people

We sat down with Carl to talk about his involvement with the Elmhurst Symphony. Our conversation is below.

How long have you been connected with ESO and how did you get started?

In October, 2014 Carolyn Ubriaco (a former work colleague at Teepak, Inc.) called me and encouraged me to interview for a seat on the ESO Board. Having recently retired from a Financial Manager position, I decided to take her up on the invitation. I attended my first Board meeting in December 2014 and was then asked to help develop a financial budget for the following season. I led a budget committee meeting a couple weeks later.

What do you do for the ESO?

I have served as Treasurer of the ESA since July 2015 and have chaired the Budget Committee since then. In addition, I currently serve on the Endowment and Music committees and in the past have served on the Marketing and Audience Development committees. In my role as Treasurer, I am responsible for the day-to-day accounting activities for the organization as well as coordinating the annual financial and insurance audits and helping provide financial information to our Executive Director in the grant application process.

What is your favorite part of working/being involved with ESO?

Although I have no formal musical background, I enjoy listening to all kinds of music. When I was in high school I participated in the percussion section of a local drum and bugle corps in Springfield, Illinois. I still enjoy attending several DCI shows each summer including the DCI World Championships in Indianapolis every year. It was the Phantom Regiment Drum Corps that first exposed me to classical music repertoire in the 70’s and 80’s. Prior to joining the ESO Board, I had never attended a symphony concert. In the last nine years I have started attending several concerts a year performed by various orchestras throughout the state of Illinois. By checking the competition I can report back to our Board and Music committees what other orchestras are performing as well as gauge attendance. I especially enjoy analyzing statistical data related to the ESO including attendance trends, subscriber and donor history and financial performance.

I am very encouraged by increased attendance at recent concerts (especially the Beethoven 9 and Ukrainian Symphony concerts). We have also experienced a strong increase in season subscribers approaching pre-pandemic levels. I look forward to the remainder of our 2024 season and a very diverse entertaining program schedule for the 2024/2025 season.

Outside Interests

Carl is an avid College and High School Sports Fan. He attends college FB games every weekend in the fall at Illinois, Notre Dame and Northwestern and has had season basketball tickets to Illini for over 25 years.