Concerts for Kids
Show Times
- Date April 26th, 2023 Time 10:00am Venue UIS Performing Arts Center - Springfield
- Date April 27th, 2023 Time 10:00am Venue Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts

Bon Voyage! Join us for a musical journey to Paris at our Concerts for Kids! Concerts for Kids is our educational outreach concert that allows school children throughout central Illinois to experience LIVE classical music.
The Illinois Symphony Orchestra and our two musical tour guides—George Gershwin and the Chevalier de Saint-Georges—invite you to join us for a Parisian adventure! With your passport in hand, we will head across the Atlantic to the jazzy grooves of Gershwin’s American in Paris. Projections guide us as we stroll the streets of the French capital, encountering a street singer, popping into the Paris Ballet to hear a rehearsal, and even joining a street parade on the Champs-Élysées. If we are lucky, the Chevalier may even give us a demonstration of his famed fencing prowess, to the tune of his own music. And for the finale, we won’t just enjoy the sights and sounds of Paris but might even have a small taste. Bon voyage!
Jacobsen Woollen, Conductor
Gershwin An American Paris – Piaf La Vie en Rose – Stravinsky Infernal Dance from The Firebird - Debussy Fêtes from Nocturnes - Chevalier de Saint-Georges Overture from L'amant anonyme
Tickets: $7 per person
Springfield
Wednesday, April 26, 2023 @ 10:00 AM
UIS Performing Arts Center, Springfield, IL
Bloomington-Normal
Thursday, April 27, 2023 @ 10:00 AM
Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts
Springfield Ordering Information:
- Call Sangamon Auditorium Ticket Office at (217) 206-6160 or ONLINE
- After your reservation is processed, you will receive a letter requesting that you confirm the details of the order and submit payment. Reservation confirmation is due three weeks prior to the concert and payment is due two weeks prior to the concert.
- When confirmation and payment are received by the Ticket Office, your group will be placed in the best available seats.
- A voucher with your seating information will be mailed to you. Please bring the voucher with you to the performance.
Bloomington Ordering Information:
- Call the BCPA Ticket Office at (309) 434-2777 to reserve your seats.
- After your reservation is processed, you will receive an Order Confirmation with your order information. Please confirm all your information is correct. Your Order Confirmation will include the final count and payment due dates.
- Payments may be made in person by cash, check, or credit card*, by phone with a credit card or checks made payable to BCPA may be mailed to BCPA Ticket Office, 600 N East St, Bloomington, IL 61701. A $5.00 Administrative Fee is added to each order. *Visa, MasterCard, or Discover accepted.
- Once your payment has been received a confirmation of payment processed will be emailed to the point of contact for the school. Upon your arrival on event day, tell an usher in the main lobby which school your group is from. Ushers will already have the information necessary to escort your group to your seats.
Lunch space is available for $75. If your class is interested in reserving lunch space, please contact Brian Leach, Rental Manager by email bleach@cityblm.org.
ALL SALES ARE FINAL. We are not able to give refunds or exchanges. Only if a school officially closes on the day of a planned performance will the venue allow an exchange for another performance within the same season, in Springfield, or for another performance within 12 months, in Bloomington.
Patron Privacy Statement: Please note that when you purchase subscription or individual tickets to attend an Illinois Symphony Orchestra (ISO) or Illinois Chamber Orchestra event through the UIS Ticket Office or the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts Ticket Office (BCPA), UIS or BCPA will share your name, contact information, and seating information with the ISO. This will enable the ISO to contact you directly about information including but not limited to future concerts/events and other organizational efforts, including fundraising solicitation. UIS or BCPA will not share patron payment information such as credit card account numbers. BCPA purchasers will be able to opt out of receiving email if they choose, however the ISO/BCPA may not be able to contact you with updates or changes to performances if you opt out. If you have any questions or concerns about the sharing of this information, please contact the UIS Ticket Office at (217) 206-6160 in Springfield or BCPA Ticket Office at (309) 434-2777 in Bloomington.
Support Provided By:
Memorial Health, Illinois Arts Council, An Agency of the State of Illinois, Illinois Symphony Guild of Bloomington-Normal, McLean County Arts Center *, National Endowment for the Arts, Levi, Ray & Shoup, Inc., Illinois Prairie Community Foundation - Mirza Arts & Cultural Fund, Pete & Melinda LaBarre, Harvey & Judy Stephens, Sandra & Kenneth Jesse Endowment Fund for Schoolchildren, Susan Cook House Educational Trust
Springfield Venue UIS Performing Arts Center - Springfield
1 University Plz #397, Springfield, IL 62703
Your Illinois Symphony Orchestra performs Symphony Orchestra and Pops concerts at the UIS Performing Arts Center in Sangamon Auditorium.
Physical Address:
220 Ernest Hemingway Dr | Springfield, IL 62703
Mailing Address:
1 University Plaza, MS PAC 292 | Springfield, IL 62703
UIS Ticket Office Information
Tickets for all Illinois Symphony Orchestra season concerts are sold through the UIS Ticket Office. Tickets may be purchased by in-person, by phone, or online.
- In-Person: UIS Ticket Office is located in the lobby of the Public Affairs Center Building on the UIS Campus.
- Phone: (217) 206-6160
- Online: uispac.com
UIS Ticket Office Hours
Monday through Friday: 10:00 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday - Sunday: Closed
Performance Days: Opens Two Hours Prior to Performance
UIS Performing Arts Center Event Parking
Free parking is NOW available for all events held at UIS Performing Arts Center. Click here to view a map of the parking lots closest to the UIS Performing Arts Center. There will be no premium parking for donors who give $1,000 or more to the Illinois Symphony Orchestra due to UIS offering FREE parking to events held at the UIS Performing Arts Center.
Bloomington-Normal Venue Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts
600 N East St. Bloomington, IL 61701
BCPA Ticket Office, 600 N East St, Bloomington, IL 61701
Physical address (for walk up sales): SE corner of BCPA, 600 N. East Street
Ticket Office Information:
Phone: (309) 434-2777
Toll-free: (866) 686-9541
Ticket Office Hours:
Monday-Friday: 10 AM-6 PM, 10 AM-Half Hour After Concert Begins
Saturday-Sunday: Closed
Regular Performance Days: Ticket Office opens two hours prior to performance and closes a half hour after concert begins.
School Performance Days: Ticket Office opens at 9 AM and closes at 6 PM
Parking
Free parking is available in the lots and side streets surrounding the BCPA on a first come, first served basis. Activities in the adjacent downtown, campus, and residential neighborhoods mean that traffic and parking congestion can occur, especially at our most popular events. See more information and view a map of the parking lots surrounding the BCPA.
Busing
Busses will line up along East street on the east side of the BCPA and drop off students as they reach the front of the line. The students and teachers will enter through the front doors of the BCPA, where they will be greeted by Ushers who will escort each group to their seats.
Featured:

Jacobsen Woollen Conductor - ISO Associate Conductor and ISYO Conductor
Jacobsen Woollen is a conductor, cellist, and tenor residing in Springfield, Illinois, where he serves as Associate Conductor of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Conductor of the Illinois Symphony Youth Orchestra, Director of the Springfield Choral Society, and Director of the UIS Orchestra.
An Indiana native, Jacobsen returns to the Midwest after spending six years in Vienna, Austria, where he completed a Post-Graduate Diploma in orchestral conducting under the tutelage of Prof. Mark Stringer at the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst, conducted professional ensembles including the Polska Filharmonia Baltycka and Ensemble Ultreia, served as assistant conductor of the Vienna Opera Festival, and led the Schlosschor Hadersfeld. During his Vienna years, Jacobsen was frequently called back to the Midwest to work at Opera Theatre of St. Louis, where he served as assistant conductor and led several workshops for new works, including Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up In My Bones.
Jacobsen also maintains an active career as a tenor: he recently produced and performed a musical-theatrical concert evening, Lovelace Weave, which explores the father-daughter pair of Lord Byron and Ada Lovelace. As a member of the Grammy-winning Arnold Schoenberg Chor, Jacobsen has participated in opera productions at Theater an der Wien, as well as concerts in Europe’s most renowned venues, including Vienna’s Musikverein and Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie.
Prior to his European sojourn, Jacobsen completed a Master’s Degree in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Michigan under the guidance of Kenneth Kiesler. During this time, he was active in the Ann Arbor musical community as well, serving as founder and director of Paradigm Shift Chamber Orchestra, music director of the Ann Arbor Camerata, and assistant conductor of the Michigan Life Sciences Orchestra.
As a cellist, Jacobsen was a student of Susan Moses in the Indiana University String Academy and later completed a Bachelor’s Degree with Richard Aaron at the University of Michigan. He has appeared as a soloist with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Bloomington Symphony Orchestra, Musical Arts Youth Orchestra, and Voces Novae Chamber Choir. As a chamber musician, he has had the pleasure of collaborating with Joshua Bell, Jaime Laredo, Soovin Kim, and many others. From 2013-16, Jacobsen was cellist and artistic curator with the new-music sextet Latitude 49, and he continues to serve on their Board of Directors.