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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.

Latest news

Program notes for all ages

The Evanston Symphony Orchestra now offers three different program books at our subscription concerts so all can enjoy the concert to the full. We have KidNotes to help younger audience members learn about the concert and include puzzles and other 'fidget-reducing' activities. We also offer large-print programs for patrons with reduced eyesight, and then our regular program books, all of which contain so much information to help you enjoy the concert.

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ESO receives generous bequest

The Evanston Symphony Orchestra has received a generous bequest from the estate of Anne Dow Weinberg. Ms. Weinberg regularly attended our concerts and was a good friend of Rick Greene, one of our longest serving French Horn players. Ms Weinberg is now a member of our KeyNote Society. Membership in the KeyNote Society is a reflection of the highest individual commitment to the future of the Evanston Symphony Orchestra.

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Italian Passion in Prague

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's (1756-1791) Don Giovanni remains one of the most celebrated and influential operas in his impressive repertoire. Premiering on Oct. 29, 1787, the popularity of Don Giovanni spawned numerous arrangements and borrowings by future greats, including Franz Liszt, Frederic Chopin, and Ludwig van Beethoven, while "Là ci darem la mano" makes appearances in pop culture in the latter 20th century in Babette’s Feast and The Muppet Movie.

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Studying Abroad in Italy

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) was born in Salzburg, Austria, to a musical family where he and his sister, Nannerl, received musical training at a very young age. At 5 years old, Mozart could already read and write music; by age 6, he was writing compositions and was an accomplished keyboard musician. Escorted by his father, Leopold, Mozart and his sister performed across Europe, including for audiences of French and English royal families.

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"A Soviet artist's response to just criticism"

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975), the Russian composer known for his many symphonies, chamber works, and concerti studied piano and composition at a young age. He achieved more success as a composer, and therefore, his public piano performances were often of his own pieces. As one of the most significant musical figures of the 20th century, his compositions widely varied in terms of style and emotion. 

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Exploring the Nuances of a Theme

Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born on May 7, 1840, in Votkinsk, a small town in Vyatka Governorate within the Russian Empire. He had five brothers and one sister, with whom he was very close. He was initially educated for a career as a civil servant, but when the opportunity to study music arose, he took full advantage and entered the newly formed Saint Petersburg Conservatory, graduating in 1865. 

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