Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestras’ 2026-27 season explores music’s ability to shape ‘Hearts & Minds’

Known for performances beyond their years, the young musicians explore the “Power and Politics of Music” on Nov. 15

For 50 years, the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestras has developed students into expert noticers, critical thinkers, and exceptional young musicians through programming that connects music to the wider world.

This season, students explore the ways music has been used to shape “Hearts and Minds,” beginning with a series of concerts on Sunday, Nov. 15 exploring “The Power and Politics of Music.” Across three concerts at Elgin Community College’s Blizzard Theater, EYSO’s young musicians embrace music’s ability to influence, instigate, and inspire.

“Philosophers, educators, scientists, politicians, religious leaders, economists, artists: people from all walks of life have recognized that music's power is a tool,” said Artistic Director Matthew Sheppard. “And just like any tool, it can be wielded with noble purpose or with malevolent intent. Our first concert of the year examines these tools and their usage to see how music can indeed have the power to change the world.”

A highlight of the November concerts is the 7 p.m. collaboration between EYSO’s top ensemble, Youth Symphony, and the Elgin Master Chorale in a performance of one of the most politically charged musical works of the early 20th-century: Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana.”

Over weekly rehearsals this fall, Youth Symphony students have considered the piece’s complicated history in 1940s Germany alongside Dmitri Shostakovich’s “Festive Overture” (a potentially satirical celebration of Soviet power) and Andrzej Panufnik’s commission for the United Nation’s “Year of Peace,” titled “A Procession for Peace.”

EYSO’s younger students begin the exploration of “Power and Politics” in two concerts earlier in the afternoon of Nov. 15. At 1:30 p.m., students in the Prelude orchestra consider Ludwig van Beethoven’s rejection of authoritarianism through his Third Symphony, and students in Sinfonia explore music as protest through excerpts from Jean Sibelius’s “Finlandia” and Igor Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring.”

At 4:30 p.m., the Philharmonia orchestra questions the hegemony of Western classical music through Don Gillis’s “Symphony 5½,” and the Brass Choir celebrates the common man and uncommon woman with fanfares by Aaron Copland and Joan Tower.

A season-long exploration

Each year, EYSO’s season theme guides a year-long exploration of music and how we relate to and understand it. “The Power and Politics of Music” is the first of three concerts in 2026-27 considering the ways music can influence “Hearts and Minds.”

This winter, leading up to their concerts titled “By the Waters of Babylon” (March 7), EYSO students explore music that has provided a sense of home and inspired resilience for people in exile. In the spring, they embrace music as a source of identity in the season finale concerts, “We the People” (May 16).

For more information about the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestras and tickets, visit EYSO.org. Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestras is an In-Residence Ensemble of Elgin Community College.

Tickets for all EYSO concerts are $27, $22 for seniors, and $7 for students with a valid student ID. Tickets can be purchased online from the Elgin Community College box office at eccartscenter.org or by calling 847-622-0300.

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

All concerts are held in the Elgin Community College Blizzard Theater, 1700 Spartan Drive, Building H, Elgin. Free parking is available directly in front of Building H, using parking lots G, H, I, J & K. Look for the red pole signs in the parking lot.

About the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestras

The mission of EYSO is to create a community of young musicians, enriching their lives and the lives of their families, schools, communities and beyond, through the study and performance of excellent music.

The Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestras has a national reputation for providing not only an engaging musical experience for its students, but also a comprehensive learning environment which promotes curiosity, imagination, critical thinking, and collaboration. With five large ensembles, three small ensembles, and a thriving Chamber Music Institute, it 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 Matthew Sheppard, the 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. The dynamic and engaging rehearsals foster musical and personal growth as students develop into well-rounded and thoughtful communicators, and leaders in their sections, ensembles, schools, and communities.

This thoughtful and attentive approach that is the hallmark of EYSO has led hundreds of alumni to successful careers as professional musicians, educators, and leaders in every field. It’s what we call “educating the whole musician”: preparing students for a lifelong journey of inquiry, creativity and growth. Regardless of alumni’s pursuits, their EYSO experience as a valued member of a thought-provoking, fair, and encouraging creative environment continues to serve them well.

The Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestras would not exist today without the generous support of families, audience members, and donors. Sponsorship of the EYSO inspires artistry, confidence, and curiosity in hundreds of young musicians in the Chicago area.

To learn more about the pedagogical approach that EYSO conductors and coaches use in delivering the EYSO mission, visit the Illinois Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance page.

To learn more, visit EYSO.org or call (847) 841-7700.

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EYSO Prelude, Sinfonia, and Flute Choir

1:30 p.m.

Prelude String Orchestra, led by conductor Amy Lestina Tonaki, performing Felix Mendelssohn’s “Fingal’s Rock,” arranged by Kathryn Griesinger; excerpts of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, arranged by Robert Longfield; Caryn Wiegand Neidhold’s “Renegade Showdown”; and Ethel Smyth’s “Fantasy on ‘March of the Women,’” arranged by Alexandra Dee;

Sinfonia Orchestra, led by conductor Greg Schwaegler, performing Igor Stravinsky’s “The Augurs of Spring,” arranged by Greg Schwaegler; Jean Sibelius’ “Finlandia Hymn,” arranged by Greg Schwaegler; and Handel’s “Music for the Royal Fireworks,” arranged by Greg Schwaegler

Flute Choir, led by conductor Ruth Cavanaugh, performing Sonny Burnette’s “Stained Glass Images”

EYSO Philharmonia, Brass Choir, and Sinfonia/Philharmonia Percussion Ensemble

4:30 p.m.

Philharmonia Orchestra, led by conductor Aaron Kaplan, performing Don Gillis’ Symphony No. 5½; and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Suite No. 1 for Variety Orchestra

Brass Choir, led by conductor Dan Sartori, performing Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man”; and Joan Tower’s “Second Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman.”

Sinfonia/Philharmonia Percussion Ensemble, led by director Joe Beribak, performing “Star Story” by Naoki Nomoto.

EYSO Youth Symphony and Youth Symphony Percussion Ensemble

7 p.m.

Youth Symphony, led by conductor Matthew Sheppard, performing Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana”; Andrzej Panufnik’s “A Procession for Peace”; and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Festive Overture

Youth Symphony Percussion Ensemble performing director Joe Beribak’s composition, “Side by Side.”