The CSO Latino Alliance unveils its 2024-2025 ¡Nuestras noches! series

Concerts featuring conductor Andrés Orozco-Estrada and works by composer Jimmy López Bellido and Osvaldo Golijov are among the seven programs scheduled for the CSO Latino Alliance’s ¡Nuestras noches! series this season.

With this series, the Latino Alliance celebrates its 11th season of connecting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with Chicago’s diverse community by highlighting Latino composers, conductors and artists.

Established in 2013, the Latino Alliance, a liaison and volunteer group, connects the CSOA with Chicago’s diverse community by creating awareness, sharing insights and building relationships for generations to come. The group encourages individuals and their families to discover and experience timeless music with other enthusiasts at concerts, receptions and educational events. Membership to the Latino Alliance is free and open to all. To join, go to cso.org/LatinoAlliance. 

Select concerts in the Latino Alliance season series include ¡Nuestras noches! pre- or postconcert celebrations, artist meet-and-greets and networking events. Patrons can add on free tickets to these events when ordering a subscription. A season subscription package is available, allowing audiences the choice to choose three or more Latino Alliance season concerts to secure the best seats now. Specially priced individual tickets are also available for additional Latino Alliance concert dates, with more information at cso.org.  

The seven concerts featured this season, with pre- or postconcert ¡Nuestras noches! events, all at Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan, are:

Orozco-Estrada Conducts Romeo and Juliet (Sept. 19): The CSO Latino Alliance launches its season with a program featuring Colombian-born conductor Andrés Orozco-Estrada as it takes listeners from the streets of Leonard Bernstein’s New York, with the Overture to West Side Story, to Argentina’s pampas region, the setting of Ginastera’s vibrant Four Dances from Estancia. 

Muti & the CSO (Nov. 8): Argentinian-born composer Osvaldo Golijov’s Megalopolis Suite features music from his score to Francis Ford Coppola’s epic film, to be released in theaters this fall. The concert also transports listeners to the landscapes of southern Spain with dance-inspired works including Manuel de Falla‘s The Three-Cornered Hat and Emmanuel Chabrier’s España. 

Merry, Merry Chicago! (Dec. 21): Bring the whole family for the CSO Latino Alliance’s annual ¡Noche Navideña! event, anchored by a performance of Symphony Center’s joyous musical celebration of the season. The Chicago Symphony Chorus is featured, with the members of the CSO led by guest conductor Alastair Willis.

Sphinx Virtuosi (Feb. 25): The trailblazing 18-member string orchestra, consisting of Black and Latino musicians from around the country, performs diverse masterworks by Teresa Carreño and Grammy Award-winning composer Jessie Montgomery in a Symphony Center Presents Special Concert.

Jimmy López Bellido: Inner Dialogues (March 23): Experience an eclectic fusion of contemporary compositions, curated by Jimmy López Bellido, “one of the hottest contemporary musical forces around” (Arts Atlanta). Part of the CSO MusicNOW series, the concert also features works by Pierre Boulez, Mason Bates and Arnold Schoenberg.

Boleros de Noche featuring Tres Souls & Trío Remembranza (April 12): The program celebrates boleros, often considered the most romantic genre of Latin American music. The vintage sound of Los Angeles-based Tres Souls is inspired by the golden era of Mexican cinema, and Puerto Rico’s Trío Remembranza puts its spin on trío romántico traditions. 

Riccardo Muti & Esteban Batallán (June 12): The CSO’s principal trumpet since 2019, Spanish native Esteban Batallán makes his debut as a CSO soloist with two high-flying concertos: Telemmann’s Trumpet Concerto in D Major (arr. Grebe) and M. Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto in D Major. Muti frames the program with Joseph Haydn’s stormy Symphony No. 48 and Schubert’s Haydn-inspired Tragic Symphony.

Along with ¡Nuestras noches! events, Latino Alliance members may order additional Latino Alliance season concerts and a variety of other concerts, at special pricing, when purchasing their subscriptions. Additional Latino Alliance season concerts are:

Jordi Savall — Monteverdi: A Baroque Revolution (Oct. 8): The Spanish-born conductor, viol player and early music pioneer offers a program of works by Monteverdi, Dowland, Holborne and Scheidt.

Don Quixote (Oct. 24-26): Guest conductor Sir Donald Runnicles leads the CSO in the Strauss tone poem inspired by the Spanish novel and works by Beethoven and Humperdinck.

Lila Downs: Día de los Muertos (Oct. 27): The Grammy- and Latin Grammy-winning singer-songwriter performs a Day of the Dead-themed program, accompanied by the Mexican Folkloric Dance Company of Chicago.

Ravel, Daphnis and Chloe (March 6-8): Spanish-born conductor Gustavo Gimeno leads the CSO in Suite No. 2 from Ravel’s symphonie chorégraphique and the world premiere of Christopher Theofandis’ Indigo Heaven, written for CSO Principal Clarinet Stephen Williamson. Also on the program are Ravel’s Rapsodie espagnole and Barber’s Second Essay.

The Music of Our Emotions (March 8): In this CSO for Kids concert, guest conductor Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser and members of the CSO explore the music of Tchaikovsky. Born of a life filled with joy and sorrow, love and pain, Tchaikovsky’s works pulse with strong emotions. His courageous life journey demonstrate how music helps us express our emotions. Also on the program are works by Mozart, Beethoven, Prokofiev and Jessie Montgomery.

Eliane Elias/Edmar Castañeda: Family (May 9): The Brazilian pianist-singer weaves straight-ahead jazz and Afro-Latin rhythms such as samba and bossa nova in this SCP Jazz concert. Colombian-born jazz harpist Edmar Castañeda performs original works and interpretations of traditional Colombian songs from his Latin Grammy-nominated album “Family.” 

Maria João Pires (May 25): The legendary Portuguese pianist returns for an SCP Piano recital, a season after receiving the Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance from Northwestern University in 2023.