Members of the East Central Illinois Youth Orchestra performed at Smith Recital Hall in Urbana during their 2022 Winter Concert. The orchestra will perform again this Sunday.
Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks
URBANA - The East Central Illinois Youth Orchestra will perform its annual Winter Concert this Sunday, Jan. 19, at 7 p.m. at Smith Music Hall on the University of Illinois campus. Orchestra members are the top classical student instrumentalists in the area. The musicians, who hail from Champaign, Urbana, Mahomet, Monticello, and Danville, go through a rigorous audition process for their chairs. Sunday's program features the overture to Giuseppe Verdi's opera Nabucco, a medley from the musical Les Misérables, Norwegian Dances by Edvard Grieg, Andante Festivo by Jean Sibelius, and the first movement of Antonín Dvořák's Eighth Symphony. The CUYO focuses on providing young musicians in the Champaign-Urbana area with opportunities to perform in an orchestral setting. It serves middle school and high school students, offering them a chance to enhance their musical skills, work with experienced conductors, and perform a diverse repertoire of classical and contemporary works. "This is challenging music for the students, and they’ve worked hard since mid-September to bring it to performance level," Kevin Kelly, music director for the youth orchestra, said. "You will be impressed and entertained!" Admission to the event is free and begins promptly at 7 p.m. Smith Music Hall is located on the University of Illinois campus at 805 S. Mathews Ave.
The keynote speaker is actor Gene Weygandt. He has appeared in a host of films, television shows, and on Broadway. His acting credits on screen include The Birdcage, Babe, and Mea Culpa. He has appeared in televised episodes of Home Improvement, Cybil, Murphy Brown, Chicago Fire, Empire, and Chicago Med.
The Chicago-based actor also had roles in Broadway productions, including BIG: The Musical, Wicked, and Come From Away.
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