The Joliet Symphony Orchestra’s 2025-2026 Season, our 21st, promises to be an exciting and musically fulfilling one for musicians and audiences alike! Performing in Sexton Auditorium on the University of St. Francis campus (500 Wilcox St; Joliet), the Joliet Symphony Orchestra offers family-friendly, quality performances of orchestral music from all eras. Comprised of USF faculty, staff & students as well as community members, the JSO is Joliet’s symphony orchestra.

 

We encourage everyone to “come as you are” to our performances as attending a concert should be a comfortable and enjoyable experience. We invite you to arrive 45-minutes prior to our performances to hear our Artistic Director & Conductor, Sean Paul Mills, and guest artists chat about the music on each program as well as share their insights into the composers, the compositions, the rehearsal process, and all things musical!

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The Joliet Symphony Orchestra’s 2025-2026 Season begins on Saturday, September 27 & Sunday, September 28 with “Impassioned” featuring Saxophonist Nathan Bogert performing David Canfield's Concerto after Gliere. Also on the program are Giuseppe Verdi's powerful Nabucco Overture and Alexander Borodin's monumental Symphony No. 2 in b minor.

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​We get a "two-for-the-price-of-one" special on Saturday November 22 & Sunday, November 23 when violinist Rebekah Cope-Evers & cellist Patricia White join the JSO for "Virtuosity x2". This concert features Johannes Brahms' unique Double Concerto in a minor alongside Hector Berlioz's exuberant Hungarian March and Ludwig van Beethoven's ever-popular Symphony No. 5 in c minor.

 

​Saturday, January 17 marks the return of our ever-popular “Family Concert.” Admission is FREE for this event and features not only a family-friend approach to the music but also an opportunity for audience members to interact with the musicians and even try out some instruments!

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“Made in America” is the theme for our Saturday, February 21 & Sunday, February 22 performances with guest mezzo-soprano Jennifer Barrett performing Aaron Copland's Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson and the JSO's own Christi Allison (English horn) and Alyson Bauman (trumpet) featured as soloists on Copland's Quiet City. The JSO will also be premiering a new work by USF faculty member Allen Pierre Cotton, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's buoyant Ballade, and Howard Hanson's too infrequently performed Symphony No. 2 "Romantic."

 

​​Our "Grand Finale" to the season will take place on Saturday, April 25 & Sunday, April 26, and will feature St. Louis-based flautist Paola Cubillos performing Carl Reinecke's virtuosic & tuneful Flute Concerto in D Major. Carl Maria von Weber's brooding Der Freischutz Overture and Antonin Dvorak's rapturously beautiful Symphony No. 6 in D Major help conclude our 21st Season. What an incredible conclusion to a spectacular season of soloists and music!

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Don't forget to come 45 minutes early to our performances and enjoy an opportunity to learn more about the music during our "Noteworthy" pre-concert chats with Artistic Director & Conductor Sean Paul Mills and guests!