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Violinist Gail Vandon gave us the scoop on her involvement with the ESO and how she got started...

How long have you played with ESO?

Gail is proud to have been a member of the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra (ESO) for the past 45 years. Her journey with the ESO began in high school when Gail’s orchestra director pulled four students out of a rehearsal and put them in the choir room with unfamiliar music and asked them to work on it by themselves.  Not thinking much of the older gentleman sitting on the stool in the corner, she was more worried about learning the music.  What Gail learned the next day was that the man on the stool was Maestro John Duckwall and that she had just successfully auditioned for the director of the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra and would be placed in the First Violin section. 

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

Violin. Music has been everywhere in Gail’s life starting at a very young age; her family was musically inclined with both instruments and singing.  She still has the pleasure of playing her great-uncle’s violin!

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

Gail’s favorite piece is Brahms Symphony 4.  

Biography

Gail’s appreciation for music and the arts was ingrained in her life attending musicals, theater shows, concerts, and operas, loving movie scores, playing in pit orchestras, and, of course, playing in symphonies.  During her years at Elmhurst University, Gail played under the direction of Dale Clevenger, and continues to play today under the leadership of Maestro Stephen Alltop. 

She feels blessed that over the years she sat with and had fun with two long-term stand partners at the symphony; June Feil and Ken Bohl.  To this day, their friendships continue and are cherished. Memory lane is a long road with many life-long friendships.  For years friendships developed within the first violin section, as a group and individually,  in get-togethers outside the symphony.  One of Gail’s most memorable concerts was playing Beethoven’s ninth under Dale Clevenger.  The man seemed to exude emotion on his face while directing.  

Outside of ESO, Gail is a member of the First Violin section at another symphony and every year at Christmastime performs concerts with a musical group that has a choir and soloists. Outside symphony, Gail is a security consultant selling/designing commercial systems.  She makes preemie baby blankets that are given to hospitals, and enjoys getting swept away by western novels.