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EYSO's Hanson String Quartet to perform before ESO concert March 24

The Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra's Hanson String Quartet will perform in the Hemmens lobby before the Elgin Symphony Orchestra's concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 24.

Members of the ensemble are Zach Bunton, violin, Cary, 18; Ayumu Seiya, violin, St. Charles, 15; Timothy Holman, viola, Glendale Heights, 16; and Grace Frielink, cello, Sycamore, 16.

The Hanson String Quartet is just one of the EYSO's honors ensembles, comprised of advanced musicians that maintain an active performance schedule playing masterworks of the classical repertoire.

ESO Music Director Andrew Grams takes to the podium March 24-25 to conduct Brahms' Haydn Variations and two famous works by English composer Edward Elgar - his beloved Cello Concerto, performed by Thomas Mesa, and the "Enigma Variations."

The Elgin Symphony Orchestra concerts, featuring 2016 Sphinx Competition winner, cellist Thomas Mesa, will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 24, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, March 25, at the Hemmens Cultural Center, 45 Symphony Way in Elgin.

"Brahms & Elgar Variations" concert tickets start at $30. Student tickets are $12. There is a valet or free parking. For more information, visit www.ElginSymphony.org or call (847) 888-4000.

Grams will give a pre-concert chat starting one hour before each concert. Saturday concertgoers are invited after the performance to "Mingle with the Musicians" at Bennigan's Elgin.

The Hanson String Quartet, is an honors quartet for high-level string players that was added to the EYSO Chamber Music Institute in 2010 and is named for the EYSO's founding conductor Robert Hanson.

The quartet maintains an active performance schedule. The quartet is coached by cellist Timothy Archbold who has performed with orchestras and string quartets throughout the world. Recent repertoire includes quartets by Shostakovich, Grieg, Glass and Haydn. HSQ is offered tuition free to its members.

With eight large ensembles and a thriving Chamber Music Institute, EYSO auditions record numbers of students each year in addition to the hundreds of musicians who already enjoy its rigorous methods of inquiry and "expert noticing."

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Randal Swiggum, an internationally renowned leader in music education, the nearly 400 students of EYSO explore a comprehensive curriculum each season - one which aims not only to help these students develop artistically and technically, but also to prepare them for a future of complex ideas, creative risk-taking, and leadership as global citizens. To learn more, visit www.EYSO.org.

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