Soloists will shine during “Season of Stars,” The Symphony of Oak Park & River Forest’s 2025-26 season.
“Our soloists represent people who have a special place in the history of the orchestra,” said Jay Friedman, the group’s music director.
He said board President David Leehey is going to be one of the soloists for Beethoven’s “Triple Concerto” during the Oct. 26 opening concert, “Heroic Beethoven.” Leehey will perform on piano along with violinist Michele Wynton and cellist William Cernota.
“Michele Wynton plays in the first violin section whenever she’s available. She’s a professional,” Friedman said.
That concert will also feature Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 3 in Eb, Op. 55, Eroica.”
Associate conductor Maurice Boyer will helm two concerts this year, Friedman said.
“He has really interesting programs,” he said. “It’s a wide variety of music.”
On Dec. 14, Boyer will conduct “Holiday Happening.” Selections will include Ravel’s “Valses nobles et sentimentales;” Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite;” Bizet’s “L’Arlesienne: Suites 1 & 2;” and a Holiday Sing-A-Long.
His Feb. 15 “Choral Concert” will include “Tragic Overture” by Brahms; “Schicksalslied (Song of Destiny)” by Brahms, featuring the Symphony of Oak Park & River Forest Chorus; and Mahler’s “Songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Boy’s Magic Horn),” featuring soprano soloist Nathalie Colas. The orchestra will also perform two pieces by Aaron Copland, “Quiet City” and “An Outdoor Overture.”
The April 19 concert is called “Trombone Treat.”
“Interestingly enough, we’re going to have a trombone soloist, which I have really tried to stay away from in all of my years as the music director because I didn’t want it to be a showcase for the instrument that I happen to play,” Friedman said.
Tim Higgins will be the soloist on the Midwest premiere of his “Trombone Concerto.”
“This is a very special appearance because he’s my replacement in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and he’s also a really good composer, so he wrote a concerto for himself,” Friedman said.
The program will also feature Mozart’s “Symphony No. 35 (Haeffner)”; the Concerto Competition winner (to be determined); and Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story: Symphonic Dances.”
“Superb Soloists” on June 14 will feature pianist Mio Nakamura playing the world premiere of “Piano Concerto No. 1” by Alex Groesch.
Friedman praised Nakamura, saying, “She has been a treasure for us in past seasons. Our resident composer has written a piano concerto specifically for her so we felt that it was the right thing to do to have the soloist who the concerto was written for perform the world premiere.”
“I have a long history with The Symphony of Oak Park & River Forest,” Nakamura said. “I started soloing with them back in 2008. That was when I was still a student (at Roosevelt University) and I have been soloing with them pretty regularly. This is my eighth time to perform with them.”
Nakamura learned about Groesch’s work a few years ago, she said.
“He asked me if he could write a piano concerto that is dedicated to me, out of nowhere,” Nakamura said. Her response was “Of course. I never thought that someone would want to compose a piece for me, especially a piano concerto.”
Groesch sent a note saying, “I knew I wanted to write a piano concerto for her some day after hearing her perform for the first time. It’s an honor to write something for someone as talented and genuine as her.”
“This is a very dramatic and emotional piece,” Nakamura said. “The beginning of the first movement reminds me of a very, very bitter cold winter. It’s very dark but eventually we find a way to get over it at the end of the piece. This is a great piece.”
The orchestra has previously played the “First Symphony” and “Third Symphony” by resident composer Groesch, who is the orchestra’s principal cellist.
The June 14 program will also include “Märchen (Fairytale)” by Suk and “Violin Concerto No. 1” by Bruch, featuring soloist Nikki Chooi.
All five concerts are at 4 p.m. Sundays at Concordia University, 7400 Augusta St., River Forest. Board President David Leehey presents a Preconcert Conversation before each concert at 3 p.m. Tickets are $30; $35 on concert day. Admission is free for students through college.
Information and reservations are at symphonyoprf.org/our-2025-2026-season.
Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
