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Elgin Symphony Orchestra

Elgin Symphony Orchestra

The Elgin Symphony Orchestra, four-time winner of Orchestra of the Year!

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ESO Principal Cello: Matthew Agnew

A native of Michigan, Matthew Agnew completed early cello studies with Marilyn Kesler, Shirley Mullins (a protege of Janos Starker), and Jane Katsuyama of the Dayton Philharmonic. He attended DePaul University on scholarship and studied with William Cernota from the Lyric Opera Orchestra.

As an orchestral player, Matthew serves as the principal cellist of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, a position he has held since 2002, and plays with several Chicago area orchestras, including Chicago Opera Theater, Music of the Baroque, Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra and the Joffrey Ballet. In 2005 he was awarded the assistant principal position with the Lancaster Festival Orchestra, a summer festival orchestra in Lancaster, Ohio. 

As a soloist, Matthew has been performing concertos since high school, when he premiered a cello concerto, composed by his father, at the Dayton Art Institute. Since then, he has had the privilege of soloing often with the Elgin Symphony, including concertos by Haydn and Vivaldi, and the Crouching Tiger Cello Concerto by Tan Dun, based on the soundtrack to the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.  In February 2020 he performed the Saint-Saens cello concerto with the Fox Valley Orchestra, and will close the Elgin Symphony Orchestra’s 20/21 season with a performance of Richard Strass’s Don Quixote.

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Elgin Symphony Orchestra

Elgin Symphony Orchestra (office)
20 DuPage Court
Elgin, IL 60120
(map)

Box Office 847-888-4000
boxoffice@elginsymphony.org

Admin 847-888-0404
Fax 847-888-0400

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Venues

Hemmens Cultural Center (map)
45 Symphony Way, Elgin, IL 60120

North Shore Center for the Performing Arts (map)
9501 Skokie Blvd, Skokie, IL 60077

Raue Center for the Arts (map)
26 N Williams Street, Crystal Lake, IL 60014

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