Orchestra celebrates 30 years
By ELIZABETH OWENS-SCHIELE Contributor June 2, 2011 11:20AM
Anatol Lysenka, conductor of the North Shore Chamber Orchestra
The ‘New’ North Shore Chamber
Orchestra
Unitarian Church of Evanston, 1330 Ridge Ave., Evanston
3:30 p.m. Sunday, June 5
Tickets, $25 at door; free to children under age 14
(847) 864-2288 or thenewnorthshorechamberorchestra.org
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Updated: January 23, 2012 12:32AM
Thirty years ago, Harvey Treger couldn’t find a place to play.
“I was looking for a place to play cello so I thought I’d form my own orchestra,” said Treger, founder, president and CEO of the Evanston-based North Shore Chamber Orchestra. He’s been playing cello since the age of 13, and always considered it a hobby.
After teaching social work at the University of Illinois-Chicago for 29 years, he fell into a full-time role managing the orchestra when he retired nine years ago. The North Shore Orchestra, which performs four concerts annually, is composed of 40 members from all walks of life who made music a weekly hobby.
“We have strings, woodwinds, brass — we’re looking for a tuba — but we have percussion and a harp when we need it,” said Treger, 86.
The North Shore Chamber Orchestra will celebrate its 30th anniversary with a fundraising concert and reception on Sunday, June 5 at 3:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Church of Evanston.
The program will feature internationally known cellist Stephen Balderston, former assistant principal of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, who will perform the Schumann Cello Concerto. The orchestra, under the direction of Anatol Lysenka, will also play an “Aria” by Lithuanian composer Lev Abeliovich, arranged by conductor Lysenka. The orchestra will also perform Beethoven’s 5th Symphony.
“I think it will be a special treat for anyone to hear Stephen Balderston play and to hear the great music of Beethoven,” Treger said. “We’re an all-volunteer orchestra, people who enjoy music and who have a common interest in getting together and playing great music. We have people in all kinds of professions — doctors, lawyers, judges.”
Among them is oboist Diane Wood, a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit who was on the short list for appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court last year when the nomination went instead to U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan.
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