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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Civic in the Community
Hear the Civic Orchestra in your neighborhood at one of these community venues throughout Chicagoland.
Senn High School
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.
Fourth Presbyterian Church
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.
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.
Epiphany Center for the 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.
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.
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.
Location to be announced
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.
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.
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; 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 an anonymous donor.
The Principal Conductor chair is endowed by a generous gift from Robert Kohl and Clark Pellett.