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Elgin Symphony Orchestra

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

ESO in the News

Andrew Grams Bids Farewell, Receives Key to the City of Elgin

Elgin City Council Member John Steffen presents Andrew Grams with a proclamation and a key to the City of Elgin.

As his extended family watched from the front row, Maestro Andrew Grams gave his last performance as Music Director and Conductor of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra on August 6, 2021. With the musical selection of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 and Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 2, Andrew poignantly found the perfect ending to his eight-season tenure in “From Darkness to Light.”

In introducing Schumann’s work, Andrew talked about the parallel in this selection to his journey with the ESO.

“All of the musicians, and you, the audience, have given me a feeling of welcoming and growth,” Andrew said. In this piece, “everything comes together in a sense of harmony. I can’t think of a better way to express this grateful joy.”

At the end of the performance, Andrew bumped fists with concert master Isabella Lippi, and was graced with a rousing standing ovation from the audience. Elgin City Council Member John Steffen then surprised Andrew with a proclamation and a key to the City of Elgin.

Andrew Grams shares his gratitude for the ESO Musicians

Elgin City Council presents proclamation to Andrew Grams

Elgin Symphony Orchestra Announces 2021-2022 Season

Elgin Symphony Orchestra announces 2021-2022 Season

The Elgin Symphony Orchestra is excited to announce the return of concerts to the Hemmens Cultural Center in Elgin, the Raue Center in Crystal Lake and the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie as the Symphony reveals its 2021-22 season.

Subscription sales and renewals begin July 6, 2021 online at www.ElginSymphony.org, or by phone at 847-888-4000 or in person at the ESO box office, 20 DuPage Court., Elgin, Il, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.  Single tickets will go on sale Aug. 16.

The new season has something for everyone – from classics to contemporary to family-friendly holiday performances.

The works of Respighi, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart, Barber, Copland, Dvořák, Tallis, Vaughn Williams, Mendelssohn, Montgomery, Schumann, Wagner, Shostakovich, Miller, and Rachmaninoff are featured in the Classics series, which includes the following performances:

  • “Pines of Rome” on Oct. 2 and 3;
  • “Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5” on Nov. 6 and 7;
  • “Brahms Symphony No. 2” on Jan. 8 and 9, 2022;
  • “Beethoven’s Eroica” on Feb. 5 and 6, 2022;
  • “Mozart Requiem” on March 5 and 6, 2022; and
  • “Old American Songs” on April 2 and 3, 2022.

The Pops series includes “The Rocky Horror Picture Show Tribute” on Oct. 16 and 17; “The Film Music of John Williams” on Nov. 19, 20 and 21; and “Sergeant Pepper” on Feb. 18, 19 and 20, 2022.

Families will enjoy the “Holiday Spectacular” concerts on Dec. 10, 11 and 12; and “Mariachi!” on April 30 and May 1. Rounding out the Special Events options are the June 11 and 12 performances of “Scheherazade On The Farm”, which will be held at The Venue at Goebbert’s in Pingree Grove.

ESO Musical Director Andrew Grams, who is leaving the ESO in August, will return for a guest conductor appearance at the Scheherazade On The Farm performances. Other conductors for the 2021-22 season include Resident Conductor Stephen Squires, Ankush Bahl, Jose Luis Gomez, Matthew Halls, Andrew Lewis, Tania Miller, Anna Rakitina, Arturo Rodriguez, Lidiya Yankovskaya.

Guest musicians will include Sarah Davis Buechner, Robert Everson, Randall Goosby, Gabriel Martins, and Schaghajegh Nosrati.

Guest vocalists include Soprano Amanda Forsythe, Mezzo Soprano Amanda Crider, Tenor James Reese, Bass Jonathan Woody, Bass Baritone Ryan Speedo Green, and the Elgin Master Chorale.

Guest Artists include Jeans ‘N Classics and Mariachi Acero.

“Our musicians and staff are eager to return to a regular schedule of playing for our patrons. We’ve been fortunate to have the assistance of many loyal supporters as we navigated fewer and smaller concerts during COVID. We are excited to be able to see all of our fans fill the concert halls again,” said Erik Malmquist, executive director of the ESO.

As in the past, subscribers can select from the six-concert Classics series or they can build their own series by selecting any four or more concerts from either the Classics series, the Pops series or two special events to receive a subscriber discount. Ticket packages for the six-performance Classics series start at $150. Subscribers to the Build Your Own series will save $10 per Classic single-ticket price and $5 per Pops or Special Event single-ticket prices. All subscribers receive ticket discounts on subsequent ticket purchases, have no-fee ticket exchanges, and can receive a 50 percent discount on valet parking vouchers.

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.

Marc Thayer Named Chief Executive Officer

The Elgin Symphony Orchestra (ESO) welcomes Marc Thayer as Chief Executive Officer effective July 1. He will be working remotely until mid-August, when he will relocate to the Elgin area. Marc was selected following a nationwide search involving dozens of candidates.

Marc comes from the Symphony New Hampshire, where he has led the organization since 2016. An accomplished violinist, he has performed and taught around the world in his previous roles with the Association of American Voices, the American Music Abroad Program for the United States Department of State, and the Whim Estate Historical Society Concerts in St. Croix, Virgin Islands. He has held leadership roles with the St. Louis Symphony and with Miami’s New World Symphony. Marc received a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Violin Performance from the Eastman School of Music where he studied with William Preucil and Zvi Zeitlin.   

“Marc brings to the ESO the experience, professionalism and industry knowledge we were looking for,” said ESO Board Chair Andre Fiebig. “Marc exhibits a great deal of thoughtfulness and enthusiasm that excites our musicians and will fit well with our loyal community. We are extremely fortunate to have been able to convince Marc to join us in Elgin to take over the leadership of this highly successful institution that plays a critical role in Elgin and the surrounding communities.”

Marc replaces Erik Malmquist, who is leaving in August to oversee casting at Munich’s Bayerische Staatsoper.

Fridays on the Farm Tickets Announcement

Tickets for Elgin Symphony Orchestra’s (ESO) new Summer Festival “Fridays On The Farm”, featuring Music Director Andrew Grams, go on sale Friday, Feb. 26, 2021 at 10 a.m. The summer outdoor series will be held at The Venue at Goebbert’s in Pingree Grove. Tickets will be available at www.elginsymphony.org, as well as by phone from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, at 847-888-4000.

“Fridays on The Farm” performances will include:

May 21 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.: The Four Seasons, with violin soloist Karen Gomyo and conducted by Andrew Grams, features the work of Astor Piazzolla and Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky. The program will begin with Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, which seamlessly blends classical music with tango. It concludes with Tchaikovsky’s famous Serenade for Strings.

July 2 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.:  American Masters. Join Maestro Andrew Grams and internationally acclaimed Soprano Joelle Harvey for a night of music by three of our nation’s greatest composers: Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story; Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915; and George Gershwin’s An American in Paris.

August 6 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.:  From Darkness to Light. In four short notes, Ludwig van Beethoven opened his fifth symphony and changed classical music forever. In Maestro Andrew Gram’s final performance with the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, listeners will be taken on a journey from impenetrable darkness to blazing light as the Elgin Symphony Orchestra performs Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 and Robert Schumann’s virtuosic, yet poignantly sensitive, Symphony No. 2.

The tented space at The Venue at Goebbert’s allows for an elegant, socially distanced evening of music. Attendees will be grouped by party and socially distanced, in the performance tent, which has open sides for ventilation.

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.