42nd Annual Concert Season: 2018-2019
All public concerts are held in the Boutell Memorial Concert Hall of the Music Building at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. See map of location
Ticket information is available here.
Program notes for the concerts of October 13, February 23, and May 4 will be available here.
Most of the Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra concerts will be available as radio broadcasts on WNIU after the concert dates.
Romantic Legends
Saturday, October 13, 2018, 7:30 p.m.
Location: NIU Boutell Memorial Concert Hall
Prelude to Act 1 of Lohengrin, by Richard Wagner
Dedicated to the memory of Thomas Sims and Susan Huhta
Violin Concerto No. 3 in B minor, Op. 61, by Camille Saint-Saëns
Stephanie Jeong, violin*
Symphony No. 6 in D Major, Op. 60, by Antonín Dvořák
*The guest soloist, Stephanie Jeong, is the assistant concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Information about this soloist is found here.
There will be a free pre-concert talk by the Music Director, in the Recital Hall at 6:30 p.m.
This concert is supported in part by the Kishwaukee Symphony Associates.
Halloween Concerts
Tuesday, October 30, 2018, 5:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Location: NIU Boutell Memorial Concert Hall
The KSO will present its annual free concert of music with a theme appropriate for children and adults. The 5:30 concert will be repeated at 7:30, and there will be trick-or-treating in the building a half hour before the 5:30 concert.
This concert is supported in part by the Farny R. Wurlitzer Fund of the DeKalb County Community Foundation (DCCF).
Children’s Concert
Thursday, November 15, 2018, 10:00 a.m.
Location: Egyptian Theatre, DeKalb
Each year, the KSO presents a concert, not open to the general public, that is specifically for students and their teachers invited from elementary schools and middle schools in our region.
This concert is supported in part by the Farny R. Wurlitzer Fund of the DeKalb County Community Foundation (DCCF).
Winter Wonderland
Friday, December 7, 2018, 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, December 8, 2018, 2:00 p.m.
(A season ticket for this concert may be used on either of these two dates.)
Location: NIU Boutell Memorial Concert Hall
The KSO will warm your heart with music of the holiday season. Many holiday favorites are part of this traditional family concert.
This concert is supported in part by the George E. and Betty B. Dutton Foundation.
Arthur D. Montzka Young Artists Concerto Competition
Saturday, January 5, 2019, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Location: NIU Boutell Memorial Concert Hall
This is a live annual competition for instrumentalists up to the age of 18 years. It open to the public at no admission charge. Each performer, with a piano accompanist, will play one or more movements of a solo concerto, or an appropriate one-movement composition, that is written for orchestral accompaniment, the performance time not to exceed 15 minutes. Audience members may arrive and leave during any of the brief breaks between the 15-minute performances. The competition winner, as determined by a panel of judges, will receive a cash award and perform as soloist with the Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra in its concert at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 23, 2019.
The schedule of performances for the January 5 competition is found here.
This competition is presented by Northwestern Medicine.
Arthur D. Montzka Memorial Concert
Saturday, February 23, 2019, 7:30 p.m.
Location: NIU Boutell Memorial Concert Hall
Symphony No. 4 in B-flat Major, Op. 60, by Ludwig van Beethoven
Violin Concerto, by William Walton
John Heo, violin
Winner of the 2019 Arthur D. Montzka
Young Artists Concerto Competition
1812 Overture, Op. 49, by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
There will be a free pre-concert talk by the Music Director, in the Recital Hall at 6:30 p.m.
This concert is sponsored in part by Northwestern Medicine, The Mary E. Stevens Concert Trust, and WNIU/WNIJ Station Sponsorship.
Spring Pops Concert
Saturday, March 9, 2019, 7:30 p.m.
Location: NIU Boutell Memorial Concert Hall
American Salute, by Morton Gould
Danse Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah, by Camille Saint-Saëns
Selections from A Chorus Line, by Marvin Hamlisch (arr. Robert W. Lowden)
Canon, by Johann Pachelbel
Concertstück for Trombone and Orchestra, Op. 7, by Wilhelm Muhlfeld
Kirk Lundbeck, trombone
Ballet Music from Faust, by Charles Gounod (arr. Aubrey Winter)
Somewhere in Time, by John Barry (arr. Calvin Custer)
The Knight Bus from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by John Williams
Waltz from Sleeping Beauty, by Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky
Colonel Bogey, by Kenneth J. Alford
March from Raiders of the Lost Ark, by John Williams
Aaron Copland: An American Music Icon
Saturday, May 4, 2019, 7:30 p.m.
Location: NIU Boutell Memorial Concert Hall
An Outdoor Overture, by Aaron Copland
Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, Op. 26, by Sergei Prokofiev
Stephen Beus, piano*
Symphony No. 3, by Aaron Copland
*The guest soloist, Stephen Beus, is an internationally acclaimed pianist.
There will be a free pre-concert talk by the Music Director, in the Recital Hall at 6:30 p.m.
This concert is sponsored in part by Ideal Industries with a generous gift from Jean Juday.
Note: Changes in programs, dates, times, and location of concerts will be posted at this website.
