Elmhurst Orchestra expands season

The Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra announces its new subscription season, “Pure Emotion,” beginning Saturday, Oct. 18, with “Festa Italiana,” showcasing music by Italian composers and soprano Nancy Gustafson singing arias by Verdi and Rossini.

Music Director Stephen Alltop has programmed a season of music designed to appeal to a wide variety of tastes, from Mendelssohn’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” with Comcast anchor Lisa Aprati narrating and a Celebrity Night featuring music dedicated to Jackie, Elvis, Liberace and Julia Child, to Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Trumpets, Symphony No. 4 in E flat by Bruckner, and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4.

In addition to the five-concert season, the ESO again has expanded its offerings to music lovers throughout the western suburbs. For the first time, the Elmhurst Symphony will perform three concerts at Biester Auditorium in Lombard in addition to five concerts at Hammerschmidt Chapel in Elmhurst. Concertgoers now can choose from a five-concert series in Elmhurst, a six-concert series in Elmhurst and Lombard, or a three-concert series in Lombard.

Tickets are limited, and early subscriptions are recommended. For information and to purchase tickets, call the ESO box office at (630) 941-0202 or visit www.elmhurstsymphony.org.

Young Glen Ellyn violinist honored

Serena Harnack, 10, of Glen Ellyn received a rating of “Outstanding” in this summer’s Granquist Music Competition. Held during the Swedish Days festival in Geneva, it draws students from across the region.

Her mother, Mandy Harnack, notes this is the fourth year in a row she has received the award for a violin solo. She was 9 at the time of the competition. Serena, who keeps adding to her trophy collection, also plays viola, flute and piano.

In competition, she performed “Rumanian-OK Folk Dances” by Bela Bartok. She has been playing violin for five years and studies with Julie Maura at the Community School of the Arts at Wheaton College.

Sunday opera lineup extended

Music lovers and fans of Italian food are invited to hear members of Elgin OPERA and the Elgin Opera Training Ensemble in “A Festival of Singers,” which has been extended through September.

They will perform classics from opera and Broadway from 6 to 8 p.m. each Sunday at the newest Villa Verone, sister to the Geneva location. Elgin OPERA said the restaurant has an upscale, but friendly piano bar setting at 13 Douglas Ave. in downtown Elgin.

For reservations, call Villa Verone at (847) 742-0263 or visit www.villaverone.net. No cover is charged. And for more information on Elgin OPERA, whose artistic director is Solange Sior, call (847) 214-8340.

DSO coming to Cantigny

The DuPage Symphony Orchestra concludes its summer concert series at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 6, at Cantigny Park in Wheaton.

Titled “This Land is Our Land,” the concert presents Grofe’s “Mississippi Suite” and Mark O’Connor’s “Americana Symphony.” Baritone soloist Jeffrey Ray will join the DSO to sing Copland’s “Old American Songs,” and medleys from “Paint Your Wagon” and “Oklahoma.”

Ray frequently is heard in opera and concert halls throughout Europe and the United States. He made his U.S. operatic debut in 1995 in the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s production of “Don Pasquale,” while a member of the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists. In December, he rejoins the DSO in the role of the father in Engelbert Humperdinck’s fairy-tale opera, “Hansel and Gretel,” set for Dec. 12 and 14.

The Cantigny Park entrance is off Winfield Road, just south of Route 38. The park will open at 5 p.m. For more information and tickets, call Cantigny at (630) 260-8164 or visit www.cantigny.org. For more on the DSO, visit www.dupagesymphony.org.

Kids to try out for ‘Pocahontas’ at Steel Beam

Steel Beam Theatre in downtown St. Charles announces auditions for children ages 9 to 16 for the play “Legend of Pocahontas” from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13, at 111 W. Main St.

Daina Giesler of Lisle will direct a cast of 20 to 24 actors for the production, which rehearses Saturday mornings and will be performed Nov. 1 to 23. Specifics are on the Web site at www.SteelBeamTheatre.com.

No audition preparation is needed, and readings will be from the script. No appointments are taken, with children seen in the order they sign in.

This is a tuition-based program, with scholarships available to families in need. Tuition, if cast, includes script, T-shirt, costume and two tickets, and costs $250. Call the theater at (630) 587-8521 for more information.

The children’s programming at Steel Beam Theatre, a nonprofit organization, is sponsored in part by Target and a grant from the Pedersen Family Foundation to provide quality theatrical training and entertainment.

Christian artists to play Villa Park

The Lost and Found duo, which combines Christian music on piano and guitar with humor, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 30, at Community Congregational Church, 410 S. Cornell Ave., Villa Park.

Tickets cost $10, and can be bought in before the show by calling (630) 430-1651. For more information on Lost and Found, visit www.speedwood.com.

In 1999, the duo won a grand prize in the John Lennon International Songwriting Contest.

Hogwarts Express leaving station soon

Calling all Harry Potter fans to come aboard the Hogwarts Express and attend classes at Hogwarts School from 9 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 14. Wear your costume and meet at Platform 9-3/4 at 8:45 a.m. at the Downers Grove Main Street Train Station. On the train, the Sorting Hat will sort students into their appropriate houses.

At Hogwarts School (a.k.a. The Aurora Roundhouse), students will enjoy brunch with the professors and then get ready for a magic show and other activities. Once Hogwarts School ends, students will board the train and return to the Downers Grove Main Street Station.

Interested Hogwarts students must register by Sept. 1. The cost is $25 per resident, $30 per nonresident. Hogwarts Express is held in partnership with the Oakbrook Terrace, Butterfield and Downers Grove park districts.

To register or for more information, call the Oakbrook Terrace Park District at (630) 627-6100 or visit www.obtpd.org.

Youth cast to star in ‘Les Misérables’

The Broadway musical “Les Misérables” will be presented by a cast of young adults from across the region. 

Victor Hugo’s story is set in early 19th century France, and follows the intertwining lives of characters struggling for redemption and revolution. “Les Misérables (School Edition),” a musical by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schoenberg, will be a joint production of Fox Valley Theatre Company and Children’s Theater of Elgin. It will be performed by students ages 10 to 19 in Elgin Community College’s Visual and Performing Arts Center, 1700 Spartan Drive.
Area faces in lead roles include Kirsten Schulenburg of Wheaton, and Val Zawada, Matt Kuyawa and Corbin McGhee, all of Geneva.

Curtain is at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, Sept. 5, 6, 12 and 13, and at 3 p.m. Sundays, Sept. 7 and 14. Tickets can be purchased online at www.elgin.edu/community.aspx?id=2220, by calling the ECC Box Office at (847) 622-0300 or in person.

Visit cteelgin@hotmail.com or www.cteelgin.com. Both nonprofit troupes are in residence at the ECC Arts Center.