Civic Orchestra of Chicago 2026/27 Season Programming Announced

Audiences can make plans to hear classical music’s next generation of musicians in concerts performed from fall through spring by the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s prestigious ensemble for early-career musicians that is part of the Negaunee Music Institute at the CSO. The 2026/27 programming for the Civic Orchestra, now entering its 108th season, has been announced and includes familiar orchestral works alongside new music from an array of today’s composers.  Concertgoers can experience the Civic Orchestra in pay-what-you wish concerts at Symphony Center and free performances in neighborhood and community venues throughout Chicago and the suburbs. Advance ticket reservations are required with most ticket reservations opening two weeks prior to the performance date. More information is available at cso.org. 

Ken-David Masur returns for his eighth season as Civic Orchestra Principal Conductor. Masur holds the Robert Kohl and Clark Pellett Principal Conductor Chair and continues a partnership that has been central to the ensemble’s artistic growth and increasing visibility across Chicago. Masur leads three compelling programs, including the season-opening concerts on October 25 and 26 featuring Sibelius’ Finlandia and Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony; the annual Bach Marathon Finale Concert at Fourth Presbyterian Church on December 14 and a program featuring Debussy’s The Sunken Cathedral, former CSO Mead Composer-in-Residence Missy Mazzoli’s Orpheus Undone and Stravinsky’s The Firebird offered February 28 and March 1, 2027. 

Several conductors make their Civic Orchestra podium debuts this season, bringing perspectives shaped by work with orchestras in Europe, Asia, Australia and across North America. Among them are Michael Sanderling, chief conductor of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra since 2021, who leads Shostakovich’s Eleventh Symphony at Symphony Center and Lincoln-Way East High School in Frankfort, and Hans Graf, whose career includes current posts as music director of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and principal guest conductor of the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra, as well as the title of music director emeritus of the Houston Symphony. Graf conducts a program pairing Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 (Pathétique). Music Director of the Tucson Symphony José Luis Gómez leads the Civic for the first time in performances at Symphony Center and Vernon Hills High School. Tianyi Lu, a first-prize winner at both the Sir Georg Solti International Conductors’ Competition and the International Conducting Competition Guido Cantelli, conducts Ravel’s Suite No. 2 from Daphnis and Chloe at Symphony Center and Kenwood Academy High School.  Lu is currently principal conductor of the St. Woolos Sinfonia and assistant conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.   

Additional Civic Orchestra podium debuts include CSO Assistant Conductor Robert Kahn, who leads the Crain-Maling Foundation CSO Young Artists Competition finals in January 2027, and Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, who has previously conducted CSO school and family programming and serves as music director of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada for the 2026 and 2027 seasons. 

Civic Orchestra concerts in neighborhood and community venues expand to seven this season with performance venues including the South Shore Cultural Center, Lincoln-Way East High School in Frankfort, Wentz Concert Hall at North Central College in Naperville, Vernon Hills High School, Kenwood Academy High School and, for the first time, Benito Juárez Community Academy in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood where conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto will return to the Civic podium. Several programs deepen the ensemble’s connections with young musicians and local schools, including side-by-side performances with the Vernon Hills High School band program and the Kenwood Academy High School Orchestra. These presentations place Civic Orchestra musicians in close collaboration with students while inviting audiences across the city and suburbs to experience the breadth and energy of the Orchestra’s season. 

Several special events in the Civic Orchestra season highlight the ensemble’s commitment to nurturing young musicians and community engagement. The Civic Orchestra will accompany Illinois’ most talented youth artists as they compete in the annual Crain-Maling Foundation CSO Young Artists Competition finals for an opportunity to appear as a soloist with members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in the following season. The Young Composers Initiative culminates with a June 2027 concert featuring world premieres of small ensemble works written by high school composers from across the Chicago region and performed by Civic Orchestra musicians. The Civic Fellows also continue their wide-ranging work in collaboration with local partners, including programs that celebrate contemporary music, community storytelling and social impact. Of note is a project of the Civic Fellows and the Grammy Award-winning ensemble Alarm Will Sound that is inspired by their New Acoustica project and will invite five local artists to arrange their electronic music for acoustic ensembles.  

Explore the Civic Orchestra of Chicago 2026/27 performance schedule and program listings at cso.org/civicseason. 

Civic Orchestra of Chicago at Symphony Center and in the Community 
 
Finlandia & Beethoven Eroica  
Oct. 25, South Shore Cultural Center, 7059 S. South Shore Dr., Chicago; Oct. 26, Symphony Center with Ken-David Masur, conductor 
 
Principal Conductor Ken-David Masur opens the Civic Orchestra’s season in a program featuring Beethoven’s mighty Eroica Symphony, which brims with anthems of hope and triumph over oppression. Sibelius channeled Finnish pride in Finlandia, which became a rallying cry during his country’s drive for independence. America’s democratic, pluralistic ideals are refracted in Charles Ives’ variations on “My Country ’Tis of Thee,” while J.E. Hernández’s work explores the nuances of the modern-day immigration story.

Shostakovich 11 
Nov. 15, Lincoln-Way East High School, 201 Colorado Ave., Frankfort; Nov. 16, Symphony Center with Michael Sanderling, conductor 
 
Once described as “a film score without a film,” Shostakovich’s Eleventh Symphony transports you to the Russian Revolution of 1905. The composer sets the scene outside the Winter Palace on a frigid January day and goes on to depict the massacre of protesters by the czar’s troops. Revolutionary songs are threaded through its four movements, and the defiant finale, with its tolling bells and restless drums, signals a warning to the future.  

Mozart 40 & Tchaikovsky Pathétique  
Jan. 11, Symphony Center with Hans Graf, conductor 
 
Mozart’s 40th Symphony speaks in his most confessional voice. Composed during a period of financial insecurity and alienation, the work has a turbulent heart but also moments of reflection in its exquisite slow movement. Another intensely personal late symphony, Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique premiered just days before the composer’s sudden death. The program, led by Hans Graf, features one of music’s most impassioned farewells, but it contains tender moments, too, including a lyrical waltz that is unmistakably Tchaikovsky.   

Special Events  

Bach Marathon Finale (Dec. 14) 
Celebrate the season in true Baroque splendor as Civic musicians perform four of Bach’s sumptuous Brandenburg concertos in Fourth Presbyterian Church’s stunning sanctuary. Packed with variety and verve, the concertos range from the intricate sonic tapestries of the Third and Fourth to the daring keyboard pyrotechnics of the Fifth and the dark string colors of the Sixth. Ken-David Masur leads the conclusion of the program with the elegant and majestic dances of Bach’s Fourth Orchestral Suite. The concert is presented at Fourth Presbyterian Church (126 E. Chestnut St., Chicago). 

Crain-Maling Foundation CSO Young Artists Competition (Jan. 16) 
Founded in 1919, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Youth Auditions have featured extraordinary young soloists from across Illinois. Now known as the Crain-Maling Foundation CSO Young Artists Competition, this concerto competition identifies one outstanding young performer to be featured in a CSO School and Family Concert the following season. This year’s competition is open to woodwinds, brass, harp and percussion. Finalists are selected to perform in the final round in Orchestra Hall, accompanied by the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and conducted by CSO Assistant Conductor Robert Kahn, in the final, public round on Saturday, January 16, 2027, at 2:00 p.m. This event is free and open to the public; tickets can be reserved two weeks prior to the event. 

Civic Brass & Percussion (Feb. 8)  
Led by guest conductor and Chicago Symphony Orchestra trombone Michael Mulcahy, musicians from the Civic Orchestra of Chicago perform a special concert of works that showcase the virtuosity and range of brass and percussion instruments.  

IMPACT (Mar. 12) 
Showcasing Education & Community Programs of the CSO 

Be inspired by the musicians who are learning, growing and serving Chicago through the programs produced by the Negaunee Music Institute at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Enjoy a showcase of extraordinary performances by the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, musicians from the CSO, Percussion Scholarship Program students and more. Transform lives by supporting these vital education and community engagement activities. Ticket reservations open January 12. 

Civic Fellows 

Through an array of experiences designed to build and diversify creative and professional skills, the Civic Fellowship program empowers participants to realize their full potential as artistically excellent, civically engaged, collaborative and entrepreneurial musicians. 

The program’s curriculum has four major pillars: artistic planning, music education, social justice and project management. Civic Fellows serve as facilitators in projects like Notes for Peace, explore music by living composers, perform concerts at Symphony Center as well as in schools and communities across the city, mentor young musicians through the CSO-Connect program, design and implement independent projects and more. Additionally, Fellows participate in enrichment activities including regular meetings as a cohort and professional development seminars with guest lecturers. 

Fellow reflections on past events and information about upcoming events can be found at cso.org/aboutcivic.  

Civic Fellows Chamber Music at Epiphany Center for the Arts (Jan. 24)  

With artistic leadership from violist, conductor and Peabody Award-winning producer and broadcaster Nadia Sirota, the Civic Fellows present a concert of music by living composers. This program takes place at Epiphany Center for the Arts (201 S. Ashland Ave., Chicago). 

Civic Fellows & Alarm Will Sound at Epiphany Center for the Arts (Mar. 26)  

In partnership with Grammy Award-winning ensemble Alarm Will Sound, the Civic Fellows present a concert inspired by the ensemble’s New Acoustica project. Following a call for collaboration, Fellows select and work with five local artists to arrange their electronic music for acoustic ensembles, connecting two sound worlds rich in creative innovation and musical expression. This program takes place at Epiphany Center for the Arts (201 S. Ashland Ave., Chicago). 

Civic Fellows & Chicago Refugee Coalition (May 19)  

Join the Civic Fellows and participants from the Chicago Refugee Coalition in a special concert that shares and celebrates cultural identities. New this season, this performance features Core Members of the Chicago Cultural Alliance — first-voice, community driven centers of cultural heritage in Chicago — in an event that weaves together community and individual journeys through music and storytelling. This program takes place in Buntrock Hall at Symphony Center.

Notes for Peace 

Launched in March 2018 in partnership with Purpose Over Pain, the Notes for Peace program uses the healing benefits of music to support families who have lost loved ones to gun violence. More than 100 professionally recorded songs of tribute, alongside family photos and song lyrics, can be found on notesforpeace.org. 

Notes for Peace (Oct. 17) 

Join families from Purpose Over Pain for a concert of new original songs honoring loved ones lost to gun violence, composed and performed in collaboration with Civic Fellows, guest teaching artists from the Irene Taylor Trust and professional vocalists. This program takes place at Epiphany Center for the Arts (201 S. Ashland Ave., Chicago). 

Notes for Peace Reunion (May 22) 

In collaboration with Purpose Over Pain, the Negaunee Music Institute presents a reunion concert celebrating nine years of the Notes for Peace program. Launched in 2018, Notes for Peace empowers Chicago families who have lost loved ones to gun violence to compose, record and perform original songs of tribute. Join musicians from the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and the families of Purpose Over Pain, together with guest artists from the U.K.-based organization Irene Taylor Trust and Chicago-area vocalists, for an inspiring afternoon that demonstrates the healing power of music.