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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!

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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

Spanish Seduction

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.

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Shall We Dance?

Huapango remains the most famous work of José Pablo Moncayo, the Guadalajara native and a pupil of Aaron Copland. While visiting Alvarado in Veracruz, Moncayo was inspired by the folk music he heard.

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Royal Inspiration

Joaquin Rodrigo, blind since the age of 3 due to diphtheria, moved to Paris at 26 to study with Paul Dukas in 1927. After marrying Turkish pianist Victoria Kamhi in 1933, Rodrigo returned to Paris to study at the Conservatory and the Sorbonne.

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