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Evanston Symphony Orchestra | Evanston Illinois’ Community Orchestra playing classical music concerts at Pick Staiger Hall

  • Our Next Concert
    Imperial London

    Sunday, March 18, 2018, 2:30 p.m.

    Haydn

    Vaughan Williams

    Grainger

    Walton

    Purcell

    Britten

    with Henry Fogel, narrator

    Henry Fogel
  • ESO is named
    2017 Community Orchestra of the Year

    Illinois Council of Orchestras award announced!

    A panel of judges selected the ESO as best in Illinois

  • ESO’s
    Share The Stage

    Share the Stage lets you sponsor a chair in the Orchestra. It’s our way of recognizing that the ESO Community is made up of Orchestra Members and Supporters.

2025-2026 SERIES: The POWER of Music

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Musical Insights

Free Pre-Concert Preview Series!

October 17, 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.

Adrian Munive, ESO Principal Clarinet, will be featured at Musical Insights.

Friday, October 17 at 1:30 pm,
Merion’s Crystal Ballroom at
529 Davis St, Evanston.
FREE and open to the public.
Please RSVP to 847-570-7815.

The Merion
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.

Bringing the Community Together Around Music

The Evanston Symphony Orchestra is honored to have Lawrence (Larry) Eckerling as our Music Director. Whether Larry is conducting the orchestra, developing a season’s worth of concert programs, or selecting soloists, he combines his passion for music with his desire to reach people: the audience, the musicians, and the community overall.

“When I conduct,” he says, “my hope is that I will transmit to the audience, and to the players, my sense of just how moving the music is. My job is to portray emotion, to touch the soul.”

Learn More!

Charlotte Hadley – Violin – 15 Seasons

“Day Job”: A professional volunteer for many years, giving hours of time to the Art Institute of Chicago, presenting PowerPoint programs of art to seniors who are unable to get to the Art Institute. We travel to senior communities, churches, senior centers, anywhere with senior clientele. I am also involved at Ravinia, giving sculpture tours and serving on the Board of the Ravinia Steans Music Institute.

Learn More!

Silver Linings in a Pandemic

Thursday, March 12, 2020. Violinist Irina Muresanu was taking a walk in Evanston, a town she dearly loves. She had arrived here two days earlier and had rehearsed with the ESO that evening in anticipation of the concert on Sunday, March 15. Her performance of Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 was to be the highlight of the program. In addition, she, Maestro Eckerling, and ESO General Manager David Ellis had prepared a program for the pre-concert lecture series, “Musical Insights,” for Friday, March 13 at The Merion in downtown Evanston. Then her phone rang. It was Larry Eckerling.

Learn More!

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