Second to One
On a recent chilly day this spring, we tried an experiment in arts awareness on the streets of Barrington. We wondered what would happen if we asked John Floeter, a bassist for the Elgin Symphony Orchestra (ESO) and a resident of Cary, to don his concert tuxedo and play his double bass on Cook Street and Park Avenue just outside McGonigal’s and Mia Sorella.
With his winning smile, Floeter was obliging but hesitant, reminding us that any type of prolonged cold can severely crack and damage his exquisite wooden instrument (the method by which he makes his living). But he gamely brought out the bass, and within minutes the magical, resonantly deep sounds of the final movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 began wafting through the streets of downtown.
As Barrington photographer Thomas Balsamo snapped away to capture the moment, people began peering from their cars and stopping to listen in wonderment. John lost himself in the music and was somewhat oblivious to the stares and quizzical glances he was receiving, but we were not. “What are you doing?” the passers-by asked us. “That music is so beautiful,” they said quietly. The moment was so surprising that we literally stopped traffic.
Later that day we repeated the same scene, but with ESO violist Henrietta Neeley in the stands and on the field at Barrington High School, where she had taught orchestra students long ago. That day, the girls’ high school soccer team was warming up for a big game, and rap music blared from the stadium’s loudspeaker. But Neeley (also quite aware of the cold and its ramifications for both herself and her instrument) took to the middle of the field with the soccer players behind her, and played excerpts from Bach’s Brandenberg Concerto No. 6 and Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante. The soccer coach and the team stood and stared, as did the high school girls running track that afternoon. Later, they stopped us in the parking lot to ask who had been playing the viola on the field, and why.
Just a few days later we asked ESO oboist Joe Claude, who was born and raised in Barrington, to serenade us with his stunning rosewood Laubin oboe in front of the Catlow Theater on Main Street. While the weather would not cooperate to allow him to play his double-reed instrument, he let us photograph him in this unusual location, once again unwittingly stopping traffic — and even a busload of high school students — on Hough Street.
Our objective with this experiment was to see what would happen when the musicians of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra — many of whom are our friends and neighbors — came out of the concert hall and into the community. It was striking to see the effect that classical music performed in an unexpected setting can have on people, and we found out that many wanted more of what they saw and heard.
A Best-Kept Secret
The good news is that more of this beautiful music is available in our backyard. While anyone in Barrington who loves music is undoubtedly aware that the Chicago Symphony Orchestra ranks somewhere among the world’s top five, fewer are aware that just a few miles west on I-90, the Elgin Symphony Orchestra holds its own as one of the nation’s top regional orchestras, playing consistently to sold-out audiences and attracting renowned musicians.
Over the years, the ESO has performed with Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman (twice), Pinchas Zukerman, Sir James Galway, Kathleen Battle, and violinist Midori, among others. Many of the orchestra’s own musicians have international reputations as well, including the current concertmaster, violinist Isabella Lippi.
For just a short drive and free parking, a discerning patron can experience the full range of orchestral music with the ESO, from Beethoven’s masterful Symphony No. 9 and Hayden’s Cello Concerto to Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess and Copland’s Appalachian Spring (all performed this season). Last October, the ESO joined with the Elgin Choral Union and a festival chorus of high school students to perform and record Beethoven’s Ninth (excerpts can be heard on the QB web site at www.qbarrington.com).
“Performing the Beethoven last fall was such a wonderful experience,” says Robert Hanson, the orchestra’s longtime conductor and musical director. “To look out at our musicians and the volunteer choral singers on stage and see them having one of the great musical experiences of their lives along with the audience — to me that’s what it’s all about.”
Hanson, a former resident of Lake Barrington, has been associated with the ESO since 1975 and has seen it transition from an all-volunteer group to a fully professional orchestra that attracts some of the finest musical talent in the country.
Recent trombone and double bass auditions drew more than 75 and 35 musicians respectively from all over the country, which is telling of the orchestra’s appeal to those who want to play with the best. “Musicians are clamoring to get into this orchestra,” Hanson says. “We are one of the highest-paying regional orchestras in the Midwest, which attracts a certain level of talent.
“The orchestra members have wonderful esprit de corps, which contributes to wonderful performances on stage,” Hanson continues. “The ESO has really established a great rapport between the musicians and the audience, and when the orchestra is ‘on,’ they do amazing things.”
Violist Neeley has played with the ESO since 1975. “One of the most unique things about the ESO that drives its excellence is the support system,” she says. “The volunteers, board, administration — all the people behind the scenes — are truly incredible. This support system has kept the orchestra together for many years and made it thrive. During the last 10 or 15 years, the orchestra has really risen in stature. It draws the best from Chicago and beyond.”
61 Seasons and Counting
Now in its 61st season, the Elgin Symphony Orchestra traces its beginnings to the Elgin Little Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1917 by Jesse Ora Ballinger, and the Elgin Civic Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1950. In the beginning, the orchestra was all-volunteer and remained that way for many years.
In the 1970s, with the appointment of Grammy Award–winning conductor Margaret Hillis as music director, the ESO experienced unprecedented artistic and organizational growth by strengthening ties with the community and laying the foundation for the professional (paid) orchestra that the ESO would become in the mid-1980s.
Today, the ESO is the second-largest orchestra in the state of Illinois, employing 70 musicians and presenting 50 concerts annually at Hemmens Cultural Center in Elgin and the Prairie Center for the Arts in Schaumburg. In addition to having been named Orchestra of the Year an unprecedented three times by the Illinois Council of Orchestras, the ESO is one of the few arts organizations designated by the Illinois State legislature as an Established Regional Arts Institution and as a State Treasure. Additionally, the ESO is one of a select number of national and international orchestras whose concerts are regularly broadcast on WFMT fine arts radio station.
Conductor and composer Robert Hanson was appointed music director in 1985, and during the same year, the ESO became a fully professional orchestra. Hanson has demonstrated the rare ability to guide the organization through multiple phases of growth and is currently shepherding the ESO through its most exciting era in programming and artistic excellence. As a dedicated educator, Hanson created the ESO’s Family and Pops concert series and founded several youth music education programs, including the Elgin Area Youth Orchestra, the Elgin Community College (ECC) Conservatory and the ECC Institute for the Performing Arts.
“The orchestra has grown from just-barely-professional to its current status,” says oboist Joe Claude. “All the sections have improved tremendously during that time — particularly the size and quality of the strings have contributed to making it sound like the real deal. Bob Hanson and a succession of managers beginning with the late Marcene Linstrom have done an amazing job of nurturing the growth of both the orchestra and the board.”
Enduring a Turbulent Economy
It’s no secret that nearly all arts organizations have struggled to thrive — and even survive — during the recent economic downturn. Three years ago the ESO board of directors hired conductor and arts administrator Dale Lonis to serve as chief executive officer of the Elgin Symphony. Lonis works closely with the board, administration, staff, and musicians to continue the ESO’s tradition of excellence.
Lonis joined the ESO from the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, where as executive director he was responsible for revitalizing this orchestra, a critical part of Winnipeg’s cultural landscape. Lonis grew up in the Fox Valley and earned bachelor’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Illinois in music education and a master’s degree in conducting from Northwestern University.
He came to the ESO just as the bottom dropped out of the economy in 2008. It would prove to be a challenge to keep the orchestra moving forward during one of the most difficult economic periods in United States history, but he was up to the task. During the past three years, Lonis has focused on three pillars of strength within the organization — artistic excellence, regional community development, and educational development.
Lonis has worked with the board of directors to establish a $900,000 sustainability campaign, increase grant applications, reduce administrative and support staff appropriately, and reduce the artistic budget with minimal effect on musicians’ wages while honoring the ESO’s current collective bargaining agreement. Also under Lonis’s leadership, in the spring of 2010, the ESO set a record with the highest percentage of subscriber patrons who also became donors (at just short of 50 percent).
During a time when other regional orchestras
have floundered, the ESO has continued its steady
rise to the top.
Community and Educational Commitment
One of the pillars of the ESO’s success is its commitment to educational outreach and community involvement. The orchestra’s ties to the city of Elgin are strong, and the mutual community support has enabled both the orchestra and the city to endure tough times.
In November 2008 the ESO created a Tickets for Food program to assist families and local food banks during the height of the recession, and the program was so successful that it was adopted by the League of Symphony Orchestras as a national program.
The ESO offers numerous educational programs that have reached more than 20,000 area students, including the Family Fun concert series, which attracts more than 900 people to each concert and exposes children of all ages to the wonders of classical music. Just this year, Carnegie Hall Foundation selected the ESO as one of 11 orchestras nationally recognized for its partnerships in education initiatives.
The ESO has also recently launched its Musicians Care Program, which provides orchestral musicians for end-of-life care through programs with Hospice and Palliative Care of Northeastern Illinois. This initiative is the only one of its kind in the nation and has been embraced by numerous hospitals and hospices in our area. The ESO has also strengthened community ties through its recently launched “Building Community through the Arts” program, which brings arts-oriented and social service not-for-profit groups together to increase community support. The orchestra has created “Business After Hours” events co-sponsored with the Elgin Chamber of Commerce, the city of Elgin, and other arts organizations with more than 100 businesses and corporate representatives in attendance. The ESO is committed to its community, which stretches all the way to Barrington.
Despite the cold weather, double bassist John Floeter seemed to really enjoy his impromptu “concert in the streets” of downtown Barrington. He was eager to do anything that would help more people learn about the Elgin Symphony. “The ESO has just become such a fine group,” he said between strains of Beethoven. “It just gets better and better. I find that playing in Elgin, the standards are among the highest in the Chicago area — the quality of musicians the ESO has been able to attract has allowed us to challenge ourselves musically and prepare something special for our audiences each concert. We really enjoy being able to do that.”
Meet the Musicans
Joseph J. Claude, Oboe and English Horn
Joe Claude has played with the ESO since 1983 and also has performed with Music of the Baroque, the Milwaukee Symphony, and Chicago Opera Theater, among other ensembles. He teaches private lessons as well.
Claude’s roots are deep in the Barrington area. In 1927 his grandparents moved to Kelsey Road, where his grandfather found work managing a dairy farm. (The original farm building still stands). His father attended a one-room schoolhouse and then Barrington High School, which was in the old Hough Street School. His mother and father met at Barrington High School and graduated together in 1943, and were married at St. Paul’s Church on Main Street in 1950. Claude lived in Barrington until 1973, when his family moved to Missouri. He fondly remembers attending shows at the Catlow, and also being a part of the band program in Barrington. “Here was a group that was drawn together by being in the band, and my membership in that group was very important to me,” he says. “Without that sense of belonging to a new, little crowd, I would not have continued playing the oboe.”
Today, Claude enjoys the camaraderie provided by belonging to a group dedicated to musical excellence. “Some of the people sitting near me in the ESO are particularly skilled on their instruments, and because they are so close to me I can really enjoy their skills,” he says. “In particular I would mention Stephen Hartman, the harpist, and our new horn player, Steven Replogle. During any concert where these two are on stage I hear great stuff from them.”
John Floeter, Double Bass
A native of Cary, John Floeter has been an active bassist in the Chicago area since 1979, covering several genres of music, including classical, jazz, folk, and musical theater. He is currently principal bass of the Chicago Sinfonietta, the Joffrey Ballet Orchestra, and the Lake Forest Symphony, and a member of the Grant Park Orchestra and the Elgin Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with the Chicago Symphony, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Milwaukee Symphony. Floeter is also the Instructor of Double Bass at Northern Illinois University.
Floeter has fond memories of some of the ESO’s more high-energy performances, including performing Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique and playing bass in several of the orchestra’s big-band performances. One of Floeter’s most memorable musical moments with the ESO was a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 many years ago, under the direction of former conductor Margaret Hillis. The orchestra needed an additional bass to sub in for the performance, and one evening Floeter looked up and the renowned bassist Edgar Meyer, “a rock star” in the bass world, was seated in the section. “The amount of real heart going into his playing was amazing,” he says.
Henrietta Neeley, Viola
Henrietta Neeley has played viola with the ESO since 1975. She is the coordinator of the Community Music Center at Harper College and has formerly taught private lessons to Barrington middle and high school students. She received a bachelor of music degree in violin performance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a master of music degree in viola performance from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She also completed postgraduate studies in chamber music at Yale University. She is a former member of the New Orleans, Cincinnati, and Grant Park Symphony Orchestras and the City Opera Orchestra of Augsburg, Germany.
Neeley’s most memorable moment with the ESO came a few years ago at a pre-season gala event featuring world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma. She had been engaged to play in a string quartet as background music during the post-concert champagne reception in the concert hall lobby, which was alive with the sounds of socializing and post-concert festivities. No one was paying much attention to the quartet, until they finished a piece and suddenly there was clapping. Neeley looked down to see Yo-Yo Ma sitting on the steps below her, clapping and thanking the quartet for playing that evening. Then, he asked if he could sit in with the group! She says her hands were shaking as she worked through a Beethoven string quartet with Yo-Yo Ma seated beside her. “I was just focused on trying to play my part,” she says. “I’ll never forget it.”
Attend an ESO Concert
Take the 20-minute drive, park for free, and join the Elgin Symphony this spring as the orchestra finishes its 2010–11 season. You’ll be glad you did.
All performances take place at Hemmens Cultural Center in Elgin.
Sunday, May 1, 3:30 p.m.
Beethoven’s Triple Concerto
Kazem Abdullah, conductor
Inon Barnatan, piano
Alisa Weilerstein, cello
Chee Yun, violin
Beethoven: Overture: Egmont
Beethoven: Concerto for Piano, Violin and Cello “Triple Concerto”
Hindemith: Mathis der Maler
With his 2009 Metropolitan Opera debut, conductor Kazem Abdullah has quickly become one of the most watched talents of the classical world. He leads Beethoven’s “Triple Concerto” as three of the season’s acclaimed soloists return to perform together. Take advantage of this rare opportunity to experience these artists for the second time in a single season! Box Office: 847-888-4000.
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Friday, June 10, 1:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 11, 8 p.m.
Sunday, June 12, 3:30 p.m.
Tchaikovsky & Rachmaninoff
Robert Hanson, conductor
Joyce Yang, piano
tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6
rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3
Be swept away by two Russian Romantics. Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique Symphony is an emotionally passionate work that thrills audiences, while Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 stands as one of the most formidable yet popular masterpieces by the composer known for pulling heart-strings and captivating listeners. Box Office: 847-888-4000.
Patty Dowd Schmitz is a freelance writer and marketing communications strategist in Barrington. She performed Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9” with the ESO last October and is currently the Executive Director of the Barrington Concours d’Elegance, the primary fundraising event for Barrington Area Conservation Trust.