Civic Orchestra of Chicago 2024/25 Season

Join the Civic Orchestra of Chicago — the CSO’s prestigious training ensemble for early-career musicians — for extraordinary performances at Symphony Center and in communities across Chicago. Experience the breadth and variety of programming that Civic has to offer — from colossal symphonies that showcase the power of the full orchestra, to intimate contemporary chamber music concerts thoughtfully curated by the Civic Orchestra Fellows.

In the 2024/25 Season, the Civic Orchestra displays its versatility in repertoire that takes listeners on a journey through awe-inspiring landscapes, vibrant musical traditions and rich histories. Explore the French spirit in works by Debussy, Ravel and Boulanger. Discover Germany’s legendary Rhineland through music by Schumann and Wagner. Hear how Italy inspired Respighi’s Fountains of Rome and the Bohemian countryside nurtured Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony. Connect America’s past and present in works by Price, Montgomery and Coleman, and embrace the epic in Mahler’s Fifth and Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphonies.


Tickets become available two weeks before each Civic Orchestra concert. Sign up for email reminders.

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Civic at Symphony Center

Led by some of the world’s most renowned conductors, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago performs dynamic programs that include monumental classics and contemporary masterworks.

Ken-David Masur

Masur Conducts Ortiz & Schumann

Monday, Oct 28, 7:30

Germany’s fairytale-like Rhine Valley provides the backdrop for a program featuring Robert Schumann’s Rhenish Symphony, Siegfried’s Rhine Journey from Wagner’s Götterdämmerung and Gabriela Ortiz’s Clara.

Overview | Program | Performers


Erina Yashima

Yashima Conducts Mahler 5

Monday, Dec 9, 7:30

Erina Yashima leads Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, an orchestral odyssey that opens with a mighty funeral march and includes the famous Adagietto, said to be Mahler’s love letter to his wife Alma.

Overview | Program | Performers


Ken-David Masur

Coleman, Montgomery & Rachmaninov 2

Monday, Jan 20, 7:30

One of Sergei Rachmaninov’s most sweeping achievements, the Second Symphony is a masterpiece of crackling energy and glorious romantic melodies. Works by Jessie Montgomery and Valerie Coleman explore themes of reflection and renewal.

Overview | Program | Performers


Boulanger

Boulanger, Ravel & Debussy La mer

Monday, Feb 10, 7:30

Composed under the gathering war clouds of 1914, Ravel’s Piano Trio is featured in an all-French program that includes Debussy’s wondrous seascape La mer and Lili Boulanger’s exquisite ode to a spring morning.

Overview | Program | Performers


Michael Mulcahy

Civic Orchestra Brass & Percussion

Monday, Mar 3, 7:30

Musicians from the Civic Orchestra of Chicago perform a special brass and percussion concert led by guest conductor and Chicago Symphony Orchestra trombonist Michael Mulcahy.

Overview | Performers


Jerry Hou

Crain-Maling Foundation CSO Young Artists Competition Finals

Saturday, Mar 22, 2:00

Illinois’ top young piano soloists perform in the final round of the Crain-Maling Foundation CSO Young Artists Competition.

Overview | Performers


Carlos Miguel Prieto

Prieto Conducts Shostakovich 7

Sunday, Apr 6, 7:00

During the siege of Leningrad, Shostakovich retreated to an air raid shelter and — astoundingly — composed his Seventh Symphony. Hear this gripping score, from its monumental invasion theme to defiant victory hymn.

Overview | Program | Performers


Thomas Wilkins

Wilkins Conducts Price & Dvořák

Monday, May 5, 7:30

Be transported to the Czech countryside with Dvořák’s radiant, sun-dappled Eighth Symphony. Florence Price summons American folk music and spirituals in her engaging Third Symphony.

Overview | Program | Performers


Buntrock Hall

Civic Fellows Chamber Music

Saturday, May 17, 7:00 | Buntrock Hall

Join the Civic Fellows for an evening of music programmed in response to a call for scores, and experience today’s newest voices in composition.

OverviewPerformers


Ken-David Masur

Respighi, Tarrodi & Sibelius 2

Monday, June 2, 7:30

Italy’s magnificent architecture and breathtaking landscapes come to life in Respighi’s glittering Fountains of Rome, Tarrodi’s Liguria and Sibelius’ Second Symphony, all conceived under the Italian sun.

Overview | Program | Performers


Civic in the Community

Hear the Civic Orchestra in your neighborhood at one of these community venues throughout Chicagoland.

Senn High School

Civic at Senn

Masur Conducts Ortiz & Schumann

Sunday, Oct 27, 2:00

Germany’s fairytale-like Rhine Valley provides the backdrop for a program featuring Robert Schumann’s Rhenish Symphony, Siegfried’s Rhine Journey from Wagner’s Götterdämmerung and Gabriela Ortiz’s Clara.

Overview | Program | Performers


Fourth Presbyterian Church

Fourth Presbyterian

Bach Marathon Finale

Monday, Nov 18, 7:00

J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos contain some of the boldest and most sumptuous instrumental writing of the Baroque era. The high spirits continue with Bach’s majestic Third Orchestral Suite.

Overview | Program | Performers


Northside College Prep

Northside College Prep

Yashima Conducts Mahler 5

Sunday, Dec 8, 2:00

Erina Yashima leads Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, an orchestral odyssey that opens with a mighty funeral march and includes the famous Adagietto, said to be Mahler’s love letter to his wife Alma.

Overview | Program | Performers


Epiphany Center for the Arts

Epiphany Center Arts

Civic Fellows Chamber Music

Sunday, Jan 12, 6:30

Be delighted and inspired by this contemporary chamber music concert curated and performed by the Civic Fellows, featuring musicians from the Chicago-based Black chamber music collective D-Composed.

Overview | Performers


South Shore Cultural Center

South Shore Cultural Center

Coleman, Montgomery & Rachmaninov 2

Sunday, Jan 19, 2:00

One of Sergei Rachmaninov’s most sweeping achievements, the Second Symphony is a masterpiece of crackling energy and glorious romantic melodies. Works by Jessie Montgomery and Valerie Coleman explore themes of reflection and renewal.

Overview | Program | Performers


Wentz Concert Hall

Wentz Concert Hall

Prieto Conducts Shostakovich 7

Saturday, Apr 5, 2:00

During the siege of Leningrad, Shostakovich retreated to an air raid shelter and — astoundingly — composed his Seventh Symphony. Hear this gripping score, from its monumental invasion theme to defiant victory hymn.

Overview | Program | Performers


Location to be announced

Ken-David Masur

Respighi, Tarrodi & Sibelius 2

Sunday, June 1, 2:00

Italy’s magnificent architecture and breathtaking landscapes come to life in Respighi’s glittering Fountains of Rome, Tarrodi’s Liguria and Sibelius’ Second Symphony, all conceived under the Italian sun.

Overview | Program | Performers


 

Support Civic

Tickets become available two weeks before each Civic Orchestra concert, but you can reserve tickets today with a donation! Civic donors receive reserved prime seating at any of the ensemble’s concerts in Orchestra Hall during the 2024/25 Season, as well as opportunities to build closer connections with Civic musicians. A gift to the Civic Orchestra supports the rigorous instruction that musicians receive throughout the season and helps to ensure that Civic performances are available to all audiences for free or at a minimal cost.

Make a gift

Learn more about the Civic Orchestra
Ken-David Masur, Principal Conductor, Civic Orchestra of Chicago
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Civic Fellows receive training in artistic planning, music education and community engagement.
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Discover more on Experience CSO
"It is so exciting to me just seeing every year the new ideas and the excitement and the curiosity of these musicians,” says Principal Conductor Ken-David Masur as he looks forward to another season with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.
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“The Civic Fellowship challenged me both musically and professionally,” said alumna Alexandria Hoffman. “Through Civic, I came into my own confidence as a musician, and I was prepared to be a leader in music and in the world in general.”
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Auditions for Civic Orchestra of Chicago are under way for next season. Civic managers emphasize that the auditions have few restrictions; there’s no age limit on either side, but applicants are usually 21 to 26.
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"The orchestral experience is incredible," violinist Maria Arrua says of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. "The experience goes even beyond that, immersing its musicians in the community."
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Sponsors

The 2024/25 Civic Orchestra season is generously sponsored by Lori Julian for the Julian Family Foundation, which also provides major funding for the Civic Fellowship program.

Major support for the Civic Orchestra of Chicago also provided by Robert and Joanne Crown Income Charitable Fund; Nancy Dehmlow; Leslie Fund, Inc.; Judy and Scott McCue; Leo and Catherine Miserendino; Barbara and Barre Seid Foundation; The George L. Shields Foundation, Inc.; the Maval Foundation, and Paul and Lisa Wiggin.

The Principal Conductor chair is endowed by a generous gift from Robert Kohl and Clark Pellett.