• Our Next Concert

    The American-French Connection

    Sun., June 8, 2025, 2:30 p.m.

    Holland

    Still

    Ravel
    with Ko-Eun Yi, piano

    Debussy

    Copland

    Ko-Eun Yi, piano

    Buy Tickets

    Learn More

  • Featuring Lawrence Eckerling & Don Cagen

    ESO & All That Jazz

    Sunday, May 4 at 3:00 pm
    Performance & Reception

    Tickets on sale now ($50)

    A fundraising concert and reception to support ESO featuring the jazz and pop talents of Music Director Lawrence Eckerling on piano, and Principal Trumpet Don Cagen on trumpet.

    allthatjazz

    Buy Tickets

    AKAR AUDITORIUM @The Church
    2715 Hurd Ave. Evanston, IL
  • Save the date:
    LAKESIDE POPS CONCERT

    Free Admission

    Tuesday, August 19, 2025
    7:00 PM

    FREE!

2024-2025 SERIES: Soul & Inspiration

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Musical Insights

Free Pre-Concert Preview Series!

June 6, 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, Ko-Eun Yi, at Musical Insights. She and our Maestro Lawrence Eckerling will explore the June concert program in depth.

 

The Merion
Friday, June 6 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

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.

Latest news

Celebration Of Life: Ed Bennett

Ed Bennett

Retired ESO cellist Ed Bennett died this past March. Ed was born in Martins Ferry, Ohio, and began cello there, playing in the school orchestra until his father, an electrical engineer for U.S. Steel, was transferred to Gary, Indiana, when Ed was 15. Ed enrolled in Horace Mann High School in Gary, where he continued playing cello in the high school orchestra and also played with the Gary Symphony. His most memorable concert with the latter was on December 7, 1941; only after the conclusion of the concert were they told about the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

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ESO’s Vince Flood named 2018 Board President of the Year

Vince Flood Receives llinois Council of Orchestras Award

Evanston Symphony Orchestra is proud to announce that Vince Flood won the award for Board President of the Year 2018 from the Illinois Council of Orchestras. Vince has been a strong and effective leader, who has taken this vibrant community orchestra to new heights of performance, while also pioneering initiatives to make it a more inclusive organization that truly serves the whole of its community.

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Vibrant Saxophone Melodies

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.

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One-Hit Wonder

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.

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Timeless Beauty and Vibrant Energy

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.

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