ESO season finishes with ‘The Lark Ascending’
The Elgin Symphony Orchestra concerts on Saturday and Sunday, May 4 and 5, will feature the final candidate for the open music director position, Andrew Grams, and concertmaster Isabella Lippi.
The concerts will include “Dawn on the Moscow River” by Mussorgsky, “The Lark Ascending” by Vaughan Williams, and the powerful “Symphony No. 10 in E minor” by Shostakovich.
A Maryland native, Grams began conducting at the age of 17, when he directed the World Youth Symphony Orchestra at Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan. In 1999 he received a bachelor of music degree in violin performance from the Juilliard School, and in 2003 he received a conducting degree from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he worked with Otto-Werner Mueller.
As one of America’s most promising and talented young conductors, Andrew Grams has already appeared with many of the great orchestras of the world including the Cleveland Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony, the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington D.C., the BBC Symphony Orchestra London, the Orchestra of Santa Cecilia Rome, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic and others all over the world.
Violinist Isabella Lippi, who has been called “a standout, even among virtuosos,” began performing in public at the age of 10 when she made her debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She has since performed in numerous recitals and has appeared as guest soloist with orchestras in the United States, Mexico, Europe and the Far East.
In addition to her work as a soloist, Lippi has participated in numerous chamber music festivals including those of Santa Fe, La Jolla, Mainly Mozart and the Aspen Music Festival. She was concertmaster of the Charleston Symphony from 1999-2002 and has been the concertmaster at the Elgin Symphony Orchestra since 2003.
This will be the final concert weekend for the ESO’s current season. The 2013-14 season, Transformed by Music, will open in October. Subscriptions are available now through the ESO Box Office. The new music director will be announced in June after a two-year, international search.
Performances will be held at 7:30 p. m. Saturday, May 4, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, May 5 at Elgin’s Hemmens Cultural Center.
For tickets, which start at $28, call the ESO Box Office, (847) 888-4000 or visit elginsymphony.org. The Hemmens Cultural Center, ESO’s primary concert home, is at 45 Symphony Way.