Illinois Symphony Orchestra’s 2025-2026 Season Kicks Off with Star Wars Greatest Hits!
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Contact Beth Wakefield
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Illinois Symphony Orchestra’s 2025-2026 Season Kicks Off with Star Wars Greatest Hits!
Journey to a galaxy far, far away with your Illinois Symphony Orchestra. Experience Star Wars Greatest Hits, an epic musical adventure featuring iconic battles, unforgettable moments, and the legendary music you love with guest conductor Vince Lee leading the way.
Miss it, you must not!
Join us at 7:30 PM on Friday, October 10, 2025, at the First United Methodist Church in Springfield, Illinois or on Saturday, October 11, 2025, at the ISU Center for the Performing Arts, in Normal, Illinois.
Tickets, you must get!
Tickets may be purchased in Springfield through the UIS Ticket Office at (217) 206-6160 or in Bloomington-Normal through the ISU Center for the Performing Arts at (309) 438-2535. You can also order tickets online at ilsymphony.org/starwars. Single ticket prices range from $10 for students (24 & under) to $70 for premium seating.
Season tickets are still available! We offer a variety of season ticket packages to fit your style, interests, and lifestyle. Go to ilsymphony.org/seasontickets for more information.
With a Carnegie Hall debut described as “powerful” and “hefty” by the New York Times, American conductor Vince Lee is quickly rising as one of today’s top emerging talents. Known among his contemporaries for his dynamic performances and his razor-sharp ear, Mr. Lee’s diverse musical background provides him a flexibility and perspective that is unique in the conducting world. His firm belief in striving for the highest artistic standards, regardless of genre, venue, or audience, has made him a crowd favorite, and a popular hire for numerous orchestras and arts organizations throughout the country. Recent highlights include appearances with the Florida Orchestra, the Toledo Symphony, and the Korean Symphony Orchestra in Seoul, South Korea. Mr. Lee is currently the Music Director of the Ocean City Pops in Ocean City, New Jersey.
Star Wars Greatest Hits is sponsored by season sponsors The Landmark Automotive Group and Debra & Daniel Brownstone, M.D. and concert sponsors CEFCU, Richard & Phyllis Cheaney, and The Music Shoppe.
The Illinois Symphony Orchestra (ISO), led by Music Director Taichi Fukumura, is central Illinois’ largest professional orchestra serving over 35,000 patrons in the communities of Bloomington-Normal, Springfield and the surrounding region with symphony orchestra, chamber orchestra, and Concerts for Kids series in each community. In addition to concert performances, the Orchestra's music education and outreach programs serve pre-K and elementary schools through the Itsy Arts and Music Matters education programs and reach middle schools, high schools, universities, community organizations and senior centers through guest artist residencies and musician and ensemble performances. The ISO also has an active Sips & Sounds Summer Concert Series, Around the Town Chamber Music Series and the Beyond the Stage concert experience. The Illinois Symphony Orchestra has a budget of approximately $1.4 million.
In July 2020, the ISO acquired the Sangamon Valley Youth Symphony (SVYS) started in the early 1970s by parents, music teachers and musicians to keep string instrument education and a youth orchestra in Springfield and surrounding communities following the elimination of all school orchestra programs. Now, the Illinois Symphony Youth Orchestras (ISYO) programs consist of Starter and Junior Strings, Preparatory Orchestra, Concert Orchestra and Symphony Orchestra serving over 300 students. The ISO also has a partnership in education and community engagement (PEACE) with the UIS-School of Music and Illinois State University’s Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts and School of Music.
Additional information about the Illinois Symphony Orchestra is available at www.ilsymphony.org.
This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council.
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