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Amanda Schor gave us the scoop on her involvement with the ESO and how she got started...

How long have you played with ESO?

I started playing in Dale Clevenger’s final year.

What instrument do you play and how did you gravitate to that instrument?

French horn. I probably did well when trying the instrument so the band teacher suggested it for me. I liked the register, not too high or too low.

What piece is on your bucket list to play with ESO and why?

I have a few! They include movie scores with projections, Sinfonia di caccia by Leopoldo Mozart (but using antique guns(?) and live dogs), and a Mexican songs performance with the symphony and a full mariachi band soloing. My cousin did this with the Grant Park Symphony a few years back. 

Biography

Amanda Schor has been with the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra for over 25 years. Amanda holds principal horn in the Kankakee Valley Symphony Orchestra, performs summers with Whiting Festival Orchestra, and is a member of the New Lenox Community Band. 

An active freelancer, Amanda plays in multiple chamber groups, theatre pits, community bands, church services, and educational concerts in the Chicago area and has even performed internationally in China, Russia, Austria and Czechoslovakia.

Amanda has been teaching private lessons for French horn and early trumpet since 1995.  She teaches individual, small group, and sectional instruction lessons for grades 5-12 at multiple schools. 

Amanda has plentiful experience working with a variety of abilities and learning styles and needs, which is how she developed her lesson design method that balances these needs with those of the band instructor.

When not playing, Amanda works at the Live Nation concert venue in Tinley Park, where she has been employed for two years.  The experience gives great opportunities to observe a diverse array of musical styles and audience demographics!

Amanda completed her Bachelor of Science in Fashion Merchandising in May 1989 at Northern Illinois University in Dekalb before completing her Master of Science in Clothing and Textile Design in 1991.  Amanda has also completed coursework toward Music pedagogy at Northeastern Illinois University and has received awards and honors for graduate teaching assistantship at both schools. Amanda later completed pre med courses at College of DuPage, Moraine Valley Community College, and UIC. 

Amanda currently works as a substitute teacher and a tutor, commissioned by the Illinois Teaching Initiative with Governor’s State University, a collaboration between higher education and school districts of need across the state that have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In her spare time, Amanda enjoys fostering kittens (eleven currently!) and gardening. She frequently enlists the generous help of her husband, Timothy, and daughter, Miranda (25), and son, Noah (23).