The Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra kicks off election week 2016 with its 41st season opening concerts celebrating the theme, “Hearts and Minds: the Power and Politics of Music.”

The concerts will take place Sunday, Nov. 6, 2016, at 2 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at Elgin Community College Arts Center.

The EYSO’s 2016-17 season will explore the question of how music is political. “Music historians have shown that every piece of music arises from within a particular culture, with its own values, morality, and power structures. These are all embedded in the music itself,” explains EYSO Artistic Director Randal Swiggum.

The politics of music has been a rich topic of inquiry in music studies for the past generation, Swiggum says, with recent global events like the refugee crisis and the rise of nationalism and the global economy making it even more relevant today. “The 2016 U.S. presidential election presents an exciting opportunity to consider politics from a different perspective, in this case music, at the very time American citizens are most interested and engaged in the subject.”

The 2016-17 concert season continues on March 12, 2017, with “By the Waters of Babylon, Music of Exile, Longing, and Home.” A special concert featuring musician and composer Corky Siegel and his Chamber Blues string quartet will be held on April 8, 2017. The season concludes on May 7, 2017, with “We the People, Music and Identity.” Concerts are at 2 p.m., 4:30 p.m., and 7:30 p.m. with the exception of the April 8 concert which is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Tickets for all concerts are available through the Elgin Community College Arts Center box office. Visit www.tickets.elgin.edu or call 847-622-0300. For more information, please visit EYSO.org, call 847-841-7700, or email office@eyso.org.

ABOUT EYSO

Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra (EYSO), an in-residence ensemble in the Arts Center at Elgin Community College, is home to five orchestras, brass choir, two percussion ensembles, and a Chamber Music Institute. Founded in 1976, the EYSO today includes more than 390 students from 70 Chicagoland communities. The EYSO is supported by grants from the EFS Foundation, Elgin Cultural Arts Commission, Grand Victoria Foundation, Illinois Arts Council and Palmer Foundation.