Celebrating over 30 Years of great concerts

Founded in 1990 by Music Director Philip Simmons, the Lincolnwood Chamber Orchestra became part of American Music Festivals in 2002.  One of Chicago’s leading professional ensembles, it was named Chamber Ensemble of the Year in 2000 by the Illinois Council of Orchestras.  Flexible in composition and instrumentation, the LCO easily collaborates with a wide variety of programs and special events. 

2020 was the 30th Anniversary Season of the LCO. Highlights included a third Chinese New Year concert in Chinatown, a program of African American classical, spiritual and gospel music at the Baha’i House of Worship, a concert for the Chicago Chopin Society Gala (with the US Premiere of Paderewski’s Suite in G for Strings), and the LCO’s debut in Lincoln Hall Middle School’s new state of the art auditorium. After several virtual projects, the orchestra has already performed three socially distanced concerts in 2021 - at the Lincolnwood Town Center, Copernicus Center, and the DuSable Museum of African American History.

Serving the Lincolnwood community and appearing throughout Chicagoland, the LCO facilitates American Music Festivals’ mission of cultural exchange.  The orchestra has appeared at diverse venues like the Harris Theater, North Shore Center for the Arts, Chicago Cultural Center, Northeastern Illinois University, Lutkin Hall (Northwestern University), Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, North Shore Congregation Israel, St. Adalbert’s Catholic Church, American Islamic College, Benito Juarez Community Academy, the Mexican Consulate, and the Chicago Public Library’s Chinatown Branch.

The LCO maintains an excellent artistic reputation throughout Chicagoland.  Renowned soloists who have appeared with the LCO include William Warfield, Lukas Foss, Rachel Barton-Pine, Wendy Warner, Dennis James, Denis Azebagic, Emir Nuhanovic, and David Schrader. Numerous musicians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra have performed with the orchestra including Albert Igolnikov, John Bruce Yeh, Charles Pikler, Samuel Magad and Ruben Gonzalez.  In 2016 the LCO was featured at the Sir Georg Solti Memorial Festival in Chicago.

With a long tradition of working closely with the Village of Lincolnwood, the LCO has given concerts in the Community Center, Village Hall, Lincolnwood Library, Proesel Park, St. John's Lutheran Church, the Carrington, Lincolnwood Place Retirement Community, Loeber Motors Mercedes Benz Dealership, and Grossinger's Cadillac Showroom. The orchestra has performed on numerous performing arts series including at the Lincolnwood Jewish Congregation, Chicago Silent Summer Film Festival (Portage Theater), Skokie Public Library, Northbrook Public Library, and Wilmette Fine Arts Commission Recital Series.