Northbrook Symphony leans toward classical, with some contemporary, as it celebrates 45 years

Chicago Tribune

a day ago

Music will fill the Sunset Ridge Country Club in Northfield on June 19 when the Northbrook Symphony Orchestra celebrates the conclusion of its 45th season with its annual gala, 'American Songbook.'
Robbie Ellis, the on-air announcer for radio station WFMT, will emcee and serve as the orchestra's preconcert speaker, according to Highland Park resident Steven Greene, who is in his third year as president of the orchestra's board of directors.
'He's both a pianist and a singer,' Greene said. 'For our benefit, he's taking a bunch of Tom Lehrer songs and rewording them to the current day and adding a bit about Northbrook Symphony.'
Lehrer is an American songwriter known for penning lyrics that were frequently satirical.
A string quintet from the Northbrook Symphony Orchestra will also perform.
In addition, several students will speak about their experience of getting musical instruments from the orchestra's Instrument Drive, in which the orchestra collects musical instruments for underserved music students in Waukegan Public Schools, working with Bravo Waukegan.
There will also be a silent auction and raffle.
The Northbrook Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1980 by former Chicago Symphony concertmaster Samuel Magad. The current music director, Mina Zikri, who was a violinist with the orchestra starting in 2002, began leading the orchestra in the 2019-20 season.
'We have five or six concerts a year,' Zikri said. Sometimes, the family concert is part of the season; other times it's the sixth concert.
This year's family concert, on Aug. 24, will be 'Mozart's Magnificent Voyage.'
All of the concerts are performed at Sheely Center for the Performing Arts, 2300 Shermer Road in Northbrook.
'Because we play less concerts, we tend to do the classical favorites,' Zikri said. 'I tend to stay away from experimental compositions and contemporary, even though we do offer them because we owe it to our audiences to inform them and perform for them what's happening in the world. I try to do this in reasonable doses.'
Board President Greene noted that, for the last two seasons, the orchestra's final program has been focused on a particular event, composer or culture.
'At the end of our 22-23 season, we presented a program called 'The Violins of Hope,'' Greene said.
That refers to a collection of stringed instruments played by Jewish musicians before and during World War II. Prior to the concerts, there was a presentation of those instruments in the lobby.
'We had tremendous attendance from people very interested in this unique collection of instruments,' Greene said. 'And, for the concert, some of our musicians played on those instruments. It was a very moving experience for a lot of our concertgoers.'
At the end of the 2023-24 season, Greene reported, the Orchestra performed 'Fiesta Mexicana,' a celebration of the music culture of Mexico. The Northbrook Symphony played classical Mexican music, folk band Sones de Mexico Ensemble played Mexican folk music, and there was also a mariachi band and a dancer.
Clarinetist Ilya Shterenberg and 55 musicians were scheduled for a June 8 concert of Tchaikovsky's 'Symphony No. 4.'
Between 45 and 65 musicians perform at each concert. 'It depends on the repertoire,' Zikri explained. 'The string section composes two-thirds of the orchestra. The other third is split between woodwinds, brass and percussions.'
Although the Northbrook Symphony began as a community orchestra, Zikri noted, it is now 100% professional. 'I have personally focused on young professionals,' he added.
Principal Cellist Daniel Klingler joined the Northbrook Symphony Orchestra 12 years ago at the request of a previous musical director, Lawrence Rapchak.
'One of the reasons I had a lot of interest in joining the orchestra was they played a little off-the-beaten track repertoire,' Klingler explained. 'Having been a professional freelancer and having played in orchestras for many years, a lot of the repertoire was repeated. I was interested in playing with an orchestra that was playing music that wasn't being played that often.'
Although the repertoire has changed to more traditional selections under Conductor Zikri, Klingler enjoys the fact that 'a lot of the members of the orchestra are friends so it has a really comfortable feeling of making music with your friends. And I feel like the Northbrook community has a lot of pride in their orchestra, as I feel they should.'
There are currently eight members on the orchestra's board of directors, with two more scheduled to be added shortly. The bylaws of the organization allow a dozen board members.
Greene said, 'In years past, when we had a general manager, we just provided broad oversight.'
Since the general manager left six or seven years ago and wasn't replaced, 'the board has gotten more involved in operational control of the symphony,' Greene said. That has become 'unwieldy' for the board, Greene said, so they are currently planning to hire a general manager or an executive director.
Currently, the board spends a lot of time planning events like the upcoming June 19 gala, since fundraising is one of its vital responsibilities. The board hires an outside person to work on grant-writing with them.
'Grants are an essential part of all fundraising,' Greene said. 'Right now, about 25% of our annual revenue is from ticket sales; the rest is from grants and individual donors.'
Tickets to the 6 p.m. June 19 gala at Sunset Ridge Country Club, 2100 Sunset Ridge Rd. in Northfield, are $150. Find details at northbrooksymphony.org or 847-272-0755.
Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.