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Ice is scraped from the sidewalk outside Orchestra Hall, as CSO musicians prepare to embark for sunny and warm Arizona.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
With bags packed, instruments loaded and cleared for takeoff on United Airlines, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra embarked Jan. 14 on its tour across the West Coast with Music Director Emeritus for Life Riccardo Muti,. The musicians made their way to Mesa, Arizona (via Phoenix), for the first tour concert. Beyond mainstage performances, the West Coast Tour 2026 itinerary includes venue debuts, community chamber-music concerts and youth side-by-side rehearsals with members of the CSO.
Designed by Boora Architects, the Mesa Arts Center opened in spring 2005 in downtown Mesa, a city of more than 500,000, just east of Phoenix. The Ikeda Theater at Mesa Arts Center evokes the feeling of being inside a canyon (thus its canyon-like walls).
The Mesa Arts Center, which is Arizona’s largest performing-arts complex, consists of four theaters, the Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum and 14 visual- and performing-arts studios. The CSO and Riccardo Muti previously performed at the Mesa Arts Center on Jan. 22, 2023.
Next up, a day off and travel to the next tour concert, in Zellerbach Hall on Jan. 17 in Berkeley, California.
Follow along on social media in the coming days: #CSOonTour
Downstairs at Orchestra Hall, CSO flute/piccolo Jennifer Gunn folds away some items for her travel trunk.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
CSO viola Wei-Ting Kuo flashes a V for victory sign as he heads past Orchestra Hall to board a bus to O’Hare.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
Snow falls as Principal Cello John Sharp approaches the CSO’s bus, which is parked outside Symphony Center.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
On the bus ride to O’Hare, CSO trombone Michael Mulcahy (left) and Principal Trumpet Esteban catch up with what happened over the holiday break.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
CSO horn Oto Carrillo and CSO flute/piccolo Jennifer Gunn prepare to enter the check-in area at O’Hare.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
Joe Sherman, CSO associate director of production, greets CSO musicians as they arrive at O’Hare.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
Guido Frackers (left) of Trav-Tours, which organizes travel arrangements for the CSO, has checked-baggage tags ready to distribute to CSO musicians as they arrive.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
Assistant Concertmaster David Taylor traverses one of the moving walkways at O’Hare on his way to the boarding gate.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
On a cold and gray Chicago morning, the CSO’s United Airlines flight is prepared for the orchestra's trip to Phoenix.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
The lyrics “purple mountain majesties,” from "America, the Beautiful," come to mind as the flight approaches Phoenix.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
After arriving in Mesa, Principal Trumpet Esteban Batallán checks out the wares at Milano Music, near the Ikeda Theatre of the Mesa Arts Center, where the CSO will perform the first concert on its West Coast tour.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
CSO stage technician Blair Carlson unpacks a travel trunk ahead of the first concert of the West Coast Tour 2026.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
The stage of the Ikeda Theatre at the Mesa Arts Center awaits the arrival of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
