Symphony Center Orchestra Concert, Beethoven Symphony #3 + Finlandia

This concert is the First performance of the Civic Orchestra 2026-2027 concert season:

Finlandia & Beethoven Symphony #3, Eroica

Monday, 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.

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See below for MeetUp instructions and how to find the group.
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Upcoming Performances:

Shostakovich 11
Monday, 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 Symphony #6, Pathétique
Monday, 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.

Debussy, Mazzoli & The Firebird
Monday, Mar. 1, Symphony Center with Ken-David Masur, conductor

Principal Conductor Ken-David Masur leads the Civic Orchestra in the ultimate Russian fairy-tale ballet, Stravinsky’s The Firebird, which pulses with iridescent colors and fantastical effects as it tells the story of a magical bird, an evil sorcerer and an intrepid prince. Debussy evokes a Breton legend about an underwater cathedral that emerges at sunrise, echoing with the sound of ancient bells. And Missy Mazzoli reimagines the Orpheus myth in an entrancing work that dates from her tenure as the CSO’s Mead Composer-in-Residence. The score delivers “just the kind of fresh, imaginative sound world that we have come to expect of Mazzoli” (Chicago Sun-Times).

Don Juan & Nielsen 2
Monday, Apr. 5, Symphony Center with José Luis Gómez, conductor

At age 24, Strauss was audacious and determined to conquer, making Don Juan the perfect musical subject. Immerse yourself in the unbridled energy and rich colors of his breakthrough score. In Escaramuza, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gabriela Lena Frank draws thrilling inspiration from a spiritual warrior dance of Peru’s native people. The program, led by José Luis Gómez, concludes with Nielsen’s Second Symphony, a vivid portrait of four ancient personality types — choleric (fiery), phlegmatic (calm), melancholic and sanguine — rendered with warmth and earthy wit.

Ravel Daphnis and Chloe

Monday, May 3, Symphony Center with Tianyi Lu, conductor
Ravel’s Suite No. 2 from his ballet Daphnis and Chloe shimmers and swirls as it presents an ancient Greek tale of danger and desire. In Tupaia, New Zealand composer Salina Fisher depicts the great Polynesian navigator who aided 18th-century British explorers on their first voyage to the Pacific. The program, led by Tianyi Lu, opens with a symphonic gem by Croatian composer Dora Pejačević, a deeply ruminative work she composed while working as a volunteer nurse during the First World War.

Bartók Concerto for Orchestra
Monday, June 7, Symphony Center with Carlos Miguel Prieto, conductor

Carlos Miguel Prieto leads a program of three bravura showpieces. Composed in 1944 when Bartók was a Hungarian refugee living in the United States, his enthralling Concerto for Orchestra gives every section of the orchestra its star solo tuCarlos Miguel Prieto leads a program of three bravura showpieces. Composed in 1944 when Bartók was a Hungarian refugee living in the United States, his enthralling Concerto for Orchestra gives every section of the orchestra its star solo turn. Another product of wartime America, Barber’s Second Essay carries listeners on a restless, exuberant journey. Inspired by Mexico’s Huastec people and their folklore, Gabriela Ortiz’s Téenek is an uplifting ode to a future without borders.
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MeetUp instructions and how to find the group:
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If you have not experienced a fantastic, LIVE orchestra concert at the historic and elegant Symphony Center, this is your chance !

Ticket Information: Tickets are $5, for this concert and are purchased
at the Box Office. There are no assigned seats. Seating is general admission.

PLAN AHEAD ON YOUR TRANSPORTATION. Type: "Symphony Center" in Google Maps. Remember to add extra time for CTA and other delays. Arrive at or before 7:00 pm.

We will meet at the Symphony Center Box Office off Michigan Avenue.
Steve will be standing inside, near the Michigan street windows across from the box office.

As you enter the Symphony Center Lobby, look to the right. The Box Office is at the north end of the lobby.

Again, arrive at or before 7:00 pm. We will enter the concert hall at 7:15 pm. The concert begins at 7:30 pm SHARP ! All cell phones must be silenced during the entire performance, 7:30-9:30 pm. If you are late, you may not not be able to joinMonday, June 7 the group until after the performance. You can enter between movements - I recommend it !

We will be seated on the right side of the first balcony. The first balcony is on the third floor, up the steps to the right, after the usher scans your ticket. Ask any usher: "I'm looking for the first balcony, right side".

Dress is casual to business casual. My advice: dress in comfortable clothes.


Chicago Symphony Center
220 South Michigan Avenue · Chicago, IL
See above description