Northwest Festival Orchestra to perform at Harper College

The Northwest Festival Orchestra will perform a holiday concert at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 22, in the auditorium of the Performing Arts Center at Harper College, 1200 Algonquin Road, Palatine.

The 56 member orchestra, made up of paid professional musicians, offers the Northwest suburbs easy access to music that in downtown Chicago would cost much more to hear, said Conductor Verne Schwager. It is comprised of conservatory and university graduates, as well as college-trained musicians. “These are younger people in their 20s and 30s on the way up,” Schwager said.

The orchestra will present a selection of holiday favorites, including excepts from Humperdinck's “Hansel and Gretel,” Wagner's “Siegried Idyll,” Russell Bennett's “Many Moods of Christmas,” and “The Nutcracker.” The orchestra will be joined by Kristin Johnston, soprano; Catherine Poling, mezzo-soprano; Drew Duncan, tenor; and Charles Martin, baritone.

Tickets can be purchased at the door ($25 adult/$20 student) or in advance by calling (847) 392-9003 or the Harper College Box Office, (847) 925-6100.

Each performance costs about $20,000. Donations, which Schwager said are essential to the orchestra's future, may be sent to 1009 S. Evergreen Ave., Arlington Heights, IL 60005.