Elgin Symphony Orchestra

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

ESO

Fridays on the Farm: Q&A with Maestro Andrew Grams

Q & A with Maestro Andrew Grams
Friday, February 26th, 7:00 PM

It has been a busy week at the Elgin Symphony Orchestra! We have had virtual interviews with stars in the world of opera and composition, a new program broadcast on WFMT Radio in collaboration with the Ravinia Festival and on Friday evening, February 26th, Maestro Andrew Grams hosts a Question-and-Answer session to discuss our newly announced summer festival “Fridays on the Farm!” Tune in on Zoom or Facebook Live. (Here is the ZOOM url: https://zoom.us/j/93027623184)

Have questions for the Maestro? Be prepared to put them in the chat box or send them in advance to e.malmquist@elginsymphony.org.

Listeners Club is Back!

ESO Listeners Club is Back!

The Elgin Symphony Orchestra (ESO) invites classical music aficionados and those who would like to learn more about this musical genre to join them in a free, four-part online series in February. The ESO Listeners Club will feature live-streamed discussions with notable contemporary vocalists, composers, and musicians to discuss the historic and contemporary musical works to be featured in soprano Nicole Heaston’s God & Love concert. The concert, featuring Elgin Symphony Orchestra principal players and co-presented by the Ravinia Festival, will be aired on WMFT 98.7 FM on Thursday, Feb. 25 at 8 p.m. CST and streamed through the WFMT app and at wfmt.com. The concert was recorded at Ravinia’s Bennett Gordon Hall, and features works by Frans Liszt, Franz Schubert, George Frederick Handel, Jessie Montgomery and Henry Purcell.

To enrich the performance, the Listeners Club will highlight a different aspect of the concert each week in its live, online discussions. To take part, simply tune in on the ESO Facebook page at the appointed time.  If you prefer to participate via Zoom, register here.

The series includes the following discussions:

Kyle Masson

Kyle Masson discusses “George Frederic Handel — More than just The Messiah!”

Monday, February 8, 2021
7:00 PM 

George Frederic Handel may be most known for The Messiah, but he didn’t start composing English choral works until mid-way through his career. Join Kyle Masson, Ph.D. candidate in Historical Musicology at Princeton University, for a discussion of Handel’s evolution from his early days composing Italian opera to his success with English oratorios. An active performer himself, Masson will also talk about the art of singing Handel’s music in a captivating presentation on “Tu del ciel ministro eletto” from Il trinfo del tempo e del disinganno, George Frederic Handel’s first ever oratorio.

The aria will be performed by ESO string principals and soprano Nicole Heaston on February 25, 2021 at 8:00 p.m. CST on The WFMT Radio Network in collaboration with the Ravinia Festival.

Benedicte Jourdois presents “Romance of the French Voice”

Monday, February 15, 2021
7:00 PM

Paris native Benedicte Jourdois will discuss the musical genre of art song, the poetic melding of a single vocalist and single accompaniment, traditionally piano, to emphasize the emotion of the poet’s storytelling. She will focus on the work of Franz Liszt that will be performed by soprano Nicole Heaston in concert with the ESO in a concert broadcast on WFMT on Feb. 25, 2021 at 8 p.m. CST.

Jourdois currently serves on the music staff of the Metropolitan Opera and on faculty at the Juilliard School and Chautauqua Opera Voice Program. She has appeared as a soloist and recitalist on such stages as Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and has worked with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Pittsburgh Opera, Houston Grand Opera and the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, SC.

Nicole Heaston talks with ESO Executive Director Erik Malmquist: A Life on the Stage

Monday, February 22, 2021
7:00 PM

Nicole Heaston, who grew up in Chicago, is one of today’s most sought-after sopranos. She has performed starring roles in operatic productions at the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Royal Danish Opera, Norwegian National Opera and Boston Lyric Opera, as well as concert appearances with the Baltimore Symphony, National Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony and Houston Symphony, with whom she appeared as the soprano soloist for their recently released album of Haydn’s Creation.

In this live-streamed conversation, ESO Executive Director Erik Malmquist will speak with Heaston about her musical journey from her youth in Chicago, to studying music and voice in Ohio, to her long-standing relationship with the Houston Grand Opera, to performing worldwide. They will also talk about Heaston’s upcoming God & Love performance, featuring principal players from the ESO, which will be broadcast on WFMT on Feb. 25, 2021 at 8 p.m. CST.

Jessie Montgomery: “The Next Generation of Composition”

Wednesday, February 24, 2021
7:00 PM

Join ESO Executive Director Erik Malmquist as he interviews acclaimed composer, violinist, and educator Jessie Montgomery. The recipient of the Leonard Bernstein Award from the ASCAP Foundation, Montgomery’s works are performed frequently around the world by leading musicians and ensembles. Her music interweaves classical music with elements of vernacular music, improvisation, language, and social justice, placing her squarely as one of the most relevant interpreters of 21st-century American sound and experience. The Washington Post described her works as “turbulent, wildly colorful and exploding with life.”

Her composition of “I Want to Go Home” can be heard, performed by Nicole Heaston and members of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, on February 25, 2021 at 8:00 p.m. on WFMT.

God & Love – Recital with Nicole Heaston

One of the definitive sopranos of our generation, Nicole Heaston has starred in productions at such revered theaters as the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Glyndebourne Festival, Norwegian National Opera, Staatsoper Hamburg, Royal Danish Opera and Houston Grand Opera, and has appeared as the soprano soloist on numerous orchestral recordings over the past two decades.

This February 25th at 8:00 pm, the Elgin Symphony Orchestra and Ravinia Festival are thrilled to co-present Ms. Heaston in a recital, recorded specifically for broadcast on the WFMT Radio Network. The program, titled “God & Love” will highlight rapturous music from 15th Century English master Henry Purcell to one of today’s most acclaimed living composers, Jessie Montgomery.

Personnel

Nicole Heaston – Soprano

Gene Collerd – Clarinet
Isabella Lippi – Violin
Eleanor Bartsch – Violin
Daniela Folker – Violin

Amanda Grimm – Viola
Matthew Agnew – Cello
Timothy Shaffer – Bass

Shannon McGinnis – Piano
Mark Shuldiner – Harpsichord
Brandon Acker – Theorbo

Program

Franz Liszt Four Songs 
(Ms. Heaston / Ms. McGinnis)
Comment, disaient-ils 
Oh, quand je dors  
S’il est un charmant gazon 
Enfant, si j’étais roi 

Franz Schubert Der Hirt auf dem Felsem  D 956 
(Ms. Heaston / Ms. McGinnis / Mr. Collerd)

George Frederick Handel Tu del ciel ministro eletto from Il trionfo del Tempo e della Verità  
(Ms. Heaston / Mr. Shuldiner / Mr. Acker / Ms. Lippi / Ms. Bartsch / Ms. Folker / Ms. Grimm / Mr. Agnew / Mr. Shaffer)

Jessie Montgomery I Want to Go Home 
(Ms. Heaston / Ms. Lippi / Ms. Folker / Mr. Agnew / Mr. Shaffer)

Henry Purcell The Blessed Virgin’s Expostulation   
(Ms. Heaston / Mr. Shuldiner / Mr. Acker / Mr. Agnew)

Videos

Meet the Musician: Sharon Chang, Assistant Principal Violin II

Hailed for her, “instantaneously arresting …sweet, clear, vital” sound (The New York Sun), violinist Sharon Chang maintains an active career as a chamber musician, orchestral musician and as a teacher. Ms. Chang has won numerous first prize awards in competition and has had the privilege of performing, as a soloist, with orchestras including the North Suburban Symphony, Waukegan Symphony, and Camerata Chicago.  

As a chamber musician, Ms. Chang has performed on the Wednesdays at One series in New York City’s Alice Tully Hall, and performed in collaborations resulting in radio broadcasts on From The Top and on Chicago’s classical station 98.7 WFMT. A recipient of a Farwell Scholarship from the Musicians Club of Women, Ms. Chang has held positions in several orchestras, including the Akron Symphony, Canton Symphony, and Cleveland Pops Orchestras.  She currently holds the Assistant Principal Second Violin position with the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, and is a substitute violinist with several orchestras nationwide.  

Ms. Chang has studied with Stephen Clapp at The Juilliard School, and with William Preucil and Joel Smirnoff at the Cleveland Institute of Music.  Ms. Chang maintains a private violin studio, and has served as violin faculty at the Music Institute of Chicago.

Elgin Symphony Orchestra Announces Redesigned 2021 Spring Schedule

The Elgin Symphony Orchestra (ESO) today announced an amended spring 2021 schedule amid continued state-mandated gathering restrictions surrounding COVID-19.

“We have proactively reimagined our performances to ensure we can continue to provide a world class symphonic experience in a way that keeps our musicians, guests and staff safe,” said Erik Malmquist, executive director, Elgin Symphony Orchestra.

Previously planned spring concerts at The Hemmens have been cancelled and are being replaced with ‘Fridays on the Farm’: a new, three-concert, outdoor spring and summer festival to be held at The Venue at Gobbert’s Pumpkin Patch and Apple Orchard in Pingree Grove. The tented space allows for social distancing to comply with state guidelines. ESO subscribers have been notified by mail of the cancellation and the option to exchange or donate tickets.

“We are excited to celebrate Maestro Andrew Grams’ final season with the ESO at this beautiful location,” Malmquist said.

Grams, a protégé of Franz Welser-Moest, has conducted orchestras around the world. He was appointed music director of the ESO in June 2013 after a two-year, international search, and was named Conductor of the Year by the Illinois Council of Orchestras in 2015.

The Fridays at the Farm symphonic performance schedule includes:

  • A chamber orchestra concert on May 21;
  • A full orchestra performance on July 2; and,
  • Maestro Grams’ farewell concert featuring the full ESO orchestra on Aug. 6.

The ESO was founded in 1950 and became a fully professional ensemble in 1985. Over its history, the ESO has featured a roster of legendary soloists including classical music legends Yo Yo Ma, Kathleen Battle, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zucherman, Sir James Galloway and James Ehnes. The ESO has been named Orchestra of the Year four times by the Illinois Council of Orchestras (1988, 1999, 2005 and 2016).

A community organization that draws its creativity and artistry from the Elgin area, the ESO is dedicated to giving back to the areas it serves. Ensemble members regularly perform at local hospitals and hospice centers, offer music education programs within local schools, and provide free experiences through the Listeners Club and open-to-the-public rehearsals.

Meet the Musician: Nazar Dzhuryn, Assistant Principal Cello

ESO-Nazar Dzhuryn, Assistant Principal, Cello 

Nazar Dzhuryn, Assistant Principal Cello

A native of Lviv, Ukraine, cellist Nazar Dzhuryn enjoys a diverse career as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician, and educator. He graduated from the Lviv Music School and earned his Master of Music degree at the Moscow State Conservatory under Igor Gavrysh. Upon graduation, Dzhuryn served as an assistant professor at the Moscow State Conservatory, before moving to Chicago. 

Dzhurin’s solo recitals for the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts and the PianoForte Salon Series have been broadcast live on 98.7 WFMT. In recent seasons, he has appeared as a soloist with the Moscow State Symphony, Moscow Conservatory Symphony, Elgin Symphony Orchestra, Lviv Philharmonic, National Symphony of Ukraine in Kiev, Minsk Philharmonic, Ensemble of Soloists Classicus in Zagreb, Sinfonietta Bel Canto IL, Harper Symphony Orchestra, Northwest Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Woodstock Mozart Festival Orchestra, Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra and Grand Forks Symphony Orchestra. In addition, Nazar has given numerous solo recitals and master classes in Russia, Ukraine, Croatia, South America, South Africa, South Korea and the U.S. In 2008 he released his solo debut CD, Cello Monologue, featuring works by Reger and Kodaly. His next CD, Cello Monologue 2 was released in 2013, featuring works of Ysaye, Hindemith, Crumb, Ligeti and Laniuk. 

Nazar has appeared as part of the Rush Hour Concerts Series at St. James Cathedral in Chicago and as a guest artist with the Chicago Chamber Musicians and is a frequent chamber music collaborator of members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Formerly the principal cello of the Moscow State Symphony “Young Russia” and the Moscow Conservatory Symphony, Nazar has served as the assistant principal cello of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra since 2000 and as the principal cello of the Woodstock Mozart Festival Orchestra since 2004. He participated in the Rostropovich Festival in Evian, France, and has performed as an orchestral musician under such conductors as Georg Solti, Mstislav Rostropovich, Daniel Barenboim, and Helmuth Rilling.

Nazar maintains private teaching studios in Chicago and Elgin and serves on the faculties of Northeastern Illinois University and the Naperville School for the Performing Arts. He also coaches chamber ensembles for the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra (CYSO). Nazar’s students have won prizes in numerous competitions, including the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, the Walgreens National Concerto Competition, and the Chicago Chamber Music Competition.

ESO-Nazar Dzhuryn, Assistant Principal, Cello