Second 'Conductor of the Year' among several ESO honors
It is an honor well deserved.
The Illinois Council of Orchestras has named Elgin Symphony Orchestra music director Robert Hanson its "Conductor of the Year for a Professional Orchestra," one of several honors received by the ESO by the organization.
"It's my second time for that particular award, the first one coming in 2001," Hanson said. "They also presented me the Cultural Leader Award when we celebrated our 50th anniversary nine years ago. They've never given that before or since.
"It's an unbelievable honor when you consider the number of deserving conductors out there. It's amazing to think they would give it to me two times," Hanson said.
The Illinois Council of Orchestras also named Joyce McFarland Dlugopolski of Batavia, one of the orchestra's most enthusiastic advocates, as "Volunteer of the Year," and violist Sue Ollman and cellist Mark Kuntz were honored for being members of the ESO for 50 of its 59 years.
"Of course, Joyce and her husband, Ed Dlugopolski, funded our all-Copland recording for Naxos," Hanson said. "She is so dedicated to music and for the arts in general. In addition to her membership on our board, she is also a member of the board of the Elgin Youth Symphony and is funding their Maud Powell String Quartet. What she does for the arts in the Fox Valley is just amazing."
The Dlugopolskis have been ESO subscribers since 1999, with Joyce a member of the board of directors since 2002. She has worked on committees assisting the public relations for the ESO for the last two years and has been a key member of the orchestra's Education Committee, which has led the return of the "Family Fun Series" for the 2009-10 season.
The ESO's first commercial compact disc was released by Naxos last May as part of its American Classics series. "This is a thrilling new chapter for the symphony, and I know our local and extended communities will be eagerly awaiting not only recording day but also the album's release," Joyce Dlugopolski said prior to the 2007 recording sessions at Elgin Community College's Blizzard Theatre.
Hanson is also particularly pleased to see Ollman and Kuntz honored for their 50-year membership in the ESO. "Isn't that amazing? I am so proud to have these dedicated musicians as part of our orchestra," he said.
Hanson has been an integral part of the Elgin Symphony for over three decades, starting as Margaret Hillis' assistant conductor in 1974 and as music director since 1985. He has led the orchestra through a period of unprecedented growth, first as Chicago's first professional suburban orchestra in 1985 and today as one of the fastest-growing regional orchestras in the United States. Three times it has been named Illinois' "Orchestra of the Year."
Hanson, who holds masters and doctorate degrees in music composition from Northwestern University, also founded the Elgin Youth Symphony in 1976. "I was involved closely with the Elgin Youth Symphony for 10 years and still have a very keen interest in it," Hanson said. "The Elgin Symphony has a real close relationship with the Youth Symphony, and Randy Swiggum, their conductor, is also our education conductor."
Hanson's deft touch as a concert programmer is legendary, showing an ability to balance music popular with the audience yet still stimulating for the members of the orchestra. He has led concerts containing difficult symphonies by Gustav Mahler and Anton Bruckner, along with standard repertoire works by Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, Tchaikovsky and others.
A good example is next weekend's Classics Series program. The main work is Antonin Dvorak's popular "New World": Symphony (No. 9 in E Minor), which Hanson has programmed three times since the 1999-2000 season, including the centerpiece of the ESO's first spring festival in 2005.
The other two works on next week's concerts are more esoteric: orchestral suites from two operas, Leos Janacek's "Cunning Little Vixen" and Robert Kurka's "The Good Soldier Schweik." Both are new to the ESO repertoire.
Kurka, a Chicagoan with Czech ancestry, died in 1957 just two weeks short of his 56th birthday. "The Good Soldier Schweik" has twice been staged by Chicago Opera Theater, most recently in 2001.
"This is our all-Czech program," Hanson said. "The Kurka piece is interesting in that it's scored just for 16 wind instruments."
Next week's concerts are Friday at 1:30 and 8 p.m., Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3:30 p.m., all at Hemmens Theatre. For ticket information, call (847) 888-4000 or visit elginsymphony.org.