The house lights stayed up as the orchestra opened its performance with the familiar music of “Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4.” Russell Vinick, conductor for the Chicago Businessmen’s Orchestra (CBO), opened their concert Bruch and Beethoven with this piece.
The CBO was founded in 1921 by State Street businessman George Lytton and boasts being the oldest community orchestra in Chicago.
Just watching the movements of Vinick is entertaining enough. He conducts his orchestra with a lot of animation and movement. After a first round of well performed Beethoven it was time for an intermission.
The orchestra started their second piece “Concerto No. 1 for Violin” by Max Bruch featuring soloist Julia Ghica, a 13 -year old student from the Merit School of Music. She graced the stage wearing a construction orange gown; an overkill to create the contrast from the rest of the orchestra. It was a bit distracting against the black and white that dominated the stage, but she was a very talented player with a strong knowledge of the music.
They completed with a portion of “Overture to Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg” by Richard Wagner. This was an uplifting fast moving piece that was very challenging but well executed by the orchestra. This was Wagner’s only comic opera and it is easy to see why Vinick choose this selection to complete the concert.
After the concert Vinick stated, “I’m pleased and proud of their [the orchestra’s] accomplishments, and their ability to perform challenging music.” This is a great orchestra to see a lot of very talented musicians. It is a great alternative and has a more relaxed atmosphere in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to hear some great musical performance.
The CBO will have their next concert Orchestral Showcase at 3:00 P.M. on April, 29th at the Merit School of Music.