The Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra Marks Its 62nd Season and the Orchestra’s 27th Season Under the Direction of Music Director Stephen Alltop
ELMHURST — Stephen Alltop, Music Director and Conductor of the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra (ESO), and Gregory Hughes, Executive Director of the Elmhurst Symphony Association (ESA), announce programming for the ESO 2022/2023 Season — the Orchestra’s 62nd season.
Under the baton of Music Director and Conductor Stephen Alltop, concert programs will offer music sure to please a wide range of musical tastes. The ESO’s home at Elmhurst Christian Reformed Church offers a spectacular contemporary space in which to enjoy not-to-be-missed concerts with family and friends of all ages, and the Orchestra’s budding association with the Union Church of Hinsdale promises an ideal partnership for chamber music performances.
Featured prominently throughout the season are virtuoso soloists and guest performers, including the musician who “single-handedly revolutionized the harmonica” (NPR), Howard Levy. Violinist Jasmine Lin and theorbo player Brandon Acker join the ESO for a series of Baroque concerto performances, and pianist Adam Neiman returns to the ESO stage for a tribute to former ESO Music Director and longtime Principal Hornist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Dale Clevenger. The season will conclude with a performance of Beethoven’s iconic Symphony No. 9, showcasing a renewed collaboration with the Elmhurst Choral Union.
Orchestra Performances
The Amazing Howard Levy
Saturday, September 24, 2022 | 7:00PM
Elmhurst Christian Reformed Church
Howard Levy invented a totally brand-new way of playing the harmonica! The Grammy Award-winning performer and composer who “single-handedly revolutionized the harmonica” (NPR) will perform his own Harmonica Concerto. Trust us, you’ve never heard a harmonica played like this before!
To a New World
Sunday, November 13, 2022 | 4:00PM
Elmhurst Christian Reformed Church
Music by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 (“From the New World”). Inspired by African-American spirituals like “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” and Native American music, Dvořák commented: “The future music of [the United States] must be founded on what are called Negro melodies… They are the folk songs of America and your composers must turn to them.”
ConcertoFest!
Saturday, January 28, 2023 | 2:30PM
Union Church of Hinsdale
Sunday, January 29, 2023 | 3:00PM
Elmhurst Christian Reformed Church
If you’re looking to be dazzled at every turn, this is the concert for you! Violinist Jasmine Lin returns to the Elmhurst Symphony after her most recent, stellar performance with the orchestra in 2019 and Brandon Acker makes his solo debut with the Elmhurst Symphony playing the theorbo, a plucked string instrument in the lute family and a distant cousin of the modern guitar. Finally, Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra musicians Rika Seko (violin), Naomi Bensdorf Frisch (oboe), and Andrew Nogal (oboe) all step into the soloist spotlight for this exciting program!
Neiman Plays Brahms
Dale Clevenger Memorial Concert
Saturday, March 11, 2023 | 7:00PM
Elmhurst Christian Reformed Church
This concert is dedicated in memory of Dale Clevenger, legendary Chicago Symphony Orchestra Principal Hornist and Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra Music Director and Conductor from 1981–1995. Pianist Adam Neiman returns to perform the Piano Concerto No. 1 by Johannes Brahms and the program begins with the composer’s Third Symphony. The symphony is full of somber, poignant passages and prominently features the French horn— the instrument with which Dale Clevenger contributed so much to the cultural vibrancy of Chicagoland.
Beethoven 9
Saturday, May 6, 2023 | 7:00PM
Elmhurst Christian Reformed Church
Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony adapts the text of the “Ode to Joy”, a poem by Friedrich Schiller (with some additional text thrown in there by Beethoven himself). The very first symphony to ever employ a chorus (sung at this performance by the Elmhurst Choral Union), the work is considered Beethoven’s greatest and one of the most significant pieces of music in history. If there was ever a piece to feed your soul, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony is it!
Tickets On Sale
Season Tickets
3-, 4-, and 5-concert Season Subscriptions are on sale now beginning at just $90. A season subscription is the most affordable and flexible way to make the most of your Elmhurst Symphony experience. Visit ElmhurstSymphony.org/Subscribe to learn more and purchase season tickets.
Single Tickets
Standard general admission tickets for the 2022/2023 Season are on sale now at ElmhurstSymphony.org/Tickets-Events. Discounted tickets for students and seniors go on sale September 1st.