Joliet, Ill. – The Joliet Symphony Orchestra (JSO) is pleased to announce the third concert set of its 2024-2025 Season with Artistic Director & Conductor, Dr. Sean Paul Mills, leading a program of works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Max Bruch, and George Whitefield Chadwick, and featuring internationally acclaimed violin soloist Andrew Sords.
Titled “Passion”, the JSO will be performing Ludwig van Beethoven’s infrequently performed Namensfeier Overture (Name Day Overture), Max Bruch’s passionate & virtuosic Violin Concerto No. 1 in g minor, and American composer George Whitefield Chadwick’s soaring Symphony No. 2 in B-flat major.
Performances will take place on Saturday, February 22, 2025, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, February 23, 2025, at 4 p.m. Both performances will take place in Sexton Auditorium which is located in the Harold & Margaret Moser Performing Arts Center on the University of St. Francis campus at 500 Wilcox Street in Joliet.
Born in Newark, Del., Andrew Sords was raised in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and current resides in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. At age five, he asked for piano lessons and shortly thereafter commenced violin lessons. His studies led him to the Encore School for Strings, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and Southern Methodist University. As a teenager, Sords garnered prizes from concerto competitions (including the NFMC National Competition and the Pittsburgh Society Career Grant), signed with management, and cultivated a media and audience following from innumerable interviews, profiles, and appearances. In recent seasons, Sords has appeared with the Greensboro Symphony, El Paso Symphony, Flagstaff Symphony, Brevard Symphony, Pueblo Symphony, Spartanburg Philharmonic, Southeastern Ohio Symphony, Des Moines Orchestra, Grand Junction Symphony, Durham Chamber Orchestra, Salisbury Symphony, Longmont Symphony, Guatemala’s “Festival Bravissimo”, Oakland Symphony, Chattanooga Symphony, Cleveland Philharmonic, and Toronto Philharmonia. As a prolific recitalist, Sords has appeared in La Jolla, Washington (D.C.), Maui, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, and St. Augustine (Fla.), Canada, Mexico, and throughout the Caribbean.
Continuing this season is a series of FREE pre-concert discussions titled “Noteworthy.” These discussions will take place 45 minutes prior to each performance and provide audience members with an opportunity to learn more about the composers, selections, orchestra, and soloists as well as ask questions and interact with our conductor and guests.
Tickets for JSO concerts are available through the JSO website at jolietsymphonyorchestra.org, the Music at Moser website at stfrancis.edu/music-at-moser and at the door beginning one (1) hour before each performance. Ticket prices are: Adults = $10; Seniors, Alumni & Non-USF students = $5; USF students, music educators, and youth (18 & under) are FREE with a current ID.
Please join the JSO as they begin a season with exciting guest artists, moving musical performances, and new opportunities for audiences to engage with their local symphony.
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The University of St. Francis, in Joliet, Ill., serves close to 3,300 students nationwide and offers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs in the arts and sciences, business, education, nursing and social work. There are over 53,000 USF alumni across the globe. For information, call 800-735-7500 or visit stfrancis.edu.
University of St. Francis: Bigger thinking. Brighter purpose.
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