Press Release

Music’s ability to shape Hearts & Minds takes center stage in the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestras’ 2026-2027 Season

Known for performances beyond their years, the young musicians explore the Power and Politics of Music on Nov. 15

October 22, 2026 (Elgin, Illinois) — For fifty years, the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestras (EYSO) has developed students into expert noticers, critical thinkers, and exceptional young musicians through programming that connects music to the wider world around us. This season, students explore the ways music has been used to shape Hearts and Minds, beginning with a series of concerts on Sunday, November 15 exploring The Power and Politics of Music. Across three concerts at Elgin Community College’s Blizzard Theater, EYSO’s young musicians embrace music’s ability to influence, instigate, and inspire.

“Philosophers, educators, scientists, politicians, religious leaders, economists, artists: people from all walks of life have recognized that music's power is a tool,” notes Artistic Director Matthew Sheppard. “And just like any tool, it can be wielded with noble purpose or with malevolent intent. Our first concert of the year examines these tools and their usage to see how music can indeed have the power to change the world.”

A highlight of the November concerts is the 7:00 pm collaboration between EYSO’s top ensemble, Youth Symphony, and the Elgin Master Chorale in a performance of one of the most politically charged musical works of the early 20th-century: Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. Over weekly rehearsals this fall, Youth Symphony students have considered the piece’s complicated history in 1940s Germany alongside Dmitri Shostakovich’s Festive Overture (a potentially satirical celebration of Soviet power) and Andrzej Panufnik’s commission for the UN’s “Year of Peace,” titled A Procession for Peace.

EYSO’s younger students begin the exploration of Power and Politics in two concerts earlier in the afternoon of November 15. At 1:30 pm, students in the Prelude orchestra consider Ludwig van Beethoven’s rejection of authoritarianism through his Third Symphony, and students in Sinfonia explore music as protest through excerpts from Jean Sibelius’s Finlandia and Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. At 4:30 pm, the Philharmonia orchestra questions the hegemony of Western classical music through Don Gillis’s Symphony 5 ½, and the Brass Choir celebrates the common man and un-common woman with fanfares by Aaron Copland and Joan Tower.

A Season-Long Exploration

Each year, EYSO’s season theme guides a year-long exploration of music and how we relate to and understand it. The Power and Politics of Music is the first of three concerts in 2026-2027 considering the ways music can influence Hearts and Minds. This winter, leading up to their concerts titled By the Waters of Babylon (March 7), EYSO students explore music that has provided a sense of home and inspired resilience for people in exile. In the spring, they embrace music as a source of identity in the season finale concerts, We the People (May 16).

For more information about the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestras and tickets, visit www.EYSO.org. Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestras is an In-Residence Ensemble of Elgin Community College.

Concerts and Tickets

The Power and Politics of Music: EYSO Youth Symphony and Youth Symphony Percussion Ensemble

Sunday, November 15 | 7:00 pm

Blizzard Theater, Elgin Community College

The Power and Politics of Music: EYSO Philharmonia, Brass Choir, and Sinfonia/Philharmonia Percussion Ensemble

Sunday, November 15 | 4:30 pm

Blizzard Theater, Elgin Community College

The Power and Politics of Music: EYSO Prelude, Sinfonia, and Flute Choir

Sunday, November 15 | 1:30 pm

Blizzard Theater, Elgin Community College

Ticketing Information

Tickets for all EYSO concerts are $27 for adults, $22 for seniors, and $7 for students with a valid student ID. Tickets can be purchased online from the Elgin Community College Box Office at www.eccartscenter.org or by calling 847-622-0300.

The Box Office is open Monday through Thursday from 12-6 pm, Saturdays 12 to 5 pm, and 90 minutes prior to each performance.

Location

All concerts are held in the Blizzard Theater, in the Elgin Community College Arts Center. (Elgin Community College, 1700 Spartan Drive—Building H, Elgin, IL 60123)

Free parking is available directly in front of Building H, ECC Arts Center, using parking lots G, H, I, J & K. Look for the red pole signs in the parking lot.

About the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestras 

The mission of EYSO is to create a community of young musicians, enriching their lives and the lives of their families, schools, communities and beyond, through the study and performance of excellent music.

The Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestras (EYSO) has a national reputation for providing not only an engaging musical experience for its students, but also a comprehensive learning environment which promotes curiosity, imagination, critical thinking, and collaboration. With five large ensembles, three small ensembles, and a thriving Chamber Music Institute, EYSO auditions record numbers of students each year in addition to the hundreds of musicians who already enjoy its rigorous methods of inquiry and "expert noticing."

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Matthew Sheppard, the students of EYSO explore a comprehensive curriculum each season—one which aims not only to help these students develop artistically and technically, but also to prepare them for a future of complex ideas, creative risk-taking, and leadership as global citizens. The dynamic and engaging rehearsals foster musical and personal growth as students develop into well-rounded and thoughtful communicators, and leaders in their sections, ensembles, schools, and communities.

This thoughtful and attentive approach that is the hallmark of EYSO has led hundreds of alumni to successful careers as professional musicians, educators, and leaders in every field. It’s what we call “educating the whole musician”: preparing students for a lifelong journey of inquiry, creativity and growth. Regardless of alumni’s pursuits, their EYSO experience as a valued member of a thought-provoking, fair, and encouraging creative environment continues to serve them well.

The Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestras would not exist today without the generous support of families, audience members, and donors. Sponsorship of the EYSO inspires artistry, confidence, and curiosity in hundreds of young musicians in the Chicago area.

To learn more about the pedagogical approach that EYSO conductors and coaches use in delivering the EYSO mission please visit the Illinois Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance (CMP) page.

Visit EYSO.org or call (847) 841-7700 to learn more.

About Matthew Sheppard, Artistic Director and Conductor, Youth Symphony

With passionate artistry and innovation, Chicago-based conductor and educator Matthew Sheppard leads orchestras, students, and audiences to transformative experiences across the Midwest. He is the Artistic Director of the award-winning Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestras and the Hyde Park Youth Symphony, Music Director of the Danville Symphony Orchestra, and Director of the University of Chicago Chamber Orchestra and the Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company of Chicago.

Sheppard has guest conducted orchestras in North and South America, including the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional del Paraguay, the Chicago Philharmonic, the Champaign–Urbana Symphony Orchestra, the Danville Symphony Orchestra, the Lake Geneva Symphony Orchestra, and the Blue Lake International Youth Symphony. In 2022-23, he was visiting faculty at Northwestern’s Bienen School of Music, serving as Guest Resident Conductor of the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra and teaching conducting.

As the Artistic Director of the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestras, Sheppard leads a team of dedicated educators in providing a comprehensive music education to nearly 400 students and families each year. The professional repertoire and thematic curriculum explored each year is designed not only to help student musicians develop artistically and technically, but also to prepare them for a future of complex ideas, creative risk-taking, and leadership as global citizens. This approach led to EYSO being named 2021 Youth Orchestra of the Year by the Illinois Council of Orchestras (ICO) and to Sheppard being awarded ICO Conductor of the Year in 2022.

As a teacher, Sheppard inspires students to nurture a deep love and understanding of music and performing. His courses on conducting, musicianship, and active listening have been highly received at Northwestern, the University of Chicago, and the University of Illinois, and he is sought after as a clinician and coach to young musicians across the Midwest. Sheppard serves as past-president of the IL Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance (IL CMP) Committee as it encourages teaching with intention and performing with understanding.

Sheppard studied with Donald Schleicher as a doctoral candidate in orchestral conducting at the University of Illinois, and before that he earned his master’s degree in orchestral conducting under Gerardo Edelstein at Penn State University. Past positions include Music Director of the Sangamon Valley Civic Orchestra and Youth Symphony, Orchestra Director at Juniata College, and Assistant Conductor of the Central Pennsylvania Youth Orchestra. He holds bachelor’s degrees in Liberal Arts, Music Education, and Violin Performance from Penn State where he studied with Max Zorin.