CIVIC PLAYS THE PLANETS
Thomas Wilkins conductor
Apollo Chorus of Chicago
Stephen Alltop music director and conductor
NOV 17 | 7:30
The 2025–26 Civic Orchestra season is generously sponsored by Lori Julian for the Julian Family Foundation, which also provides major funding for the Civic Fellowship program.
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH SEASON
CIVIC ORCHESTRA OF CHICAGO
KEN-DAVID MASUR Principal Conductor
The Robert Kohl and Clark Pellett Principal Conductor Chair
Monday, November 17, 2025, at 7:30
Thomas Wilkins Conductor
Apollo Chorus of Chicago
Stephen Alltop Music Director and Conductor
LEE III Sukkot Through Orion’s Nebula
HOLST
The Planets, Op. 32 Mars, the Bringer of War Venus, the Bringer of Peace Mercury, the Winged Messenger Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age Uranus, the Magician Neptune, the Mystic APOLLO CHORUS OF CHICAGO
The 2025–26 Civic Orchestra season is generously sponsored by Lori Julian for the Julian Family Foundation, which also provides major funding for the Civic Fellowship program.
The Civic Orchestra of Chicago acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council.
COMMENTS by Phillip Huscher
JAMES LEE III
Born 1975; St. Joseph, Michigan
Sukkot Through Orion’s Nebula
COMPOSED 2011
FIRST PERFORMANCE
October 15, 2011; New World Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas conducting
INSTRUMENTATION
2 flutes and piccolo, 2 oboes and english horn, 2 clarinets and bass clarinet, 2 bassoons and contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones and tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, piano/celesta, strings
APPROXIMATE PERFORMANCE TIME 11 minutes
James Lee III remembers how unexpectedly his life in music began. “My father came home one day when I was twelve years old, and he told me that I would be taking piano lessons.” Although his initial indifference quickly turned into a passion for playing the piano and a deep love of music, he cannot have imagined that thirty-some years later, he would have written three piano sonatas, and two piano concertos (one with wind ensemble, the other with orchestra), along with a large catalog of other works for piano, orchestra, chamber ensemble, and chorus.
Lee studied piano at the University of Michigan and received his bachelor’s degree in piano performance, but he changed his mind about pursuing further piano studies and decided to study composition instead. (The interest had obviously been there for a long time: in elementary school a teacher noticed him writing notes on a page and told him “You know, there is such a thing as manuscript paper.”) He was named a Seiji Ozawa Composition Fellow in 2002 and was granted the Charles Ives Scholarship by the American Academy of Arts and Letters the following year. He received his doctorate from Michigan in 2005 and joined the faculty of Morgan State University in Baltimore.
The Sphinx Organization, which was founded to help young Black and Latino classical musicians—Jessie Montgomery, the Chicago Symphony’s most recent Mead Composer-inResidence, is a vital member of the Sphinx family—commissioned him to write Sukkot Through Orion’s Nebula, which was premiered by Michael Tilson Thomas and the New World Symphony in 2011.
above: James Lee III, photo by Roy Cox Photography
James Lee III on Sukkot Through Orion’s Nebula
Sukkot Through Orion’s Nebula is a festive work for orchestra. Sukkot is a Hebrew word for the Feast of Tabernacles. In the biblical days, this holiday was celebrated on the fifteenth day of the month of Tishrei (late September to late October). It was the most joyous of the fall festivals that God mandated the Hebrews to observe. It was also a thanksgiving celebration for the blessings of the fall harvest. Orion’s Nebula refers to the Orion constellation in space. The structure of this nebula forms a roughly spherical cloud that peaks in density near the core. The cloud displays a range of velocities and turbulence, particularly around the core region.
This work is constructed in seven sections:
1. Reminiscences of the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) and the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) open the work with percussive, forceful sounds of the snare and bass drums. This is further enhanced by the horns, which imitate the calls of the shofar (a ram’s horn, sounded on those holy days).
2. The full orchestra continues to a cadence foreshadowing the grand advent of God.
3. The woodwinds follow with joyful flourishes and dancelike celebrations, which imitate the people’s reception of the Messiah. As this music continues, the motifs pass on to the percussion section, piano, harp, and eventually the strings.
4. Previous melodies and motifs are developed and transformed among the orchestra. This section celebrates the Second Coming of Christ.
5. Orion is the one constellation mentioned specifically in the Old Testament. The muted brass, singing violins, percussion instruments, and woodwinds are intended to evoke celestial images of the Messiah coming down out of heaven through the Orion constellation, then the redeemed saints traveling through the constellation, and finally the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven. Violins soar in the higher registers, which tend to have a quality of weightlessness. Trills cease among the strings as they continue to climb to heights of bliss in paradise.
6. The bass and snare drums provide a reprise of the shofar theme. This continues with orchestral exclamations of joy.
7. There are passages of call-and-response among the ensemble in the final celebration, which continues until the work ends with an explosion of sound.
GUSTAV HOLST
Born September 21, 1874; Cheltenham, England
Died May 25, 1934; London, England
The Planets, Op. 32
COMPOSED
1914–16
FIRST PERFORMANCE
November 15, 1920; London, England
INSTRUMENTATION
4 flutes, 2 piccolos and bass flute, 3 oboes, bass oboe and english horn, 3 clarinets and bass clarinet, 3 bassoons and contrabassoon, 6 horns, 4 trumpets, 2 tenor trombones and bass trombone, tenor tuba and bass tuba, timpani, triangle, snare drum, tambourine, cymbals, bass drum, gong, bells, glockenspiel, xylophone, celesta, 2 harps, organ, strings, and, in the final movement only, an offstage choir
APPROXIMATE PERFORMANCE TIME
51 minutes
After World War I, Frederick Stock, the music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, resumed his old habit of taking his summer vacations in Europe, where he could seek out important new music— attend performances of pieces he didn’t know, gather up scores that weren’t available in the United States. “One of the novelties I brought from London,”
he wrote to Frances Glessner in September 1920, “is called The Planets, composed by Gustav (von) Holst, who, by the way, is a cousin of our mutual friend Hermann von Holst in Chicago.” John and Frances Glessner, whose pioneering H.H. Richardson house on Prairie Avenue is now considered one of the landmarks of residential architecture, had enjoyed unusually close ties to Chicago’s Orchestra since it was founded in 1891.
In the 1920s, the swift, overwhelming success of The Planets both surprised and irritated Holst—much as Bolero would come to embarrass Ravel—who insisted that it wasn’t his best work. But the public was captivated by the combination of music and astrology—the music of the spheres made manifest. Before beginning work on The Planets in 1914, Holst wrote to a friend:
I study only things that suggest music to me. Recently, the character of each planet suggested lots to me, and I have been studying astrology fairly closely. It’s a pity we make such a fuss about these things. On one side, there is nothing but abuse and ridicule, with
above: Gustav Holst, sketch by William Rothenstein (1872–1945). Included in Music & Letters (Oxford University Press), vol. 1, no. 3 (July 1920)
the natural result that when one is brought face to face with overwhelming proofs, there is a danger of going to the other extreme. Whereas, of course, everything in this world is just one big miracle. Or rather, the universe itself is one.
At the time of the first complete performance of The Planets in 1920, Holst was nervous that the public would read too much into his new work:
These pieces were suggested by the astrological significance of the planets; there is no program music in them, nor do they have any connection with the deities of classical mythology bearing the same names. If any guide to the music is required, the subtitle to each piece will be found sufficient, especially if it can be used in a broad sense.
When the score was published the following year, Holst was careful to give it the plain subtitle “Suite for Large Orchestra,” again suggesting that The Planets should be considered as music first and last. Holst’s daughter, Imogen, a musician herself, remembered that at the first private performance in 1918, the audience felt certain that the first movement, Mars, the Bringer of War— with its horrible pounding rhythm, ungainly march (in an unmarchable 5/4 time), and noisy brass fanfares— was a description of the war that was still going on, but, in fact, Holst had finished Mars early in the summer of
1914, before the outbreak of war that August. “After two mechanized wars,” Imogen later wrote, “it would be easy to take it for granted that [Mars] had been commissioned as background music for a documentary film of a tank battle, but Holst had never heard a machine gun when he wrote it, and the tank had not yet been invented.”
Even in 1919, peace could not have sounded more seductive than it does in the second movement, Venus, with its celestial wind chords, calm harp strumming, and floating violin melodies. Mercury begins as a scherzo of Mendelssohnian lightness, though it includes instruments like the bass oboe Mendelssohn never heard, and eventually reaches a climax that is very modern in its orchestral ingenuity. (Holst’s choice of instrumental colors is always keen, a reminder that when his own musical schooling disappointed him, he read Berlioz’s exhaustive, classic treatise on instrumentation from cover to cover.)
With its dancing tempo and cheerful theme, Jupiter is a friendly and inviting planet (at the first rehearsal of this movement, the cleaning women in the corridors of the Queen’s Hall reportedly put down their mops and began to dance). A few years later, Holst brought Jupiter down to earth by turning its big central melody into the patriotic anthem “I vow to thee, my country.”
Saturn is remote and mysterious, suggesting the slow but relentless march of time and making humankind seem very small and insignificant. (Holst said it was his favorite movement.)
COMMENTS
Uranus, the Magician, throws out a handful of notes, then continues to toss them around the orchestra, all the while inventing new themes, combining materials, switching meters, and sidestepping any firm sense of central key.
Neptune, the planet farthest from the Earth, offers an astonishing glimpse of eternity. Holst’s music, characterized not by melody or harmony but by unforgettable chilling sounds and colors, owes much to Debussy, although Holst claimed he wasn’t a fan—he admired Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun, liked the nocturnes, “was never very happy
about anything else,” and “hated” Pelleas and Melisande. Holst took the idea of a wordless female chorus from Debussy’s Sirens, but put it offstage. Beginning pianissimo (the original manuscript suggested pppp), it concludes this astrological tour with a single measure of music, repeated, each time more quietly, until the sound is virtually lost in silence.
Phillip Huscher is the program annotator for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
PROFILES
Thomas Wilkins Conductor
Thomas Wilkins is principal conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, artistic partner for the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s education and community engagement, conductor of the Germeshausen Youth and Family Concerts, and principal guest conductor of the Virginia Symphony. He holds Indiana University’s Henry A. Upper Chair of Orchestral Conducting, established by the late Barbara and David Jacobs as a part of that University’s Matching the Promise Campaign. Wilkins completed his long and successful tenure as music director of the Omaha Symphony Orchestra at the close of the 2020–21 season. Other past positions have included resident conductor of the Detroit Symphony and Florida Orchestra and associate conductor of the Richmond Symphony. He has served on the music faculties of North Park University in Chicago, the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga, and Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.
Following his highly successful first season with the Boston Symphony, the Boston Globe named him among the Best People and Ideas of 2011. In 2014 Wilkins received the prestigious Outstanding Artist Award at the Nebraska Governor’s Arts Awards for his significant contribution to
music in the state, and in 2018, he received the Leonard Bernstein Lifetime Achievement Award for the Elevation of Music in Society conferred by Boston’s Longy School of Music. In 2019 the Virginia Symphony bestowed on Thomas Wilkins its annual Dreamer Award. In 2022 the Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Music, the Boston Conservatory awarded him an honorary doctorate of arts, and he was the recipient of the League of American Orchestras’ Gold Baton Award.
Wilkins’s commitment to the community has been demonstrated by his participation on several boards of directors, including the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, Charles Drew Health Center in Omaha, and the Center Against Spouse Abuse in Tampa Bay and Museum of Fine Arts and Academy Preparatory Center, both in St. Petersburg, Florida. Currently, he serves as chairman of the board for the Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund and as national ambassador for the non-profit World Pediatric Project headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, which provides children throughout Central America and the Caribbean with critical surgical and diagnostic care.
A native of Norfolk, Virginia, Thomas Wilkins is a graduate of the Shenandoah Conservatory of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He and his wife, Sheri-Lee, are the proud parents of twin daughters Erica and Nicole.
PHOTO BY BILL SITZMANN
Apollo Chorus of Chicago
Apollo Chorus of Chicago is the oldest performing arts organization in Illinois, bringing together singers from all walks of life since 1872. The 2025–26 season marks Apollo’s 154th year providing high-quality choral music to the Chicagoland area.
Apollo’s history is inextricably tied to the history of Chicago itself. Founded in the ashes of the Great Chicago Fire, Apollo was first known as the Apollo Musical Club and was an early staple in
Apollo Chorus of Chicago
Chicago, performing at the Auditorium Theatre in December 1889 and at the dedication of Orchestra Hall in 1904. Apollo’s other crowning achievement was performing at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition.
Apollo Chorus has appeared with a diverse array of artists and organizations, from Louis the Child at Lollapalooza to Ravinia Festival. One of the most active presenters of contemporary choral music in the Midwest, Apollo Chorus has worked with Jeff Beal, Jeremy Beck, Eleanor Daley, Stacy Garrop, Stephen Paulus, and Eric Whitacre.
To learn more about Apollo Chorus of Chicago and celebrate its 150+ years of bringing music to life, visit apollochorus.org or follow @apollochorus on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
Stephen Alltop Music Director and Conductor
Choir 1
SOPRANO 1
Claire Chalkin
Penelope Hough
Kali Jankovich
Kathy Hayevsky
Jill White
SOPRANO 2
Melissa Anderson
Alina Malin
Jen Hare
Deborah Moldover
Heather Saliny
ALTO
Johanna Hauki
Amanda Moswin
Geetha Somayajula
Caity Willox
Joan Sporny
Choir 2
SOPRANO 1
Kelly Boden
Sarah Ennis
Anna Kanle
Maddie Morrison
Katie Sayadian
SOPRANO 2
Mary Johnson
Alaina Rafferty
Kat Steffen
Sarah Steffens
Miranda Stelter
ALTO
Heather Foote
Jennifer Merry
Kelsey Payson
Sejzelle Erastus-Obilo
Ruth Thuston
Stephen Alltop Music Director and Conductor
Stephen Alltop has built a career based on excellence in several disciplines, including conducting both orchestral and choral ensembles and performing as a keyboard artist. The 2025–26 season marks his twenty-ninth year as music director of the Apollo Chorus of Chicago. Alltop is the ninth music director in the 154-year history of the chorus. Under his direction, the Apollo Chorus has expanded its collaborations to include appearances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Opera Theater, London Symphony Orchestra, Ravinia Festival, Peninsula Music Festival, Lollapalooza, and The Oprah Winfrey Show.
A specialist in oratorio and historical performance practice, Alltop is a member of the conducting and keyboard faculties at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University,
where he has conducted the Alice Millar Chapel Choir and the Baroque Music Ensemble. Stephen Alltop also serves as music director and conductor of the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra and the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra. An advocate for diversity in programming, he has sought to bring attention to underrepresented composers in the orchestral and choral realms.
Alltop has guest-conducted numerous orchestras and choruses across the United States, Italy, and South Korea. He has worked closely with leading composers of the day, including residency projects with John Corigliano, Eleanor Daley, Stacy Garrop, Stephen Paulus, and Eric Whitacre. In 2007 he made his Carnegie Hall debut conducting the music of Eric Whitacre.
As a harpsichord and organ soloist, he has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Joffrey Ballet, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Omaha Symphony, Peninsula Music Festival, and Music of the Baroque of Chicago.
PHOTO BY DARRELL HOEMANN
Civic Orchestra of Chicago
The Civic Orchestra of Chicago is a training program of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Negaunee Music Institute that prepares young professionals for careers in orchestral music. It was founded during the 1919–20 season by Frederick Stock, the CSO’s second music director, as the Civic Music Student Orchestra, and for over a century, its members have gone on to secure positions in orchestras across the world, including over 160 Civic players who have joined the CSO. Each season, Civic members are given numerous performance opportunities and participate in rigorous orchestral training with its principal conductor, Ken-David Masur, distinguished guest conductors, and a faculty of coaches comprised of CSO members. Civic Orchestra musicians develop as exceptional orchestral players and engaged artists, cultivating their ability to succeed in the rapidly evolving music world.
The Civic Orchestra serves the community through its commitment to present free or low-cost concerts of the highest quality at Symphony
Center and in venues across Greater Chicago, including annual concerts at the South Shore Cultural Center and Fourth Presbyterian Church. The Civic Orchestra also performs at the annual Crain-Maling Foundation CSO Young Artists Competition and Chicago Youth in Music Festival. Many Civic concerts can be heard locally on WFMT (98.7 FM), in addition to concert clips and smaller ensemble performances available on CSOtv and YouTube. Civic musicians expand their creative, professional, and artistic boundaries and reach diverse audiences through educational performances at Chicago public schools and a series of chamber concerts at various locations throughout the city.
To further expand its musician training, the Civic Orchestra launched the Civic Fellowship program in the 2013–14 season. Each year, up to twelve Civic members are designated as Civic Fellows and participate in intensive leadership training designed to build and diversify their creative and professional skills. The program’s curriculum has four modules: artistic planning, music education, social justice, and project management.
A gift to the Civic Orchestra of Chicago supports the rigorous training that members receive throughout the season, which includes coaching from musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and world-class conductors. Your gift today ensures that the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association will continue to enrich, inspire, and transform lives through music.
Civic Orchestra of Chicago
Ken-David Masur Principal Conductor
The Robert Kohl and Clark Pellett Principal Conductor Chair
VIOLINS
Sage Chen
Alba Layana Izurieta
Evan Chen
Jenny Choi*
Alyssa Goh
Ben Koenig
Pavlo Kyryliuk
Oliver Leitner
Mona Mierxiati
Tricia Park
Hobart Shi
Mia Smith
Keshav Srinivasan
Jingjia Wang
Yulia Watanabe-Price
Abigail Yoon
Naomi Powers
Ebedit Fonseca
Maria Paula Bernal
Carlos Chacon
Adam Davis
Naomi Folwick
Rose Haselhorst
John Heo
Hojung Christina Lee
June Lee
Lara Madden Hughes
Sean Qin
Justine Jing Xin Teo*
Lina Yamin
VIOLAS
Sava Velkoff*
Darren Carter
Lucie Boyd
Eugene Chin
Jacob Davis
August DuBeau
Elena Galentas
Judy Huang
Matthew Nowlan**
Yat Chun Justin Pou
Mason Spencer*
CELLOS
Ashley Ryoo
David Caplan
Krystian Chiu
J Holzen*
Buianto Lkhasaranov
Henry Lin
Nick Reeves
Somyong Shin
Brandon Xu
Shun-Ming Yang
BASSES
Tony Sanfilippo Jr.
Jared Prokop
Albert Daschle
Walker Dean
Gisel Dominguez
Bennett Norris
Jonathon Piccolo
Alexander Wallack
FLUTES
Isabel Evernham
Daniel Fletcher
Xander Day
Elena Rubin
ALTO FLUTE
Daniel Fletcher
PICCOLOS
Elena Rubin
Daniel Fletcher
OBOES
Will Stevens
Orlando Salazar*
Guillermo Ulloa
ENGLISH HORNS
Orlando Salazar*
Hannah Fusco
BASS OBOE
Orlando Salazar*
CLARINETS
Max Reese
Elizabeth Kapitaniuk
Henry Lazzaro
BASS CLARINETS
Elizabeth Kapitaniuk
Nathan Vilhena Kock
BASSOONS
Peter Ecklund
Hannah Dickerson
Benjamin Richard
CONTRABASSOON
Finn McCune
HORNS
Micah Northam
Emmett Conway
Layan Atieh
Lauren Goff
Erin Harrigan
Kathryn Meffert
Eden Stargardt*
TRUMPETS
Hamed Barbarji*
Sean-David Whitworth
Maria Merlo
Abner Wong
TROMBONES
Arlo Hollander
Dustin Nguyen
BASS TROMBONE
Timothy Warner
EUPHONIUM
Oliver Stark
TUBA
Chrisjovan Masso
TIMPANI
Kyle Scully
Kevin Tan
PERCUSSION
Tae McLoughlin
Taylor Hampton+
Adriana Harrison
Amy Lee
PIANO
Daniel Szefer
CELESTA
Daniel Szefer
ORGAN
Tyler Kivel
HARPS
Kari Novilla*
Zora Evangeline Dickson
LIBRARIAN
Andrew Wunrow
* Civic Orchestra Fellow + Civic Orchestra Alumni ** NMI Arts Administration Fellow
NEGAUNEE MUSIC INSTITUTE AT THE CSO
The Negaunee Music Institute connects people to the extraordinary musical resources of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Institute programs educate audiences, train young musicians, and serve diverse communities across Chicago and around the world.
Current Negaunee Music Institute programs include an extensive series of CSO School and Family Concerts and open rehearsals; more than seventy-five in-depth school partnerships; online learning resources; the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, a prestigious ensemble for earlycareer musicians; intensive training and performance opportunities for youth, including the Percussion Scholarship Program, Chicago Youth in Music Festival, Crain-Maling Foundation CSO Young Artists Competition, and Young Composers Initiative; social impact initiatives, such as collaborations with Chicago Refugee Coalition and Notes for Peace for families who have lost loved ones to gun violence; and music education activities during CSO domestic and international tours.
the board of the negaunee music institute
Leslie Burns Chair
Steve Shebik Vice Chair
John Aalbregtse
David Arch
James Borkman
Jacqui Cheng
Ricardo Cifuentes
Richard Colburn
Charles Emmons
Judy Feldman
Toni-Marie Montgomery
Rumi Morales
Mimi Murley
Margo Oberman
Gerald Pauling
Kate Protextor Drehkoff
Harper Reed
Melissa Root
Amanda Sonneborn
Eugene Stark
Dan Sullivan
Paul Watford
Ex Officio Members
Jeff Alexander
Jonathan McCormick
Vanessa Moss
negaunee music institute administration
Jonathan McCormick Managing Director
Katy Clusen Associate Director, CSO for Kids
Katherine Eaton Coordinator, School Partnerships
Carol Kelleher Assistant, CSO for Kids
Anna Perkins Orchestra Manager, Civic Orchestra of Chicago
Zhiqian Wu Operations Coordinator, Civic Orchestra of Chicago
Rachael Cohen Program Manager
Charles Jones Program Assistant
Kevin Gupana Associate Director, Education & Community Engagement Giving
Frances Atkins Director of Publications and Institutional Content
Kristin Tobin Designer & Print Production Manager
Petya Kaltchev Editor
civic orchestra artistic leadership
Ken-David Masur Principal Conductor
The Robert Kohl and Clark Pellett Principal Conductor Chair
Coaches from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Robert Chen Concertmaster
The Louis C. Sudler Chair, endowed by an anonymous benefactor
Baird Dodge Principal Second Violin
Teng Li Principal Viola
The Paul Hindemith Principal Viola Chair
Brant Taylor Cello
The Ann Blickensderfer and Roger Blickensderfer Chair
Alexander Horton Assistant Principal Bass
William Welter Principal Oboe
Stephen Williamson Principal Clarinet
Keith Buncke Principal Bassoon
William Buchman Assistant Principal Bassoon
Mark Almond Principal Horn
Esteban Batallán Principal Trumpet
The Adolph Herseth Principal Trumpet Chair, endowed by an anonymous benefactor
Michael Mulcahy Trombone
Charles Vernon Bass Trombone
Gene Pokorny Principal Tuba
The Arnold Jacobs Principal Tuba Chair, endowed by Christine Querfeld
David Herbert Principal Timpani
The Clinton Family Fund Chair
Cynthia Yeh Principal Percussion
Justin Vibbard Principal Librarian
CIVIC ORCHESTRA OF CHICAGO SCHOLARSHIPS
Members of the Civic Orchestra receive an annual stipend to offset some of their living expenses during their training. The following donors have generously helped to support these stipends for the 2025–26 season.
Ten Civic members participate in the Civic Fellowship program, a rigorous artistic and professional development curriculum that supplements their membership in the full orchestra. Major funding for this program is generously provided by Lori Julian for the Julian Family Foundation
Nancy Abshire
Darren Carter, viola
Dr. & Mrs. Bernard H. Adelson Fund
Elena Galentas, viola
Robert & Isabelle Bass Foundation, Inc.
Timothy Warner, bass trombone
Rosalind Britton^
Ashley Ryoo, cello
Leslie and John Burns**
Matthew Nowlan, viola
Robert and Joanne Crown Fund
Alyssa Goh, violin
John Heo, violin
Pavlo Kyryliuk, violin
Buianto Lkhasaranov, cello
Matthew Musachio, violin
Mr.† & Mrs. David Donovan
Chrisjovan Masso, tuba
Charles and Carol Emmons^
Will Stevens, oboe
Mr. & Mrs. David S. Fox^
Daniel Fletcher, flute
Paul and Ellen Gignilliat
Naomi Powers, violin
Joseph and Madeleine Glossberg
Adam Davis, violin
Richard and Alice Godfrey
Ben Koenig, violin
Jennifer Amler Goldstein Fund, in memory of Thomas M. Goldstein
Alex Chao, percussion
Chester Gougis and Shelley Ochab
Peter Ecklund, bassoon
Mary Green
Walker Dean, bass
Jane Redmond Haliday Chair
Mona Mierxiati, violin
Lori Julian for the Julian Family Foundation
David Caplan, cello
Orlando Salazar,* oboe
Lester B. Knight Trust
Tricia Park, violin
Jonathon Piccolo, bass
Brandon Xu, cello
Shun-Ming Yang, cello
The League of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Kari Novilla,* harp
Phil Lumpkin and William Tedford
Mason Spencer,* viola
Glenn Madeja and Janet Steidl
Erin Harrigan, horn
Maval Foundation
Arlo Hollander, trombone
Dustin Nguyen, trombone
Sean-David Whitworth, trumpet
Judy and Scott McCue and the Fry Foundation
Cierra Hall, flute
Leslie Fund, Inc.
Cameron Marquez,* percussion
Leo and Catherine † Miserendino
Sava Velkoff,* viola
Ms. Susan Norvich
Yulia Watanabe-Price, violin
Margo and Mike Oberman
Hamed Barbarji,* trumpet
Julian Oettinger^
Kyle Scully, timpani
Bruce Oltman and Bonnie McGrath†^
Alexander Wallack, bass
Earl† and Sandra Rusnak
Ebedit Fonseca, violin
Barbara and Barre Seid Foundation
Emmett Conway, horn
Micah Northam, horn
The George L. Shields Foundation, Inc.
Abigail Yoon, violin
Yat Chun Justin Pou, viola
Guillermo Ulloa, oboe
Dr. & Mrs. R. J. Solaro
Sanford Whatley, viola
David W. and Lucille G. Stotter Chair
Mia Smith, violin
Ruth Miner Swislow Charitable Fund
Rose Haselhorst, violin
Ms. Liisa Thomas and Mr. Stephen Pratt
Nick Reeves, cello
Peter and Ksenia Turula
Abner Wong, trumpet
Lois and James Vrhel
Endowment Fund
Albert Daschle, double bass
Paul and Lisa Wiggin
Eden Stargardt,* horn
Marylou Witz
Justine Jing Xin Teo,* violin
Women’s Board of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association
Elizabeth Kapitinuk, clarinet
Anonymous J Holzen,* cello
Anonymous^
Carlos Chacon, violin
Anonymous
Hojung Christina Lee, violin
Anonymous
Layan Atieh, horn
