The Merion and Evanston Symphony Orchestra Host Free Program with Piano Virtuoso Jeffrey Biegel

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Jan. 3, 2019

Evanston, Ill.—The Merion, in conjunction with the Evanston Symphony Orchestra, will host Musical Insights, a free lecture program open to the public, on Friday, Jan. 31, 2020 starting at 1:30 p.m.in the Grand Ballroom of The Merion, 1611 Chicago Avenue, Evanston.

Pianist Jeffrey Biegel will join Lawrence Eckerling, Music Director of the ESO, to discuss and analyze the Piano Concerto in F of George Gershwin, which they will perform at the ESO concert on Sunday, February 2 at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall in Evanston. Maestro Eckerling and ESO General Manager David Ellis will preview the remainder of the all-American program: Grofé’s Grand Canyon Suite, Blow It Up, Start Again by Jonathan Newman, and the Lyric for Strings of George Walker, the first African-American composer to win the Pulitzer Prize in Music. This is the second of four subscription concerts in the ESO’s “Great Composers” season.

The Merion has received the Evanston Arts Council’s Leadership Award and is the sponsor of this popular lecture/recital series. These programs discuss the upcoming concert on the Friday afternoon prior to each ESO subscription concert. Maestro Eckerling and ESO General Manager David Ellis use recordings, DVDs, and the piano to demonstrate musical ideas and themes.

The program lasts about an hour and concludes with a question-and-answer session and free refreshments.

Founded in 1945, the Evanston Symphony Orchestra is the Illinois Council of Orchestras Community Orchestra of the Year for 2017, and offers five concerts a year with a mission to provide community members of all ages with convenient, affordable opportunities to perform and hear fine classical music from locally, nationally and internationally renowned artists.