The Evanston Symphony Orchestra will present its second free Young Persons concert at 3 p.m. on May 19 at the Evanston Township High School auditorium, 1600 Dodge Ave.
This one-hour concert is an introductory orchestral concert for children ages 5-13, although music lovers of all ages are welcome. Maestro Lawrence Eckerling, along with narrator Charles Taylor, will explore the many musical colors of the instruments in a symphony orchestra by performing “A Colorful Symphony” by Robert Xavier Rodríguez. This 20- minute work is based on a chapter from “The Phantom Tollbooth” by Norton Juster, and ranks with “Peter and the Wolf” and “The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra” for providing enjoyment to children, parents and grandparents.
More than 100 middle-school students from School District 65 will play alongside Evanston Symphony Orchestra musicians on the final two pieces of the concert, selections from Badelt’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” and the “Farandole” from Bizet’s “L’Arlésienne.” The concert will be rounded out with the first movement of Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Trumpets featuring Don Cagen and Charles Russell Roberts, plus the “Imperial March” from John Williams’ “Star Wars,” and the finale of Rossini’s “William Tell Overture.”
“I am thrilled by the opportunity to have our students work with Evanston Symphony Orchestra again this year,” says Christine Huber, Director of the Orchestra Program at Nichols, Dewey, Lincoln and Washington schools. “I feel that this is an important step toward decreasing the attrition of low-income and minority students from middle school to high school. The concert provides students with a taste of what they are capable of early in their instrumental music experience.”
Evanston Symphony board member, violinist and ESO-D65 liaison Alexis Eyler reports, “With the funds raised last year, new bows have been provided, repairs have been made to instruments that would have exhausted the teachers’ allotted district funds, and supplies including rock stops, strings, shoulder rests and rosin have been purchased, making it possible for more students to participate.”
The Evanston Symphony will be accepting donations at this concert to support District 65’s orchestra program with quality scholarship for instrument rental and repair.