CUSO LIVE! POPS CONCERT - FAVORITES FROM THE STAGE AND SCREEN
Sunday, September 12, 2021 | 4:30 p.m.
Heritage Hall, I Hotel and Conference Center, Champaign

Come celebrate the return of live CUSO concerts with music you love! Enjoy the big sound of more than 50 CUSO musicians performing lush orchestral arrangements of some of the greatest hits from stage and screen. Heritage Hall will be alive with The Sound of Music and other favorites from Fiddler on the Roof, West Side Story, and music made famous in film—including selections from John William’s popular music for Star Wars. This family-friendly concert will give our youngest audience members shakers to decorate and shake on Maestro’s cue for Mambo! Kids can also put their names in a hat for the drawing to conduct CUSO’s rousing finale, Sousa’s The Stars and Stripes Forever.
RODGERS and HAMMERSTEIN arr. BENNETT: The Sound of Music: Selection for Orchestra
BOCK arr. RAPLEY: Selections from Fiddler on the Roof
WAGNER ed. HUTSCHENRUYTER: Ride of the Valkyries
BERNSTEIN arr. PERESS: Overture to West Side Story
MASCAGNI: “Intermezzo Sinfonico” from Cavalleria Rusticana
WILLIAMS: Star Wars Suite
The Imperial March
Princess Leia’s Theme
Throne Room & End Title
SOUSA arr. STOKOWSKI: The Stars and Stripes Forever
VIP Section (closest to the stage)
$40 adults
$5 youth
(high school and younger) with purchase of $40 adult ticket
General Admission
$20 adults
$5 students of any age
Buy tickets by phone: call CUSO at 217-351-9139.
I Hotel Heritage Hall lobby doors open at 3:30 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at the door. Heritage Hall doors open for concert seating at 4:00 p.m. Concert begins at 4:30 p.m. Approximate program length is 70 minutes.
COVID-19 SAFETY
As we gather together to share the joy of music, orchestra and audience safety is a priority. Consistent with the current State of Illinois COVID-19 guidelines, all persons attending the concert, including children, will be required to wear a mask.
While social distancing is not a mandated public health requirement, maximum audience seating will be provided, to enable patrons to choose their seats and allow space between patron groups.
BAROQUE BRILLIANCE
Saturday, November 6, 2021 | 7:30 p.m.
Faith United Methodist Church
1719 S. Prospect Ave., Champaign




Jennifer Brown, Tracy Parrish, and Robin Heltsley, trumpet
John Dee, oboe
Stephen Alltop, conductor, organ, and harpsichord
Baroque music lovers, rejoice! Seven talented soloists from the orchestra will be featured in an array of popular 18th century “hits,” such as Pachelbel’s Canon, Vivaldi’s Oboe Concerto in A Minor, and Telemann’s Concerto for Three Violins. The majestic sonorities of trumpets, oboes, and timpani will resound in thrilling works by Caldara, Telemann, and Rameau.
BACH: Prelude and Fugue in A Minor, BWV 543
CALDARA: Sinfonia in C
PACHELBEL: Canon and Gigue
VIVALDI: Oboe Concerto in A Minor, RV 461
TELEMANN: Concerto for Three Trumpets, Two Oboes, and Timpani, TWV 54:D4
TELEMANN: Concerto For Three Violins, TWV 53:F1
RAMEAU: Overture to Naïs
General Admission
$25 adults
$10 students of any age
Buy tickets by phone: call CUSO at 217-351-9139.
The concert will be performed in the North Sanctuary, which has a cathedral ceiling and seats up to 420. To allow comfortable spacing between patron groups, concert ticket sales will be limited to 350. Church doors open at 6:30 p.m. and tickets may be purchased at the door. Sanctuary doors open for concert seating at 7:00 p.m. Concert begins at 7:30 p.m. The approximate program length is 70 minutes.
COVID-19 SAFETY
As we gather together to share the joy of music, orchestra and audience safety is a priority. Consistent with the current State of Illinos COVID-19 guidelines, all persons attending the concert, including children, will be required to wear a mask.
WELCOME JOY!
Thursday, December 9, 2021 | 7:30 p.m.
in Foellinger Great Hall, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts


Carl Alexander, countertenor
Central Illinois Youth Chorus, Andrea Solya, Conductor
The holiday season begins with CUSO’s joyful return to Foellinger Great Hall at Krannert Center. This year’s holiday concert welcomes families to enjoy carol arrangements new and old, and a variety of vocal masterpieces. CUSO is joined by the beautiful voices of the Central Illinois Youth Chorus and outstanding soloists, performing magnificent music to lift your spirits. As always, we will join our voices for a carol sing-along!
FRIEDMAN and WENDEL: A Chanukah Overture
HANDEL: Sonata from Il trionfo del Tempo e della Verità
CACCINI arr. STOPPELENBURG: Ave Maria
GABRIELI: Canzon septimi toni à 8, Ch. 172
arr. NAUGHTIN: A Christmas Feast (Four Ancient Carols)
MOZART: Exsultate jubilate, K. 165
TYZIK: The Twelve Gifts of Christmas
BARKER: Nollaig (Celtic Christmas)
arr. FRY: Go Tell It on the Mountain
ANDERSON: Sleigh Ride
arr. NAUGHTIN: Christmas Angels Sing-Along
TICKETS
$40 standard/$36 senior/$10 student & youth
Krannert Center COVID-19 Audience Safety Protocols:
As Krannert Center for the Performing Arts has reopened to in-person audiences, safety is the highest priority for all those who use the Center. As of November 16, 2021, in order to attend CUSO concert performances in Foellinger Great Hall and any other in-theatre performance at Krannert Center, audience members must provide proof of full vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test. Audience members must check in at a lobby station prior to each performance and present proof of full vaccination or a negative COVID-19 PCR test in order to receive a wristband that, with their ticket, allows them entry into the Great Hall. For complete details, download the PDF document explaining Krannert Center’s guidelines and procedures.
Full information is also available online at KrannertCenter.com.
A CHILD OF OUR TIME
Saturday, March 5, 2022 | 7:30 p.m.
in Foellinger Great Hall, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts

Andrew Megill, conductor
University of Illinois Oratorio Society and Chamber Singers, Andrew Megill, Conductor
Laquita Mitchell, soprano
Meg Bragle, alto
Brian Giebler, tenor
Marques Jerrell Ruff, bass
Molly Madden, harp
Andrew Megill and the University of Illinois Oratorio Society and University of Illinois Chamber Singers join CUSO to perform Sir Michael Tippett’s A Child of Our Time, a moving work of depth and beauty. Written at the start of World War II, this landmark oratorio weaves American spirituals throughout a gripping musical tapestry, tracing an arc from oppression to a message of hope and reconciliation for humanity. Complementing this program, CUSO will also perform the scintillating Starburst, composed by rising star Jessie Montgomery, and Ennanga, by William Grant Still, a showcase for solo harp, piano, and strings.
MONTGOMERY: Starburst
STILL: Ennanga
TIPPETT: A Child of Our Time
TICKETS
$40 standard/$36 senior/$10 student & youth
Buy Tickets
Krannert Center COVID-19 Audience Safety Protocols:
As Krannert Center for the Performing Arts has reopened to in-person audiences, safety is the highest priority for all those who use the Center. As of November 16, 2021, in order to attend CUSO concert performances in Foellinger Great Hall and any other in-theatre performance at Krannert Center, audience members must provide proof of full vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test. Audience members must check in at a lobby station prior to each performance and present proof of full vaccination or a negative COVID-19 PCR test in order to receive a wristband that, with their ticket, allows them entry into the Great Hall. For complete details, download the PDF document explaining Krannert Center’s guidelines and procedures.
Full information is also available online at KrannertCenter.com.
FROM ITALY WITH LOVE
Saturday, April 23, 2022 | 7:30 p.m.
in Foellinger Great Hall, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts

East Central Illinois Youth Orchestra, Kevin Kelly, Music Director
The CUSO season concludes with orchestral passion and power. This Italian journey begins with Tchaikovsky’s arch-romantic music inspired by Romeo and Juliet, performed by CUSO and the talented young musicians of the East Central Illinois Youth Orchestra. The virtuosity of pianist Adam Neiman will astound you in Rachmaninoff’s brilliant variations on Paganini’s 24th Caprice. Our grand finale is Pines of Rome, Respighi’s tone poem of sumptuous orchestral color that will transport you in surround-sound splendor.
TCHAIKOVSKY: Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overture
RACHMANINOFF: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43
RESPIGHI: Pini di Roma (Pines of Rome)
TICKETS
$40 standard/$36 senior/$10 student & youth
Buy Tickets
Krannert Center COVID-19 Audience Safety Protocols:
As Krannert Center for the Performing Arts has reopened to in-person audiences, safety is the highest priority for all those who use the Center. As of November 16, 2021, in order to attend CUSO concert performances in Foellinger Great Hall and any other in-theatre performance at Krannert Center, audience members must provide proof of full vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test. Audience members must check in at a lobby station prior to each performance and present proof of full vaccination or a negative COVID-19 PCR test in order to receive a wristband that, with their ticket, allows them entry into the Great Hall. For complete details, download the PDF document explaining Krannert Center’s guidelines and procedures.
Full information is also available online at KrannertCenter.com.