Elgin Symphony announces 2018-19 season
The music director of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra says the upcoming season will have a beginning, middle and end that he's excited about.
The symphony held a launch party for its 68th season Wednesday at the Hemmens Cultural Center in Elgin. "I was so happy that so many people came out and braved the chill to come be with us," Andrew Grams said Thursday.
The season will open in September with the Elgin debut of cellist Joshua Redman performing Mason Bates' Cello Concerto. Grams said he and Bates attended the Juilliard School together, and both are friends with Redman.
The opener will include Grams conducting pieces including Igor Stravinsky's groundbreaking "The Firebird Suite." "It's a well-known piece here in Elgin," Grams said. "My predecessor performed that work quite a bit over his tenure that's going to be a favorite for everybody."
The pops concert "A Night in Old Vienna" featuring waltzes and polkas in January 2018 will be "super fun," Grams said.
"Whenever people ask me, 'What music do you like to conduct the most?' I say, from a physical standpoint, I really love to conduct waltzes and polkas because you are basically just dancing. You're showing the musicians what the dances are that they need to play."
The season finale concerts in May will include the Elgin premiere of Gustav Mahler's Adagio from Symphony No. 10 and American composer Aaron Copland's Symphony No. 3, his final, which includes the theme from "Fanfare for the Common Man." "Everyone is familiar with that," Grams said.
ESO marketing director Diane Handler said the symphony has an average attendance of 800 people. Ticket sales for the current season are flat compared to the 2016-17 season, which set an average attendance record for its "classics" series.
The symphony has 1,834 subscribers, a number that - like for most arts organizations - has declined in recent years. The symphony is selling more single tickets, mirroring trends in how people make decisions about their leisure time, she said.
"People don't plan in advance anymore. It's a different generation," she said. "We are getting new people and there is interest out there."
Grams, now in his fifth season in Elgin, said he and the musicians have deepened their working relationship over time.
"We're performing at a higher level than we were when we started," he said. "More importantly, our relationship with the community has deepened. We seem to be able to bring new people into our musical fold, into our musical family, all the time."