ESO Concertmaster Isabella Lippi Featured Soloist in November 7 & 8 Concerts

Performances feature works for violin by Dvořák and Saint-Saëns, plus Mozart’s “Prague” Symphony 

ELGIN, Ill. (October 19, 2026)– The Elgin Symphony Orchestra’s November concerts pair solo brilliance with orchestral sophistication in a program that features the virtuosity of ESO Concertmaster Isabella Lippi. Lippi will be featured on Antonín Dvořák’s lyrical and flowing “Romance for Violin and Orchestra” and the fiery and masterful Introduction and Rondo capriccioso by Camille Saint-Saëns, a true showpiece for the instrument.  

A Chicago native and concertmaster with the ESO, Lippi, who has been called “a standout, even among virtuosos,” began performing in public at the age of 10 when she made her debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She has since appeared as guest soloist with orchestras in the United States, Mexico, Europe, and the Far East.  

Lippi shared that standing in front of her ESO colleagues as a soloist feels natural and comfortable for her, particularly since the ESO feels like a family after so many years together.  “Although I have led the orchestra for a long time, I started as a soloist, so I feel very confident when I am standing up, and especially in front of my colleagues. It means so much for it to go well when I am with my colleagues. Every time I do it, I am thrilled at how welcoming they are, they are all rooting for you.” Lippi noted that the ESO musicians view themselves as a community, who can feel the positive support coming from Elgin’s audiences toward the stage as they perform.  

A special moment for Lippi is performing Dvořák’s “Romance for Violin and Orchestra”, which she has performed with a pianist but will play for the first time with a full orchestra next month with ESO. She notes a favorite passage in the Dvořák for audiences to listen for, “Towards the end, it’s almost like the orchestra is floating into the clouds and going into a surreal, otherworldly feeling. The violin soars into a part that feels like pure love, it’s so warm. Then there is a little bit of trouble but you can hear in the music that you’ve conquered what you were fighting and won! On the very last note, you’ve finally reached home and peace. That’s what I am hoping to convey.” 

Her performance will complement Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Prague” Symphony, a work known for its refined structure, dramatic depth, and luminous orchestration. The concert, led by ESO Music Director Chad Goodman, will also include Jonathan Leshnoff’s “Score,” a short, fast-paced work full of mischief and spritely passage work.  

Chad Goodman said “Mozart’s Symphony No. 38 was a monumental work in the composer’s catalog. The symphony premiered in Prague, a city that treated Mozart like a personal rock star. Though written in only three movements instead of the traditional four, it is massive in scale, with a first movement longer than any written in the 18th century. The symphony is dramatic, daring, sensual, and charming, with a complexity that is masked by the sheer beauty of the music. This work pushes the orchestra to technical and emotional extremes and will allow our incredible ESO musicians to shine brilliantly!”    

The ESO concerts featuring Lippi’s solo mastery take place Saturday, Nov. 7, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 8, at 2:30 p.m., at the Hemmens Cultural Center, 45 Symphony Way, Elgin.  

A Pre-Concert Talk by ESO Music Director Chad Goodman will take place one hour prior to each concert.   

Tickets are available at ElginSymphony.org. Tickets start at $20. Continuing its commitment to making performances affordable and accessible to the community, the ESO offers discounts for groups of 10 or more, student tickets for $10 for those with a valid student ID, and a free youth ticket for children age 17 and under with a paid adult ticket. Call the ESO Box Office at 847-888-4000 for more information and to include free youth tickets in your order. The ESO Box Office is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

The Elgin Symphony Orchestra was named Professional Orchestra of the Year in 2025 by the Illinois Council of Orchestras, which also awarded Goodman the Professional Conductor of the Year award. 

The ESO’s 77th Season is made possible through the generous support of donors, including Season Sponsors OTTO® Engineering, Willow Springs Charitable Trust, and an anonymous sponsor; Concert Sponsors the Illinois Arts Council, The Pepper Family Foundation, and John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc.; Contributing Sponsors Elgin Symphony League, Barrington Area Community Foundation, Seigle Foundation,  Florence B. & Cornelia A. Palmer Foundation, Richard & Carol Leonard Foundation, and   W.R. Meadows; and Community Sponsors Elgin Cultural Arts Commission, Donald & Kathleen Brungard Family Foundation, Epic Real Estate Group, and ARK Technologies. 

About Isabella Lippi 

Violinist Isabella Lippi, who has been called “A standout, even among virtuosos,” began performing in public at the age of 10 when she made her debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She has since performed in numerous recitals and has appeared as guest soloist with orchestras in the United States, Mexico, Europe and the Far East. 

In 1989, Isabella Lippi won the St. Louis Symphony Young Artist Competition, so impressing Maestro Leonard Slatkin, that for the first time in the 55-year history of the competition, the winner (Ms. Lippi) was invited to perform with the symphony in subscription concerts under Maestro Slatkin. Of this program, the St. Louis Post Dispatch declared, “Lippi introduced rhythmic subtleties into the music of the like that haven’t been heard since the heyday of Heifetz.” 

In addition to the Chicago Symphony and the St. Louis Symphony, Isabella Lippi has performed with numerous orchestras including the Dallas Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, New Orleans Symphony, Tulsa Philharmonic, the New World Symphony under Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, the Mexico City Philharmonic under Enrique Batiz, the San Diego Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Vermont Symphony, Columbus Symphony, Orquesta Sinfonica de Bilbao of Spain, and the Moscow Symphony. 

Ms. Lippi has won a number of competitions and awards including First Place in the Young Musicians Foundation National Debut Competition, Highest Honors in the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts Talent Search, the Henryk Szeryng International Competition, and the Illinois Young Performers Competition where she performed again with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in a live television broadcast under Maestro Hugh Wolff. She was also named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts. 

In January 1998, Isabella Lippi made her New York City recital debut at the 92nd Street Y’s Tisch Center for the Arts. Other important debuts included recitals at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Chicago’s Ravinia Festival and the famous Suntory Hall in Tokyo. 

In addition to her work as a soloist, Ms. Lippi has participated in numerous chamber music festivals including those of Santa Fe, La Jolla, Mainly Mozart and the Aspen Music Festival. She was Concertmaster of the Charleston Symphony from 1999-2002 and is currently Concertmaster of the Elgin Symphony. 

Ms. Lippi has been a featured artist on a number of radio stations throughout the United States including WQXR in New York, WNIB in Chicago and KFAC in Los Angeles; and in a nationally distributed educational program entitled Encounters. She is featured on a CD on the Koch International label which contains complete works for violin and piano and the solo works by the late composer, Miklos Rozsa. 

A Chicago native, Isabella Lippi’s teacher have included Robert Lipsett at the University of Southern California, Dorothy Delay at the Juilliard School and Almita and Roland Vamos in Chicago.