Elgin chamber, ESO join for After Hours event

On Thursday, Sept. 30, the Elgin Symphony Orchestra will host a Business After Hours event, sponsored by the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Hemmens Theatre, 45 Symphony Way in downtown Elgin.

This free networking event for Elgin's business community is part of the ESO's Building Community Through the Arts initiative launched in 2009 at the ESO's first Business After Hours, which drew more than 150 civic leaders together.

The 2010 Business After Hours hopes to build upon its initial success of bringing colleagues together with music advocates to promote music programs in a diverse community, while celebrating the beginning of the ESO's 61st season.

With a welcome from the ESO's 36-year music director, Robert Hanson, and ESO Chief Executive Officer Dale Lonis, the event features organizations involved in Elgin's local arts scene, including a performance by the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra and comments from Elgin Mayor Ed Schock and Jaime Garcia, executive director of Centro de Informacion.

All attendees are invited to a special sneak peek dress rehearsal of the ESO's Beethoven's Ninth performance at 7:15 p.m.

"It's truly a one-of-a-kind event," says Tracy Hulett, ESO's director of marketing and sales. "To draw a community together around a concert such as Beethoven's Ninth is no trivial event. This is music that has played a part in iconic moments of the 20th century, at the Tiananmen Square protests and the fall of the Berlin Wall. It shows the power and magnitude music can provide to those who experience it."

For details, call the box office at (847) 888-4000 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays or visit www.elginsymphony.org.

To register for the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours, contact Catherine Smith at (847) 741-5660 or e-mail csmith@elginchamber.com. You can also register online at elginchamber.com.

Deadline for registration is Wednesday, Sept. 29.