Elgin youth orchestra to honor Lincoln
Listen to the sounds of history and get a new appreciation for an American legend.
The Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra will perform two special concerts dedicated to our 16th president beginning at 4 p.m. Sunday, March 15 at Elgin Community College.
A performance of classic American composition and mixed media, the concerts are hoping to inspire audiences by shedding a different light on a celebrated man.
"So often we learn history only through books," said Randal Swiggum, music director of EYSO. "But to experience it through music can be so much more powerful."
Two 90-minute concerts will feature musical selections meant to highlight the life of Abraham Lincoln. Most prominently will be Aaron Copeland's piece, "A Lincoln Portrait," an orchestral work that weaves in narration from the president's written documents, such as the Gettysburg Address.
To delve deeper, the group will also play music Lincoln would have actually heard during his time, from Civil War songs to Stephen Foster ballads.
Along with a mix of pictures and images from Lincoln's time, the resulting performance aims to touch audiences as much as the experience has inspired the young musicians.
In February, the musicians of EYSO took a trip down to Springfield to play at the state's capital. They toured a variety of Lincoln sites, including his law office and family tomb, and were able to play a concert in the Capitol rotunda for congressmen.
"It was a very meaningful experience," Swiggum said.
EYSO is a nonprofit organization comprising of high school and college-age musicians looking to expand and refine their musical talents. Auditions are held once a year in the spring.
"Lincoln Portrait: A Bicentennial Tribute" will be performed by the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday, March 15 at Elgin Community College's Blizzard Theatre, 1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin. The 16th Judicial Circuit Court Chief Judge F. Keith Brown, a longtime Elgin resident, will narrate during the performance. Brown played string bass and piano in high school under Maestro Douglas Steensland, founding conductor of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra.
Flute soloist Tom Moroz, an 2008-09 EYSO Philharmonia Young Artists Concerto Award winner, will perform Stamitz's G Major flute concerto at the 4 p.m. concert. Both concerts will open with a performance of Brahms' String Quartet, Op. 51, No. 1, movement I. Allegro by the Maud Powell String Quartet. The EYSO's 2008-09 season marks the second season of the Maud Powell String Quartet, named in honor of violinist Maud Powell, a Fox Valley Arts Hall of Fame inductee who grew up in Aurora. Tickets are $21 for adults, $16 for seniors and $12 for students. To purchase, call (847) 622-0300.