2022-23 Past Concerts

Scroll through the slides to learn more about last season’s concerts. Click on the “Learn more” buttons to access the educational resources that were created to enhance the concert experience.

German Masters
Saturday, October 15
Great music and captivating performances characterize the DuPage Symphony Orchestra’s 2022-23 concert season, “Up Close and Personal.” To kick off this extraordinary year, the DSO presents an all-orchestral program showcasing music of the German masters: Richard Wagner’s dramatic overture to his early opera Rienzi; Paul Hindemith’s skillfully crafted Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber; and Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 2 in D Major, an exceptionally cheerful and melodious creation that represents a notable contrast to the composer’s intense, almost brooding First Symphony.

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Mexico & Spain
Saturday, November 19
Acclaimed violinist William Hagen, hailed as a “brilliant virtuoso” with “impeccable timing,” joins the DuPage Symphony to perform Édouard Lalo’s flamboyant Symphonie espagnole, written for the renowned Spanish violinist Pablo de Sarasate. Mr. Hagen recently appeared with both the Grant Park Symphony and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The first half of our program showcases music by Mexican composers: José Pablo Moncayo’s dramatic Tierra de Temporal; Carlos Chávez’s groundbreaking Sinfonía india, which incorporates indigenous folk tunes and percussion instruments; and Arturo Márquez’s ever-popular Danzón No. 2.

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Holiday Family Concert
Sunday, December 18
Enjoy a fresh take on a beloved holiday favorite with Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s jazz-inspired arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite: a “melting pot of musical styles past and present.” Colorful settings of treasured seasonal fare by the Boston Pops and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, plus medleys from well-known Hollywood movies – including Frozen and The Polar Express – round out this fun-filled program. Be on the lookout for a special holiday visitor as well. (He’s been known to Claus a scene and take over the Maestra’s podium!)

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American Spirituals & American Jazz
Saturday, February 11
A noteworthy friendship and collaborative spirit existed between two important American composers of the early 20th century: William Grant Still and George Gershwin, who got their start in Tin Pan Alley composing popular songs and stage music. Our mid-winter concert highlights important works by both artists: Still’s 1937 Symphony No. 2, “Song of a New Race,” and Gershwin’s 1925 Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra. Celebrated pianist Wynona Wang, First Prize Winner in the 2018 Concert Artists Guild International Competition, is our guest soloist.

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Our Talented Youth
Sunday, March 19
The DSO offers a special family concert to celebrate the accomplished young musicians of Illinois. The program features a performance by the First Prize Winner in the DSO’s 2023 Young Artists Auditions for high school musicians, a side-by-side collaboration with the Youth Symphony of DuPage Concert Orchestra, and a premiere of an original composition from the 2022 ILMEA Composition Awards. Capped by Benjamin Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, our concert provides an extraordinary introduction to orchestral music for listeners of all ages!

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Symphonic Song
Saturday, May 13
Grammy Award-winning soprano Sarah Brailey – praised for her “radiant, liquid tone” and her “limpid and spellbinding voice” – joins the DSO for Samuel Barber’s poignant Knoxville: Summer of 1915. Balancing this intimate, lyrical rhapsody is Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 in D, the first of the composer’s so-called Wunderhorn symphonies which incorporate material from his earlier orchestral song cycles. Refashioned as a programmatic symphony, this monumental work loosely depicts “a strong, heroic man, his life and sufferings, his battles and defeat at the hands of Fate.”

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