Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestras explore ‘Image’ in season finale concerts

The Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestras are wrapping up a season-long exploration of “Soundscapes” on Sunday, May 11, at the Elgin Community College Arts Center.

Over the last nine months, EYSO’s student musicians and conductors have examined music through the lens of visual art, utilizing the artist’s “Canvas” and “Palette” as an analog to understand how composers create music, and how that music affects an audience. In its final concerts of the year, titled “Image,” EYSO’s ensembles answer the question “to what effect?” — what impact do a composer’s choices have on a listener?

“We’re so familiar with the visual world of art and stimuli, both in what we see and in breaking it down to analyze and create meaning,” said artistic director Matthew Sheppard. “The world of classical music operates within similar parameters. Just as painters can manipulate elements of color, contrast, and texture to craft meaning and create powerful emotional experiences, composers can transform simple soundwaves into extraordinary art through the awesome sonic palette of the orchestra.”

Audiences can experience this for themselves at 7 p.m. Sunday, May 11, when the EYSO Youth Symphony performs Modest Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” alongside Aram Khachaturian’s Violin Concerto, performed by Youth Symphony violinist Aleksandra Radovic.

In two concerts earlier that afternoon at 1:30 and 4:30 p.m., EYSO’s younger orchestras and instrument-specific ensembles perform music from “Sleeping Beauty” and “Swan Lake,” the complete Eighth Symphony by Antonín Dvořák, a theatrical work for percussion ensemble, and more.

All concerts are held in the Blizzard Theater, Building H, 1700 Spartan Drive. Tickets for all EYSO concerts are $27s, $22 for seniors, and $14 for students with a valid student ID.

Tickets can be purchased online from the Elgin Community College box office at www.eccartscenter.org or by calling (847) 622-0300.

The box office is open Monday through Thursday from noon to 6 p.m., Saturdays from noon to 5 p.m., and 90 minutes prior to each performance.

For more information about the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestras and tickets, visit www.EYSO.org.

The Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestras is an In-Residence Ensemble of Elgin Community College.