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Evanston Symphony Orchestra

Lawrence Eckerling, Music Director

Announcing Our 2026–2027 Season

For The Love of Music

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Save up to $50 and get the best seats

Celebrating Beethoven’s Brilliance
Great Romantics
Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony
A Mass for Peace

Musical Insights

Free Pre-Concert Preview Series!

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Enhance your concert experience with a sneak preview — Composers come alive and their passions take center stage when ESO Maestro Lawrence Eckerling takes you on an insider’s tour of the history and highlights behind the music.

Merion’s Crystal Ballroom

529 Davis St, Evanston.
FREE and open to the public.

Please RSVP to 847-570-7815.

Light refreshments will be served and casual tours of apartments will be available after the program.

Latest News

2023 Holiday Concert Video

The ESO celebrated the holidays with a wonderful concert with many community partners. Please enjoy this video.
 

Health & Safety

Masks, vaccinations, and testing are no longer required to attend ESO concerts. However, after discussion with our expert physician consultant and given the recent rise in COVID, flu and RSV infections in the Chicago area, the ESO encourages masking during the concert. As always, we ask that if you are sick, please stay home to prevent the spread of illness. The ESO continues to monitor COVID and will adapt this policy as needed.

The ESO Welcomes New General Manager Michelle Pranger

The Evanston Symphony Orchestra has appointed Michelle Pranger its general manager effective May 1, 2023.

Whimsical Woodwind

√While little is known about Antonio Vivaldi’s inspiration or his method of composition for the Piccolo Concerto, it is clear that the popular Italian composer was incredibly prolific; he penned upwards of 500 concertos, and more than two-thirds of them were written for solo instruments.

Not a Traditional Folk Melody

Jean Sibelius composed Finlandia for orchestra in 1899, and it became an overnight sensation. The piece was a political protest supporting the freedom of the Finnish press which was increasingly being controlled by the Russian Empire.

A Centennial Celebration

Candide is based on the 1758 novella by Voltaire, which satirized the fashionable philosophies of the day, particularly the tortures inflicted by the Catholic Church on supposed heretics during the Inquisition.