ESO music director to speak to St. Charles Noon Rotary Club Jan. 25

Elgin Symphony Orchestra Music Director Andrew Grams will be the guest speaker at the Thursday, Jan. 25 meeting of the St. Charles Noon Rotary Club at The Office, 201 E. Main St. in St. Charles.

The St. Charles Noon Rotary meets each Thursday at Noon at the downtown restaurant.

If anyone would like to speak or visit the club, call Mari Wittum at (630) 377-7171 and to learn more, visit Rotarystc.org.

Andrew Grams, ESO music director since 2013, is the winner of 2015 Conductor of the Year from the Illinois Council of Orchestras and has led orchestras throughout the United States and abroad to critical acclaim. To learn more about Andrew Grams, visit andrewgrams.com and www.instagram.com/andrewhgrams/.

Rotary is a global network of 1.2 million neighbors, friends, leaders, and problem-solvers who see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change - across the globe, in communities, and in ourselves. For more than 110 years, Rotary's people of action have used their passion, energy, and intelligence to take action on sustainable projects. From literacy and peace to water and health, Rotary is always working to better the world. Visit Rotary.org.

Born in Maryland, Grams began studying the violin when he was 8 years old. In 1999, he received a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from The Juilliard School, and in 2003 he received a conducting degree from the Curtis Institute of Music where he studied with Otto-Werner Mueller. He was selected to spend the summer of 2003 studying with David Zinman, Murry Sidlin and Michael Stern at the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen and returned to that program again in 2004. Grams served as assistant conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra from 2004-2007 where he worked under the guidance of Franz Welser-Möst, and has since returned for several engagements.

Now in his fifth ESO season, he became music director of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra after an international search. His dynamic conducting and easy accessibility have made him a favorite of Elgin Symphony audiences. He has extended his contract with the ESO through 2021. This season, Grams is conducting the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, Sacramento Philharmonic, the Tulsa, Santa Rosa, Kalamazoo, and Omaha Symphony Orchestras, and Residentie Orchestra in The Hague, Netherlands. Grams also will conduct the CCPA Chamber Orchestra, performing American music with renowned pianist and faculty member Winston Choi, at Roosevelt University's VIVID 2018 on March 14.

ESO's next concerts will be "Williams Scores for Spielberg Movies," which includes familiar favorites from "Close Encounters," "E.T.," "Hook," "Jaws" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark," and lesser-known works from "Saving Private Ryan" and "Schindler's List." The concerts will be 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 27, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 28, at the Hemmens Cultural Center, 45 Symphony Way in Elgin. For tickets to the Jan. 27-28 concerts, visit www.ElginSymphony.org.