Our 73rd season featuring great virtuosos, all Chicago area residents, begins with the talents of John Bruce Yeh, the longest serving clarinet player in the history of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He will perform the clarinet solo in a piece composed for him by Lake Forest resident James Stephenson. The concert opens with orchestral dances from the first great Czech opera, by the “father” of Czech music, and closes with the most popular of all Czech compositions, Dvořák’s “New World” Symphony.
Subscription Series Concerts Venue:
Pick-Staiger Concert Hall
50 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
See map.
Tickets
All tickets are assigned seating.
Please call 847-864-8804 for wheelchair accessible tickets.
Advance Sales
$42 Adult, $36 Seniors, $5.00 Full-Time Student
Children Free
Children 12 and younger are admitted absolutely FREE, but must have an assigned seat.
Please call 847.864.8804 or email tickets@evanstonsymphony.org for all orders with children’s tickets.
At the Door Sales
$47 Adult, $41 Seniors, $5.00 Full-Time Student
2026–2027 SERIES SUBSCRIPTION
Three-concert Subscription
$111.75 Adults, $99.00 Seniors, $15 Students
Soloist
Musical Insights
Free Pre-Concert Preview Series!
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.
Series Sponsored by The Merion
October 16, Friday, at 1:30 pm
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.
Program Notes
October 2017 Concert
Our 72nd season of diverse music from many lands opens with Robert Schumann’s overture for a staged version of Byron’s romantic epic detailing the turbulent life of his anti-hero Manfred, and closes with Beethoven’s masterpiece of rhythm, his Seventh Symphony. Rising star William Hagen makes his ESO debut in a cornerstone of the repertoire, the Violin Concerto by Finland’s most famous composer, Jan Sibelius.
Program
Subscription Series Concerts Venue:
Pick-Staiger Concert Hall
50 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
See map.
Tickets
All tickets are assigned seating.
Please call 847-864-8804 for wheelchair accessible tickets.
Advance Sales
$42 Adult, $36 Seniors, $5.00 Full-Time Student
Children Free
Children 12 and younger are admitted absolutely FREE, but must have an assigned seat.
Please call 847.864.8804 or email tickets@evanstonsymphony.org for all orders with children’s tickets.
At the Door Sales
$47 Adult, $41 Seniors, $5.00 Full-Time Student
2026–2027 SERIES SUBSCRIPTION
Three-concert Subscription
$111.75 Adults, $99.00 Seniors, $15 Students
Soloist
Musical Insights
Free Pre-Concert Preview Series!
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.
Series Sponsored by The Merion
October 16, Friday, at 1:30 pm
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.
Program Notes
Our blockbuster 71st season opens with three favorite Viennese composers, and with the Evanston Symphony debut of fast-rising star Alexandra Switala in Mozart’s final violin concerto. Schubert began his final symphony a year after attending the premiere of Beethoven’s 9th, and this “Great” C Major symphony lives up to its Beethovenian inspiration, although without using a chorus and vocal soloists.
Program
Subscription Series Concerts Venue:
Pick-Staiger Concert Hall
50 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
See map.
Tickets
All tickets are assigned seating.
Please call 847-864-8804 for wheelchair accessible tickets.
Advance Sales
$42 Adult, $36 Seniors, $5.00 Full-Time Student
Children Free
Children 12 and younger are admitted absolutely FREE, but must have an assigned seat.
Please call 847.864.8804 or email tickets@evanstonsymphony.org for all orders with children’s tickets.
At the Door Sales
$47 Adult, $41 Seniors, $5.00 Full-Time Student
2026–2027 SERIES SUBSCRIPTION
Three-concert Subscription
$111.75 Adults, $99.00 Seniors, $15 Students
Soloist
Musical Insights
Free Pre-Concert Preview Series!
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.
Series Sponsored by The Merion
October 16, Friday, at 1:30 pm
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.
October 2015 Concert
An Amazing Tale With Sumptuous Melodies
Scheherazade is one of the most popular works in the symphonic repertoire. It has all the right ingredients—a beguiling tale with brilliant orchestration, ravishing melodies and many exquisite and thrilling solos from throughout the orchestra, particularly those played by the ESO’s wonderful concertmaster Julie Fischer as Scheherazade.
Tchaikovsky’s enchanting, magical Tempest
The 70th season of the Evanston Symphony Orchestra debuts this October with a sweeping symphonic poem by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The Tempest; Fantasy Overture, Op. 18, draws loosely from William Shakespeare’s play by the same name.
Our Platinum Anniversary season opens with orchestral favorites depicting literary tales, and each one includes a storm! Of course there is much more, including the “Lone Ranger” and one of Tchaikovsky’s most impassioned love themes. ESO Concertmaster Julie Fischer will portray the wily Scheherazade with her many violin solos.
Program
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Musical Insights Free Pre-Concert Preview the Friday before this concert.
Learn How to Attend!
Subscription Series Concerts Venue:
Pick-Staiger Concert Hall
50 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
See map.
Tickets
All tickets are assigned seating.
Please call 847-864-8804 for wheelchair accessible tickets.
Advance Sales
$42 Adult, $36 Seniors, $5.00 Full-Time Student
Children Free
Children 12 and younger are admitted absolutely FREE, but must have an assigned seat.
Please call 847.864.8804 or email tickets@evanstonsymphony.org for all orders with children’s tickets.
At the Door Sales
$47 Adult, $41 Seniors, $5.00 Full-Time Student
2026–2027 SERIES SUBSCRIPTION
Three-concert Subscription
$111.75 Adults, $99.00 Seniors, $15 Students
Musical Insights
Free Pre-Concert Preview Series!
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.
Series Sponsored by The Merion
October 16, Friday, at 1:30 pm
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.
Program Notes
October 2014 Concert
Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 Reflects Drama of World War II
Sergei Prokofiev composed his Symphony No. 5 in B flat major during a critical point in World War II. Russia was anticipating victory over Nazi Germany, and there was a tangible feeling of excitement in Russia. The Evanston Symphony will perform this dazzling orchestral work during its Oct. 26 concert in the Pick-Staiger Concert Hall at 2:30 p.m.In what is considered one of the most dramatic premieres ever, Prokofiev conducted this work on Jan. 13, 1945, in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, to an audience consisting of the most prominent people of the day.