CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION PRESENTS SOUNDS OF CELEBRATION: AN EVENING AT HOME WITH THE CSO AS PART OF THE NEW ALL-DIGITAL FALL 2020 SEASON

Women’s Board of the CSOA To Host the Organization’s Largest Annual Fundraiser Online

Evening features Performances by CSO Musicians, Greetings from Zell Music Director Riccardo Muti and Other Luminaries,

Special Appearance by Yo-Yo Ma, and More

Saturday, October 24, 2020, at 7 p.m.

CHICAGO—The Women’s Board of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association (CSOA) hosts Sounds of Celebration: An Evening at Home with the CSO, on Saturday, October 24, at 7:00 p.m. (Central). This special event grows out of the annual Symphony Ball tradition and serves as the CSOA’s largest fundraiser for the 2020/21 season. The centerpiece of the event is a free digital program available on CSO social media channels and the new CSOtv video portal. The program is hosted by musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) and features performances by CSO musicians along with special greetings from Zell Music Director Riccardo Muti. The broadcast will also include appearances by celebrated cellist Yo-Yo Ma, luminaries from across the music word, and other festive surprises. Pre- and post-event VIP virtual lounge packages with deluxe party boxes, CSO keepsakes and more are available to patrons who support the organization with a gift of $1,000 or more. More information available at https://cso.org/csotv/features/sounds-of-celebration

Sounds of Celebration: An Evening at Home with the CSO is presented by the Women’s Board of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association, Shelley Ochab, president. For this year’s event, CSOA Women’s Board members Ruthie Ryan and Cynthia Scholl serve as Women’s Board Co-Chairs along with Robert Kohl as CSOA Trustee Co-Chair. Northern Trust is the presenting sponsor of Sounds of Celebration: An Evening at Home with the CSO. 

Pre-event VIP virtual lounges open for guests at 6:00 p.m. (Central) before the free digital program premieres live at 7:00 p.m. (Central). In addition to special appearances and greetings from Riccardo Muti and Yo-Yo Ma and other friends of the Orchestra, the digital musical celebration features performances by CSO musicians including selections from Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Cello with Concertmaster Robert Chen and Principal Cello John Sharp, Verne Reynolds’s Suite for Brass with Assistant Principal Trumpet Mark Ridenour, John Hagstrom (trumpet), Principal Horn David Cooper, Michael Mulcahy (trombone), and Principal Tuba Gene Pokorny, and a solo performance of Elden “Buster” Bailey’s Two Sticks in Search of a Waltz by Principal Percussion Cynthia Yeh. At approximately 8:00 p.m. (Central), post-event VIP virtual lounges re-open for guests to toast the CSO and cap the evening together.

Proceeds from Sounds of Celebration: An Evening at Home help to sustain the life-enriching programs of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association (CSOA). Sounds of Celebration: An Evening at Home with the CSO is produced by Long Story Short Media. Gala package tickets, including the VIP Virtual Lounge experiences for Sounds of Celebration: An Evening at Home with the CSO, can be purchased online at cso.org/soundsofcelebration. General audiences can view the free digital program for Sounds of Celebration: An Evening at Home with the CSO on the CSO’s YouTube and Facebook page, and on the new CSOtv video portal.

The CSO’s music director position is endowed in perpetuity by a generous gift from the Zell Family Foundation. United Airlines is the Official Airline of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Northern Trust is the Presenting Sponsor of Sounds of Celebration: An Evening at Home with the CSO.

Other notable supporters include Abbott, ITW, Robert Kohl and Clark Pellett, Cathy and Bill Osborn, Zell Family Foundation, Allstate Insurance Company, Bank of America, Chicago Capital, Jenner & Block LLP, Ling Z. and Michael C. Markovitz, Mayer Brown LLP, PNC, Steve and Megan Shebik, Tiffany & Co., Dora and John Aalbregtse, GCM Grosvenor, Latham & Watkins LLP, Oxford Bank & Trust, Baird, Daniel Fischel and Sylvia Neil, Kay and Fred Krehbiel, Courtney Shea, Ventas, Lisa and Paul Wiggin. Artists, programs and prices are subject to change.

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Chicago Symphony Orchestra: cso.org and csosoundsandstories.org

Founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is consistently hailed as one of the greatest orchestras in the world. Since 2010, the pre-eminent conductor Riccardo Muti has served as its 10th music director. Missy Mazzoli is Mead Composer-in-Residence. From baroque through contemporary music, the CSO commands a vast repertoire. Its renowned musicians annually perform more than 150 concerts, most at Symphony Center in Chicago and, each summer, at the suburban Ravinia Festival. They regularly tour nationally and internationally. Since 1892, the CSO has made 62 international tours, performing in 29 countries on five continents.

People around the globe listen to weekly radio broadcasts of CSO concerts and recordings on the WFMT radio network and online at cso.org/radio. Recordings by the CSO have earned 62 Grammy Awards, including two in 2011 for Muti’s recording with the CSO and Chorus of Verdi's Messa da Requiem (Muti’s first of eight releases with the CSO to date). Find details on these and many other CSO recordings at cso.org/resound.