Evanston Symphony Orchestra And ESO Board Past-Pres. Margaret Gergen Receive 2024 Awards From The Illinois Council Of Orchestras
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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.
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.
The ESO will perform the ever-popular The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Paul Dukas and also pieces like the Superman March by John Williams, and the delightful Mozart piece for strings only — Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.
Also on the program:
The ESO celebrated the holidays with a wonderful concert with many community partners. Please enjoy this video.
Masks, vaccinations, and testing are no longer required to attend ESO concerts. However, after discussion with our expert physician consultant and given the recent rise in COVID, flu and RSV infections in the Chicago area, the ESO encourages masking during the concert. As always, we ask that if you are sick, please stay home to prevent the spread of illness. The ESO continues to monitor COVID and will adapt this policy as needed.
Czech composer Antonin Dvořák was born in 1841 in Nelahozeves (near Prague) in the Austrian Empire. The oldest of 14 children, Antonin’s upbringing in Nelahozeves nurtured his strong Bohemian heritage, which so strongly influenced his music. Dvořák took organ, piano, and violin lessons and at the young age of 14, composed the Forget-Me-Not Polka in C in 1855.
The first saxophone was invented around 1840 in Brussels by Adolphe Sax, whose family was a maker of woodwind instruments. The metal-bodied, single-reed instrument was developed through the rest of the 19th century, primarily in French-speaking regions. Music with sax began to emerge in the 19th century and was used strikingly in important orchestral works in the early 20th. Earlier this season, you’ve heard saxophones at Pick-Staiger in both Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances and Gershwin’s An American in Paris.
French composer Paul Dukas (1865-1935) is best known for a single orchestral work, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Based on a 1797 poem by Wolfgang von Goethe, the piece was written in 1897 and premiered later that same year in Paris with Dukas himself conducting the performance. The piece was an instant hit.
Samuel Barber's (1910-1981) Adagio for Strings is a musical gem that has resonated with audiences for decades. Known for its emotional depth and hauntingly beautiful melody, this piece transports listeners to a realm where every note carries the weight of human experience. Originally part of the second movement of his String Quartet, the Adagio has found its way into the hearts of many through its transcendent orchestral arrangement.