In Russian tradition, Easter is known as “the bright holiday.” Composed in 1888 by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian Easter Festival Overture expresses both the beauty of the religious mystery and the joyful celebration of pagan rites of spring. As Rimsky-Korsakov described the work, “The legendary and heathen side of the holiday, the transition from the gloomy and mysterious evening of Passion Saturday to the unbridled pagan-religious merrymaking on Easter Sunday morning is what I was eager to reproduce in my Overture.” Performed on Saturday, April 25, 2014 at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. Conducted by Stephen Alltop.

Russian Easter Festival Overture

Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony premiered on December 8, 1813 at the University of Vienna with Beethoven conducting and was one of his most successful concerts. Loved for its beauty and celebratory energy, today it remains one of Beethoven’s most popular symphonies. Performed by the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra on Saturday, February 1, 2014 in Foellinger Great Hall, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. Stephen Alltop, conductor.

Ludwig van Beethoven:  Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92
I. Poco sostenuto - Vivace
II. Allegretto
III. Presto
IV. Allegro con brio

Beethoven Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92

Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, performed by the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts on March 7, 2020 with Stephen Alltop conducting. Labeling the theme for the work as “complete resignation before Fate,” Tchaikovsky composed the symphony in May through August of 1888 and conducted its first performance in St. Petersburg, Russia in November of that year.

Andante—Allegro con anima
Andante cantabile con alcuna licenza
Waltz: Allegro moderato
Finale: Andante maestoso—Alegro vivace

Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5

Selections from the Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248, by Johann Sebastian Bach. Performed by the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts on December 6. 2023 with Stephen Alltop conducting. Featuring the Oratorio Society of the University of Illinois.

Part 1, No. 1 Chorus, Jauchzet froelocket” 
Part 2, No. 12 Chorale. “Brich an, o schönest Morgenlicht” 
Part 3, No. 24 Chorus “Herrscher des Himmels erhöre das Lallen 
Part 6, No. 59  Chorale, “Ich steh’ an deiner Krippen hier” 
Part 6, No. 64 Chorus “Nun seid ihr wohl gebrochen”

Christmas Oratorio (selections) - J. S. Bach

The Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah by George Frideric Handel. Performed by the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra, the Oratorio Society of the University of Illinois, and the Central Illinois Youth Chorus, at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts on December 6, 2023 with Stephen Alltop conducting.

Hallelujah Chorus (from Handel's Messiah)

Festival March composed by Antonín Dvořák. Performed by the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts on February 10, 2024, with Stephen Alltop conducting.

Festival March - Antonín Dvořák

Someone to Watch Over Me written by George Gershwin.

Performed on April 20, 2024 in Foellinger Great Hall in Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Illinois. Enjoy this sweet encore performance by John Hagstrom, Chicago Symphony Orchestra trumpeter and guest artist for the CUSO season finale concert, accompanied by Stephen Alltop, the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra music director and conductor, on piano.  John was moved to remember his first performance on the Foellinger Great Hall stage many years ago, as a music student attending the Illinois Summer Youth Music Camp, and how much it meant to him to feel supported in his dream to be a musician. 

As John told the audience, "This hall has a very sentimental, sacred significance to me. As a student, I came down to U of I to attend the summer music camp. And I was one of those students in 1979, who sat on this stage. And it changed me, completely - in the way that a child awakens a passion, knowing what is possible with music. It gave me a dream, that I could maybe, just maybe, pursue a career in music."


Background photo by Darrell Hoemann.

Someone to Watch Over Me - George Gershwin

Crisantemi composed by Giacomo Puccini. Performed by the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts on April 20, 2024, with Stephen Alltop conducting.

Crisantemi ("Chrysanthemums") - Puccini

Antonio Vivaldi's Gloria, RV 589, performed by the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra conducted by Stephen Alltop, with soloists Josefien Stoppelenburg (soprano) and Kate Tombaugh (mezzo-soprano), featuring the University of Illinois Oratorio Society (Andrew Major, conductor) and Central Illinois Youth Chorus Chamber Choir (Andrea Solya, conductor). Live performance at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, December 11, 2024.

1. Gloria (Chorus)
2. Et in terra pax (Chorus)
3. Laudamus te (Sopranos I and II)
4. Gratias agimus tibi (Chorus)
5. Propter magnam gloriam (Chorus)
6. Domine Deus (Soprano)
7. Domine, Fili unigenite (Chorus)
8. Domine Deus, Agnus Dei (Contralto and Chorus)
9. Qui tollis peccata mundi (Chorus)
10. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris (Contralto)
11. Quoniam tu solus sanctus (Chorus)
12. Cum Sancto Spiritu (Chorus)

10. Qui Dedes ad Dexteram

4. Gratias Agimus Tibi

7. Domine Fili Unigenite

8. Domine Deus, Agnus Dei

5. Propter Magnam Gloriam

6. Domine Deus

2. Et in Terra Pax

3. Laudamus Te

9. Qui Tollis

11. Quoniam Tu Solus Sanctus

1. Gloria in Excelsis

12. Cum Sancto Spiritu

Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky's Overture to The Nutcracker, performed by the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra conducted by Stephen Alltop. Live performance at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, December 11, 2024.

Coffee (Arabian Dance)

Tea (Chinese Dance)

Chocolate (Spanish Dance)

Les Mirlitons (The Reed-Pipes)

Waltz of the Flowers

Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 5, performed by the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts on October 13, 2018.  Stephen Alltop, conductor.

Mahler Symphony No. 5

Established in 1959, the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra is the professional orchestra in residence at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Illinois.

Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra

Popular tracks