Publications & Sites 
Orchestras tuning up for a busy season
Stephen Alltop conducting the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra.
Updated: September 12, 2012 3:34PM
Summer is winding down, but things are just warming up for area orchestras. Here is a look at the upcoming classical music season.
Chicago a cappella
opens its season with “Genius in the Synagogue: A Musical Portrait of Max Janowski,” with songs by the Chicago composer of Jewish music, on Saturday, Oct. 20. Upcoming concerts include “Navidad en Mexico” Dec. 1; “Spirit/Breath/Voice” Feb. 15, and The A Cappella American Songbook and April 20, all at 8 p.m. in Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Ave., Evanston. Visit www.chicagoacappella.org.
DuPage Symphony Orchestra
opens with “Great Explectations,” including “The Five Sacred Trees,” a musical essay based on Celtic mythology by Academy Award-winning film composed John Williams for orchestra and bassoon. Soloist will be Naperville native Peter Kolkay. The program, 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 13, includes works by Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky. Additional concerts are “British Masters,” 3 p.m., Nov. 18; “A Ralph Covert Holiday,” 2 and 4 p.m., Dec. 16; “Shakespeare in Music,” 8 p.m., Feb. 9; “Legends and Literature,” 8 p.m., March 16; “…de la Mancha,” 8 p.m., May 11. All at Wentz Concert Hall on the campus of North Central College, 171 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville. www.dupagesymphony.org.
Elmhurst Choral Union
opens with Handel’s “Messiah,” 3 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 3, Hammerschmidt Chapel, Elmhurst College, 190 Prospect, Elmhurst. Additional programs are “Medley of Melodies,” 7 p.m., Feb. 23, First United Methodist Church, 232 S. York, Elmhurst, and “Operapalooza,” 3 p.m., April 21, Elmhurst College. www.elmhurstchoralunion.org.
Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra
opens with “Classical Giants” with Symphony No. 88 and Concerto for Violin and Harpsichord with concertmaster Kate Carter and conductor Stephen Alltop, harpsichordist, as soloist, plus Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 4 with Philip Stanley as soloists and the composer’s Symphony No. 34, 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 13. “Heroic Beethoven,” 3 p.m., Nov. 11; “The Glorious Baroque,” 7 p.m., Jan. 26; “Great Love Stories,” 3 p.m., March 3; “Gala Finale: Samuel Ramey in Concert,” 7 p.m., May 11. Held in the Elmhurst Christian Reformed Church, 149 West Brush Hill Rd., Elmhurst. www.elmhurstsymphony.org.
New Philharmonic
opens with “Brahms - Blissful and Bold” with the composer’s Symphony No. 4, and Yeol emu Son as soloist in his Piano Concerto No. 2, 8 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 13 in Lund Auditorium, Dominican University, 7900 W. Division St., River Forest; “Viennese Pops with a French Twist,” 7 p.m., Dec. 31, Dominican; Mahler, 8 p.m., Jan. 26, Edman Memorial Chapel, Wheaton College, 501 College Ave., Wheaton; Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutte,” 8 p.m., Feb. 16 and 3 p.m., Feb. 17, Dominican; “Great Russian Classics,” 8 p.m., March 16, Wheaton College. Visit home.cod.edu/atthemac/newphilharmonic.
Sinfonietta Bel Canto
begins with “SBC Tribute: Hinsdale Music Club,” with Beethoven’s Piano Concert No. 4, with soloist Sandra Carey, Handel’s Organ Concerto with soloist Michael Surratt, Mozart arias with sopranos Elizabeth Quaintance, Lynn West and Celeste Martino, as well as Saint-Saens Suite in D with Hinsdale Music Club members, Sunday, Sept. 23: “Vienna 1823,” Nov. 11; “Rossini and Schubert Anniversary,” March 10; “Hinsdale Chorale,” April 28. All at 3 p.m., Immanuel Lutheran Church, 5211 Carpenter St., Downers Grove. www.sinfoniettabelcanto.org.
Spirito! Singers
opens with Christmas concerts at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Dec. 7, Immanuel Lutheran Church, 148 E. Third St., Elmhurst, as well as at 8 p.m., Dec. 8 and 2:30 p.m. Dec. 9, St. Francis Xavier Church, 124 N. Spring, LaGrange. Spring concert, 7 p.m., May 18, Elmhurst Christian Reformed Church, 149 W. Brush Hill Rd., Elmhurst. www.spiritosingers.org/concerts/.
West Suburban Symphony
opens with “Primary Colors,” with “Summer” from Vivaldi’s “Four Season’s” and Holsts’s “St. Paul Suite,” both for string orchestra, as well as Gounod’s “Petite Symphony for Winds,” plus choral selections, 3:30 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 23, St. Joseph Chapel, 1515 W. Ogden Ave., La Grange Park; “Chills & Thrills,” 3:30 p.m., Oct. 14, Willowbrook High School, 1250 S. Ardmore Ave., Villa Park; “The Messiah,” with chamber orchestra and chorus, 3:30 p.m., Nov. 11, York High School, 355 W. Saint Charles Rd., Elmhurst; “Songs of the Season,” 3:30 p.m., Dec. 9, Hinsdale Central High School, 55th & Grant Sts., Hinsdale; “Swan Lake,” 3:30 p.m., Feb. 17, Willowbrook High School; “Carmen” with symphony orchestra, chorus and soloists, 3:30 p.m., March 17, Willowbrook; “Simple Pleasures,” 3:30 p.m., April 21, Union Church, 137S. Garfield Ave., Hinsdale; “The American Stage,” 3:30 p.m., May 19, Hinsdale Central. www.westsubsymphony.org.
