2025-26 Season

BRAHMS: Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80
RAVEL: Piano Concerto in G Major
RACHMANINOFF: Symphonic Dances, Op. 45

Stephen Alltop, Music Director and Conductor
Timothy Ehlen, piano

The 66th season of the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra opens with three blockbuster works. The festivities commence with Johannes Brahms’ ebullient Academic Festival Overture. University of Illinois faculty member Timothy Ehlen brings his virtuosity to Maurice Ravel’s splashy Piano Concerto. Sergei Rachmaninoff’s final composition for orchestra, the Symphonic Dances, is a brilliant work that also held great personal meaning for the composer. Hearing this masterpiece live is a thrill that audiences remember for a lifetime.

TICKETS on sale at krannertcenter.com
$45 standard/$40 senior/$10 youth, student of any age

HANDEL: Concerto a due cori No. 1 in B-Flat Major, HWV 332
HAYDN: Concerto for Violin, Harpsichord and String Orchestra in F Major, Hob. XVIII:6
ALBINONI: Oboe Concerto in D Minor, Op. 9 No. 2
LÜBECK: Präludium in E Major
RAMEAU: Suite from Les Boréades

Maria Arrua, violin
John Dee, oboe
Stephen Alltop, Conductor, harpsichord, and organ
Frances Ho, Assistant Conductor

Savor an afternoon of beautiful Baroque music performed in the stunning acoustics of Faith United Methodist Church. This year’s concert starts with spectacular music by George Frideric Handel. You’ll delight in hearing famous choruses recast for two instrumental “choirs” in the Concerto a due cori in B-Flat Major. Concertmaster Maria Arrua and Music Director Stephen Alltop will team up in a fabulous and rarely heard concerto for Violin and Harpsichord by Joseph Haydn. Principal oboist John Dee will shine in Tomaso Albinoni’s Oboe Concerto in D Minor. FUMC’s magnificent pipe organ will be thrilling in its full glory as Stephen Alltop performs the virtuosic Präludium in E Major for solo organ by German composer Vincent Lübeck. Magical and enchanting music from Jean-Philippe Rameau’s opera Les Boréades will conclude this enjoyable afternoon.

TICKETS
General Admission/Adult: $32
Youth/Student of any age, including U of I: $10

POULENC: O magnum mysterium
POULENC: Gloria
J. S. BACH arr. ORMANDY: “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme,” BWV 140
arr. BREINER: Angels We Have Heard on High
arr. NAUGHTIN: Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella
LEONTOVYCH arr. NAUGHTIN: Carol of the Bells
WILLIAMS: Two Songs from the film Home Alone
      “Star of Bethlehem”
      “Somewhere in My Memory”
ANDERSON: Sleigh Ride
arr. NAUGHTIN: Christmas Angels Sing-Along
HANDEL: “Hallelujah Chorus” from Messiah

Stephen Alltop, Music Director and Conductor
Emily Birsan, soprano
University of Illinois Meredith Chamber Singers, Andrea Solya, Director
University of Illinois Oratorio Society, Andrew Major, Director
Central Illinois Youth Chorus, Andrea Solya, Director

Celebrate the season with the glad musical tidings of the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra’s holiday concert, a favorite family event for music lovers of all ages. Our celebration begins with warmth and joy as the University of Illinois Meredith Chamber Singers perform Francis Poulenc’s lyrical motet, “O magnum mysterium,” a capella. The magic continues as the Meredith Chamber Singers, the Oratorio Society, soprano Emily Birsan and CUSO join together to perform Poulenc’s ebullient Gloria, a  spectacular work for large chorus and full orchestra.  The angelic voices of the Central Illinois Youth Chorus will be featured in music by John Williams from the iconic film Home Alone. Uplifting songs of the season, a visit from Santa, and a sing-along of carols are sure to make spirits bright!

TICKETS are on sale online at krannertcenter.com
$45 standard/$40 senior/$10 youth, student of any age

TOWER: Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman
BARBER: Adagio for Strings
BERNSTEIN: Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
WILLIAMS: Escapades for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra (from the film “Catch Me If You Can”)
HOLLAND: Dream Elegy
SIERRA: Fandangos

Stephen Alltop, Music Director and Conductor
Taimur Sullivan, alto saxophone

The Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra offers a wide-ranging program of American music to celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States. Joan Tower’s bold Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman and Leonard Bernstein’s unforgettable Symphonic Dances from West Side Story will contrast deeply contemplative music by Samuel Barber and Jonathan Bailey Holland. John Williams’ cool jazz score for the film Catch Me if You Can is reimagined as a spell-binding concerto for alto saxophone, expertly played by Champaign’s own Taimur Sullivan. The lively Fandangos of Roberto Sierra will bring the evening to an uproarious close.

TICKETS are on sale now, online at krannertcenter.com
$45 standard/$40 senior/$10 youth, student of any age

VERDI: Requiem

Stephen Alltop, Conductor
University of Illinois Meredith Chamber Singers, Andrea Solya, Director
University of Illinois Oratorio Society, Andrew Major, Director
University of Illinois Varsity Men’s Glee Club, Barrington Coleman, Director
University of Illinois Women’s Glee Club, Andrea Solya, Director
Laura Strickling, soprano
Susan Platts, mezzo-soprano
Scott Ramsay, tenor
Stephen Clark, bass

The Requiem of Giuseppe Verdi is one of the most moving and memorable works of the choral repertoire. From the sublime beauty of soaring solo voices to the awe-inspiring power of the full orchestra with large chorus, this powerful music reaches deep into our souls. To hear this masterpiece sung by the combined choirs of the University of Illinois choral program in the resplendent Foellinger Great Hall will be a stunning experience.

TICKETS are on sale now, online at krannertcenter.com
$45 standard/$40 senior/$10 youth, student of any age