award is only possible with a complete team effort by the artistic, administrative and governance sides of the organization. And we all are inspired because of our wonderful audiences and the community that supports us.”
Suzanne Nelson, current president of the ESO board of directors, said, “The entire ESO organization is excited and honored to receive these recognitions from the Illinois Council of Orchestras. We are proud of our diverse programming that connects us with the Evanston community, and beyond. Join us next season to experience the joy of music!”
Commenting on her “Board President of the Year” award, Gergen said, "I am deeply honored and greatly humbled by this recognition. It is an award truly shared by the entire ESO board as all members 'upped their game' in response to each difficult situation as it arose. I am indebted to all of them for their efforts and support. An orchestra that plays at the level of the Evanston Symphony is easy to be enthusiastic about and to want to do all one can to contribute to its success."
The ESO celebrated the holidays with a wonderful concert with many community partners. Please enjoy this video.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's (1756-1791) Don Giovanni remains one of the most celebrated and influential operas in his impressive repertoire. Premiering on Oct. 29, 1787, the popularity of Don Giovanni spawned numerous arrangements and borrowings by future greats, including Franz Liszt, Frederic Chopin, and Ludwig van Beethoven, while "Là ci darem la mano" makes appearances in pop culture in the latter 20th century in Babette’s Feast and The Muppet Movie.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) was born in Salzburg, Austria, to a musical family where he and his sister, Nannerl, received musical training at a very young age. At 5 years old, Mozart could already read and write music; by age 6, he was writing compositions and was an accomplished keyboard musician. Escorted by his father, Leopold, Mozart and his sister performed across Europe, including for audiences of French and English royal families.
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975), the Russian composer known for his many symphonies, chamber works, and concerti studied piano and composition at a young age. He achieved more success as a composer, and therefore, his public piano performances were often of his own pieces. As one of the most significant musical figures of the 20th century, his compositions widely varied in terms of style and emotion.
Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born on May 7, 1840, in Votkinsk, a small town in Vyatka Governorate within the Russian Empire. He had five brothers and one sister, with whom he was very close. He was initially educated for a career as a civil servant, but when the opportunity to study music arose, he took full advantage and entered the newly formed Saint Petersburg Conservatory, graduating in 1865.
