The Thrill of the Orchestra

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. ...