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The Illinois Valley Symphony Orchestra has announced its 76th season, titled “Flight,” a five-concert series highlighting a different conductor at each performance.
Inspired by the concept of a wine or coffee flight, the season offers a tasting-style experience with five distinct musical programs. Each concert features a different conductor, providing audiences a varied and curated orchestral journey throughout the year.
The 2025-26 season opens with Stephen Squires conducting his concert, “Go West, Young America!” on Sep. 27. Squires recently retired from his teaching post at Roosevelt University and currently leads multiple community and professional ensembles, including the Fox Valley Orchestra in Aurora.
On Nov. 9, Ben Firer from Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts takes the stage at Streator High School and conducts a rousing masterworks concert, Rhythms of Fire and Soul. The concert will feature Dvořák’s 8th Symphony and a guitar concerto by Joaquín Rodrigo.
The IVSO’s biannual tradition, The Nutcracker, features dancers from three area dance studios and will have two performances on Dec. 13 and 14 at La Salle-Peru High School (LPHS) in Matthiessen Auditorium under the baton of Tim Semanik, a professor at Bradley University in Peoria.
IVSO’s 2026 will start with the Young Performers Competition on Jan. 3 at LPHS. Winners will perform with the IVSO under the leadership of Silas Huff on Romantic Imaginations on their March 8 concert at Ottawa Township High School. Huff is the Music Director of the Clinton Symphony Orchestra (Iowa) and is a former director of multiple military ensembles.
Wrapping up the season is Benjamin Klemme conducting the IVSO for Dvořák’s 9th Symphony, “From the New World,” on May 2. His program is titled One Summer in Spillville. Klemme is a professor and conductor at Wheaton College Conservatory of Music in Wheaton.
Each conductor is a candidate for contract as IVSO’s new Music Director in 2026, following the retirement of IVSO’s previous conductor, Dan Sommerville.
“It’s rare to have exposure to this breadth of conducting talent right here in our community,” new IVSO general manager Aelsa Woods said. “We are delighted to present all five of these incredible conductors to Illinois Valley audiences this season.”
Subscriptions and tickets are on sale now at IVSO.org; past season subscribers can purchase online or via direct mail pamphlets set to hit mailboxes in early August. Individual ticket sales for The Nutcracker open to the public on Oct 15.
This program is partially supported by the Illinois Arts Council. All IVSO venues are ADA-compliant. For questions about accessibility, email accessibility@ivso.org.