Chicago-area conductor Edwin Outwater to lead ESO concerts March 3-4
Guest conductor Edwin Outwater will lead the Elgin Symphony Orchestra in performances of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3, featuring pianist William Wolfram, and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 12, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 3, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, March 4, at the Hemmens Cultural Center, 45 Symphony Way in downtown Elgin.
Outwater has been called "one of the most innovative conductors on the scene today," by famed conductor Michael Tilson Thomas. Outwater is artistic director of The Line-up, an outdoor concert series he created and curates at The Park at Wrigley that combines multigenre music performances with the technology and capabilities of major-league sports. Music historian Jim Kendros will lead free Listeners Clubs discussions about the upcoming concerts on Wednesday, February 28 at 10:30 a.m. at GreenFields of Geneva, and 1 p.m. at the Gail Borden Public Library. Concert tickets start at only $30. Student tickets are $12. There is valet service or free parking. For more information, visit ElginSymphony.org.
Outwater is a visionary conductor who is reinventing the concert experience with major orchestras and institutions throughout the world. He is artistic director of the Eastern Sierra Symphony, a groundbreaking music festival in Mammoth Lakes, California; artistic director of The Line-Up, a concert series at The Park at Wrigley in Chicago; and music director laureate of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony in Ontario, Canada. An ardent champion of new music and cross-cultural and interdisciplinary collaboration, he is equally adept at interpreting canonical masterworks, premiering new commissions, and connecting audiences with repertoire beyond the mainstream.
Outwater's recent projects include "Sound Health," a collaboration with soprano Renée Fleming, The Kennedy Center, and the National Institutes of Health, as well as a jazz version of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition," with Wynton Marsalis, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and the Chicago Symphony. This season he appears with the Orchestra of St. Luke's at Carnegie Hall in a concert for families featuring a world premiere of composer Caroline Shaw, narrated by actor John Lithgow
A long association with the San Francisco Symphony continues this season with multiple concerts and collaborations with artists such as Seth McFarlane, author Armistead Maupin, and many more. Outwater has previously served San Francisco Symphony director of summer concerts (2014-2017), resident conductor (2001-2006), and Wattis Foundation Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra (2001-2005).
Highlights include collaborations with artists such as Michael Tilson Thomas, Kurt Masur, and Yo-Yo Ma in subscription appearances, and conducting and curating programs in SoundBox, the Symphony's innovative new performance space. Outwater premiered and recorded "The Composer is Dead" by Nathaniel Stookey and Lemony Snicket, which was subsequently released by HarperCollins and has become one of the most-performed works written in the 21st century, and in 2008, his SFS recording of music by Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate was released to wide acclaim. In 2004 he lead the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra on a European tour, where the orchestra made debuts at Vienna's Musikverein and Paris's Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, and returned to Amsterdam's Concertgebouw.
As music director of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony from 2007-2017, Outwater revitalized the orchestra and brought it international acclaim. He led notable world premieres from a wide range of composers, including Nico Muhly, Nicole Lizée, Richard Reed Parry, Owen Pallett, and many others. His Intersections series connected orchestral music to other disciplines, including quantum physics, neuroscience, literature, film, food, and yoga. It also featured a diverse array of artists from all musical genres, from cellist Johannes Moser to Inuit throat-singer Tanya Tagaq. The Intersections program "Quantum: Music on the Frontier of Science" has been performed multiple times, including a tour to Canada's National Arts Centre and a performance with the Indianapolis Symphony. Parts of the program "Beethoven and Your Brain," written with neuroscientist and author Daniel J. Levitin, were recently performed at The Kennedy Center as part of their "Sound Health" program. Outwater also recorded "From Here On Out," the Kitchener-Waterloo-Symphony's 2011 Analekta release of music by Muhly, Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood, and Arcade Fire's Richard Reed Parry, a recording for which NPR Music praised Outwater for guiding "dexterous performances by musicians who play the music like they own it." In 2016, he created "Hack The Orchestra," the first ever orchestra hackathon that challenged young programmers to create new content for the concert experience.
Outwater's extensive guest conducting schedule this season includes debuts with the Orchestra of St. Luke's at Carnegie Hall, the Nagoya Philharmonic, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Japan's Pacific Music Festival, as well as return engagements with the Chicago, San Francisco, Indianapolis, and Colorado Symphonies. His commitment to music education and young musicians continues with returns to the New World Symphony, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago with Yo-Yo Ma, and a residence at the San Francisco Conservatory. In the United States, Outwater has conducted the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras, as well as symphony orchestras including Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, Houston, and Seattle. In Canada, he has led the National Arts Centre Orchestra and the symphonies of Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Victoria. International appearances include the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony, Kyoto Symphony, BBCNOW, the Brussels Philharmonic, the New Zealand Symphony, Adelaide Symphony, Malmö Symphony, Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Mexico City Philharmonic, Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa, and Hong Kong Sinfonietta. Summer festival appearances include the Montreux Jazz Festival, the Grant Park Festival, the Music Academy of the West and the Festival-Institute at Round Top. In 2009, Outwater made his professional opera debut conducting "La Traviata" at the San Francisco Opera, and he has since led productions at Cincinnati Opera and New York's Lincoln Center. He also works regularly with the Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Outwater participated as associate conductor in both YouTube Symphony projects, at Carnegie Hall and at the Sydney Opera House. He is also is also featured on two 2014-15 recordings: Expanded, which captures his Barbican Centre debut with These New Puritans, and Sarah Kirkland Snider's highly acclaimed recording of her work "Unremembered."
A native of Santa Monica, California, Edwin Outwater graduated cum laude in English literature from Harvard University, where he was music director of the Bach Society Orchestra and the a cappella group Harvard Din and Tonics, and wrote the music for the 145th annual production of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals. He received his master's in conducting from UC Santa Barbara, where he studied with Heiichiro Ohyama and Paul Polivnick, besides studying music theory and composition with John Stewart, Joel Feigin, and Leonard Stein.
Now in its 67th season, the Elgin Symphony Orchestra offers programming unmatched for an entertaining, informative and relaxing cultural experience. The ESO has won Illinois Professional Orchestra of the Year an unprecedented four times - in 1988, 1999, 2005 and 2016. The ESO strives to create an enjoyable entertainment experience that goes beyond the magnificent music performed by some of the best musicians in the region.
Before concerts, area musicians often perform in the lobby, and patrons can buy drinks at the bar and purchase gifts at the Elgin Symphony League Boutique. Preconcert chats are given by Music Director Andrew Grams, guest artists and others one hour before most performances, and Saturday night patrons are invited after concerts to "Mingle with the Musicians" at area restaurants. In addition, free Listeners Club discussions presented by music historian Jim Kendros are offered in Geneva and Elgin on Wednesdays before ESO Classics Series concert weekends. Flex passes are available for purchase so that you can choose your concerts at a later date based on your own schedule. And if a patron can't make a concert, the ESO offers free exchanges to subscribers and to single ticket buyers for a small fee. There is accessible, free parking around the Hemmens Cultural Center and valet service available.
The Elgin Symphony Orchestra is a world-class orchestra providing quality musical explorations that are entertaining, hassle-free and conveniently located close to home in the western suburbs. Get to Know YOUR ESO!