The Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra will be holding a summer concert fundraiser at the Stonington Vineyards on Saturday, June 25th (rain date: June 26.)
Doors open at 6pm, with the concert scheduled to start at 7pm. The concert will feature ECSO musicians, led by Music Director & Conductor, Toshiyuki Shimada. The orchestra will perform works by Leonard Bernstein, Johann Strauss, Jr., John Philip Sousa, and more.

Celebrating Ludwig van Beethoven, the evening begins with his Triple Concerto of 1803, featuring internationally acclaimed violinist, Elissa Lee Koljonen; Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, cellist Sophie Shao; and Steinway Artist pianist Eva Virsik.

The official newsletter of the ECSO:
A Message from Toshiyuki Shimada
Instrumental Competition and Digital Content
Musicians of the Orchestra: Ariana Straznicky-Packer
Build a Music-Loving Community
22-23 Season Preview
A Message from Caleb

On Sunday, April 10 (Palm Sunday) at 7:30pm, the ECSO will perform a free concert at the Cathedral of St. Patrick in Norwich, CT. For more information and to reserve a free ticket, visit ectsymphony.com. This concert is generously sponsored by the Edward and Mary Lord Foundation.

On Saturday, April 9, the ECSO will celebrate its 75th anniversary season with a festive and multifaceted Gala, hosted by the Friends of the ECSO. Plan to join us at the Mystic Marriott for a musical shower of diamonds! Tickets are $100 per person and will include hors d’oeuvres, libations, and concert attendance. For more information and to register, visit ecso.givesmart.com

ECSO’s 75th anniversary season continues with Franz Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 75, completed in 1781. The composer of an astounding 107 symphonies, “Papa” Haydn is considered the father of the four-movement form, expanded by his sometime pupil Ludwig van Beethoven, whose nine symphonies are the heart of the repertoire. Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo’s 1939 work for classical guitar and orchestra, Concierto de Aranjuez, was inspired by the centuries-old gardens at a royal palace south of Madrid.

The ECSO is pleased to announce the appointment of Cara Cheung to the full-time position of Executive Coordinator. Reporting to the Executive Director, this role is a crucial part of the ECSO team through patron relations, marketing and design, office management, and event coordination.

The upcoming third concert of the ECSO’s 75th anniversary season features the world premiere of Scattering by composer, media artist, and performer Joseph Butch Rovan, inaugural faculty director of the Brown Arts Initiative at Brown University, where his focus is the innovative Music & Multimedia Composition program. Rovan was quoted on the piece’s unique equipment that he designed for the premiere: “…I built a custom instrument for the conductor’s left hand that tracks movement, direction, and acceleration. I call the instrument TOSHI (The Orchestra-Synthesis Human Interface), in honor of ECSO’s dynamic conductor, Toshi Shimada.

The orchestra’s first concert of 2022 begins with the U.S. premiere of Imitation of Life by award-winning composer Ekaterina Buzovkina, a recent graduate of the State Musical Institute in Moscow. Carrying on the Russian theme is the evening’s soloist: Igor Pikayzen, grandson of legendary violinist Viktor Pikayzen. The Moscow-born graduate of the Juilliard School and the Yale School of Music joins the orchestra to play Dmitri Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1, a work that calls for incredible technical facility.