Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra opens season with 'Legends and Heroes'
Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra with music Director Randal Swiggum will perform “Legends and Heroes,” the first concert of its 35th anniversary season, at 4 and 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 7.
Invoking swashbuckling tales of adventure, distant times, and faraway lands, “Legends and Heroes” will be a thrilling ride back in time. This concert will surely be a hit with all generations as the inaugural performance of EYSO's 35th year.
The 4 p.m. concert features the Prelude Orchestra with conductor Beth Mazur Wood, Brass Choir with conductor Jason Flaks and Philharmonia with conductor David Anderson, and the 7 p.m. concert features the Sinfonia conducted by Daniel Beder and the Youth Symphony with music Director Randal Swiggum.
Performances will take place in the Blizzard Theater at Elgin Community College Arts Center, 1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin. Tickets may be purchased for $23, $18 for seniors, and $12 for students online at tickets.elgin.edu or by calling the ECC box office at (847) 622-0300. Box office hours are noon to 7 p.m. today; and noon to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
The 4 p.m. concert repertoire includes: Prelude Orchestra with “Four Royal Dances” by Eric Ewazen, “Overture to Joseph for String Orchestra” by Handel (arranged by Philip Clark) and “Scheherazade” by Rimsky-Korsakov (arranged by Carrie Lane Gruselle); Brass Choir with “Fanfare of Hope” by John Stevens, a piece commissioned by the EYSO and “Triumphal March from Sigurd Josalfar” by Grieg (arranged by R.D. Ward); and Philharmonia with Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67, 1st movement by Beethoven, “Hungarian March from La damnation de Faust” by Berlioz and “Billy the Kid: Suite” by Aaron Copland.
The 7 p.m. concert repertoire includes: Sinfonia with “Hoe Down from Rodeo” by Aaron Copland, “Overture to Nabucco” by Giuseppe Verdi (arranged by Sandra Dackow and Mary E. Larew), Intermezzo from “Cavalleria Rusticana” by Pietro Mascagni (arranged by Gerald R. Doan) and “Perseus” by Soon Hee Newbold; and Youth Symphony with Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 by Beethoven, Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27 – 1st movement by Rachmaninoff, “Goetterdaemmerung: Siegfried's Funeral March” by Wagner and “Battle of the Heroes from Return of the Sith” by John Williams.