After a yearlong search, the Illinois Valley Symphony Orchestra has a new conductor.

Daniel Sommerville, director of orchestral activities at Wheaton College, will lead the orchestra in its 70th season, becoming the 18th conductor to direct the orchestra. The first appearance of the orchestra was for the 1949-50 season.

Sommerville has an exciting season planned, according to an IVSO news release. Performances will include music from past decades and special soloists such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's trumpeter John Hagstrom and Rachel Barton Pine, who performed for IVSO’s 50th and 60th seasons.

Sommerville is an active guest conductor in the Chicago area. Under his leadership, the Wheaton College Symphony Orchestra has received many accolades, including being awarded third place in the American Prize (college and university orchestra division), performing at the 2018 Illinois Music Education Association annual conference in Peoria, being named one of the 20 "most impressive college orchestras in America” by the Online Schools Centers, and performing at the national College Orchestra Directors Association annual conference at Northwestern University.

At Wheaton College, Sommerville is a professor of music and teaches conducting, orchestration and score reading, in addition to his work with the orchestra.

Sommerville has programmed the following concerts for the 2019-20 season:

• 'Showtime!': 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, at Illinois Valley Community College's Dr. Mary Margaret Weeg Cultural Centre. Featuring guest artist Jennie Judd, soprano, on music from Broadway, with a special tribute to Marvin Hamlisch, plus music by Leonard Bernstein, Richard Rogers, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and more.

• 'New Beginnings': 3 p.m. Sunday Nov. 3, at La Salle-Peru High School's Matthiessen Auditorium. Featuring John Hagstrom, trumpeter of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, on Arutiunian's Trumpet Concerto, Dvořák's New World Symphony, and music by Grieg and Kabalevsky.

• 'The Nutcracker': 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14, and 3 p.m. Sunday Dec. 15, La Salle-Peru High School's Matthiessen Auditorium. The ever popular, fully staged performance of Tchaikovsky's famous ballet with dancers from Dance Center (La Salle), Gray's School of Dance (Ottawa), and Ottawa Dance Academy and Snowflake Chorus by the Latin Mass Choir of the Illinois Valley and voice students of Kori Suarez. Priority reserved seating for IVSO season subscribers.

• 'Far-Off Places': 3 p.m. Sunday March 8, at Ottawa High School. Featuring winners of the IVSO 2020 Young Performers Competition and pieces by Mendelssohn (The Hebrides), Marquez (Danzon No. 2), Saint-Saëns (Donse Bacchanale), Borodin (In the Steppes of Central Asia), and Khachaturian (Gayane).

• 70th Anniversary Celebration: 7 p.m. Saturday May 2, at Illinois Valley Community College's Dr. Mary Margaret Weeg Cultural Centre. Featuring Rachael Barton Pine on Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto. Other pieces by Brahms, Debussy and Dukas from past anniversary concerts will be performed, as well as Copeland's suite from The Tender Land.

The purchase of an orchestra subscription grants admission to all five season concerts, including access to priority reserved seating for "The Nutcracker." Subscribers save 50% off the price of five individual admissions.

Each subscription includes five tickets, four of which may be used at any of the September, November, March or May concerts — one at each concert or up to four admissions for any one concert. This flex feature allows concertgoers to get the full value of their subscription even if they cannot attend all the concerts.

To order tickets, go to ivso.org or purchase them at the September concert. Students in grades K-12 will be admitted free to all concerts except "The Nutcracker." Tickets for college students with ID are discounted.