Elgin Symphony Orchestra announces 2025-26 concert season

For his third season with the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, Music Director Chad Goodman will combine timeless masterpieces with “hidden gems” from major composers and an array of exhilarating works for the orchestra’s upcoming 76th season.

The ESO’s diverse season, which opens in October 2025 and runs through May 2026, includes favorites, such as Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, and Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” along with virtuosic works such as Brahms’ Symphony No. 3 and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4, and the complex, yet subtle “Fauré Requiem.”

Works by Hanson, Mozart, Dvořák, and Barber that aren’t often found on concert schedules are stimulating, while compositions by 21st century composers Carlos Simon, Valerie Coleman, and Angélica Negrón may introduce audiences to new works, according to a news release.

The schedule features collaborations with the Elgin Master Chorale on the “Fauré Requiem,” and showcases the talent of several celebrated guest soloists, including pianist Orion Weiss for the Gershwin Concerto in F; violinist Geneva Lewis, who is making her second appearance with the ESO, for Barber’s Violin Concerto; cellist Oliver Herbert for the Schumann Cello Concerto; and the ESO’s own principal horn player Greg Flint who will perform Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 4.

“Whether you are coming to one of our concerts as a night out with friends and family, a celebration to cap off a busy work week, or to find a place of community, we look forward to sharing a season of carefully-curated musical experiences that will excite and inspire,” Goodman said in the news release.

Subscriptions for the six-concert Classics Series start at $98.

Subscriptions for the Orchestra’s 76th season Classics Series are now on sale and will be available through the ESO Box Office, 20 DuPage Court, Elgin, and by phone at 847-888-4000, during Box Office hours, Tuesdays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Concerts will be held at the Hemmens Cultural Center, 45 Symphony Way in Elgin. For additional information, visit ElginSymphony.org.

Goodman will conduct all concerts.

Saturday, Oct. 11, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 12 at 2:30 p.m.

Carlos Simon: ”Motherboxx Connection”

Howard Hanson: Symphony No. 2. “Romantic”

George Gershwin: Concerto in F, featuring guest pianist Orion Weiss

Saturday, Nov. 8 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 9 at 2:30 p.m.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 13

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 4, featuring ESO Principal Horn player Greg Flint

Clara Schumann/Benjamin de Murashkin: “Three Romances”

Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4, “Italian”

Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, at 2:30 p.m.

Antonín Dvořák: “Othello”

Samuel Barber: Violin Concerto, featuring violinist Geneva Lewis

Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 3

Saturday, March 7, 2026, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, March 8, 2026, at 2:30 p.m.

Special Guest: Elgin Master Chorale

Valerie Coleman: “Seven O’Clock Shout”

Edvard Grieg: Selections from Peer Gynt

Gabriel Fauré: Requiem

Saturday, April 11, 2026, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, April 12, 2026, at 2:30 p.m.

Quinn Mason: “A Joyous Trilogy”

Robert Schumann: Cello Concerto, featuring Oliver Herbert, cello

Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 5

Saturday, May 2, 2026, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, May 3, 2026, at 2:30 p.m.

Angélica Negrón: “Moriviví”

Richard Strauss: “Death and Transfiguration”

Modest Mussorgsky/Maurice Ravel “Pictures at an Exhibition