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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

Seeking timpanist

The Evanston Symphony Orchestra, now in its 80th season is auditioning for a new timpanist to join this award-winning orchestra.

2026 Programming of the Year Award recipient

We are honored to announce that we have received the 2026 Programming of the Year Award from the Illinois Council of Orchestras. The award covers programming for the 2024–2025 season.

Peter Schmeiser
The view from the back of the stage

Jennifer and Peter Schmeiser moved to Evanston from Florida in 2017 for better jobs, better weather, and, as it turns out, a better orchestra!

Beethoven's Fifth: Ever Popular, Ever Thrilling!

What is there new to say about Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony? It is, after all, one of the greatest, best-known and frequently played orchestra pieces ever written. It was first performed on Dec.

Beautiful Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven realized he was losing his hearing when he entered one of the most prolific and creative periods of his professional life. It was during this period — named the middle period — that he composed the Third Piano Concerto.

Egmont's Story Inspires Overture

Our April concert starts off with one of Beethoven’s final “Heroic” works, the Overture to his incidental music for a production of Goethe’s play Egmont.