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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

Peter Schmeiser
The view from the back of the stage

Jennifer and Peter Schmeiser moved to Evanston from Florida in 2017 for better jobs, better weather, and, as it turns out, a better orchestra!

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Evanston Symphony Orchestra offering special holiday show for people with special needs, by Chris Gillock

Dec. 14 performance will welcome those who vocalize, move and have different ways of experiencing music

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So Long, John Russell—and Thanks!

Retired ESO timpanist John F. Russell was born in ­Gloucester, England. His parents worked in a nursing home there ­until an American relative in Cicero offered his father work and housing.

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Musical Notes

The One and Only

Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A Minor is the only piano concerto the composer ever wrote. Completed in 1845, it premiered later that same year; however, Schumann originally composed it as a one-movement piece for piano and orchestra.

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A Mellifluous Cultural Touchstone

The Evanston Symphony Holiday Gospel Choir will perform Stand by Me with the ESO. The recent royal wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was our inspiration to include this wonderful number in our Holiday Concert.

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Songs of the Season
Wendel’s Wonderland of Snow Medley and Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus” from Messiah will bring to mind golden holiday memories of years past, while the dramatic choruses of Handel’s oratorio Judas Maccabaeus will tell the triumphant tale of Hanukkah, bringing together the talented musicians of the Nort
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