Skip to main content

Logo

Evanston Symphony Orchestra

Lawrence Eckerling, Music Director

Announcing Our 2026–2027 Season

For The Love of Music

Subscribe Today

Save up to $50 and get the best seats

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

Subscription Information
Buy Season Subscription
Download Season Brochure

October 18, 2026

Celebrating Beethoven’s Brilliance

Buy Tickets

February 14, 2027

Great Romantics

Buy Tickets

April 4, 2027

Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony

Buy Tickets

May 23, 2027

A Mass for Peace

Buy Tickets

Musical Insights

Free Pre-Concert Preview Series!

Musical Insights Icon

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

Celebration Of Life: Ed Bennett

Retired ESO cellist Ed Bennett died this past March. Ed was born in Martins Ferry, Ohio, and began cello there, playing in the school orchestra until his father, an electrical engineer for U.S. Steel, was transferred to Gary, Indiana, when Ed was 15.

…
ESO’s Vince Flood named 2018 Board President of the Year

Vince Flood Receives llinois Council of Orchestras Award

Evanston Symphony Orchestra is proud to announce that Vince Flood won the award for Board President of the Year 2018 from the Illinois Council of Orchestras. Vince has been a strong and effective leader, who has taken this vibrant community orchestra to new heights of performance, while also pioneering initiatives to make it a more inclusive organization that truly serves the whole of its community.

…
ESO named 2017 Community Orchestra of the Year

 

For immediate release March 15, 2017

Community Orchestra of the Year 

Evanston Symphony Orchestra
Lawrence Eckerling, Music Director

…
Charles Taylor Wins the William Grant Still Initiative for Black Conductors

In 2014 Charles Taylor found himself unexpectedly conducting a children’s choir at Millennium Park. The concert was a tribute to Nelson Mandela, who had passed away the year before. The scheduled conductor was unable to make it and Charles suddenly found himself thrust into the limelight.

…
An ESO Love Story

It all began in February 1989 at an Evanston Symphony Orchestra rehearsal in the band room at ETHS. Fran Zirbel, then new to the Chicago area, had just joined the second violin section of the orchestra the month before.

…
Lost and Found

You may recall a previous article in which we shared music recommendations from Evanston Symphony Orchestra members’ pandemic playlists. One musician had been listening to Violin Concerto No.

…