Who Are We?

Founded by musicians of the Lyric Opera Orchestra in 1979, The Chicago Philharmonic Society is a collaboration of over 250 of the highest-level classical musicians in the Midwest. Our orchestra, known as the Chicago Philharmonic, has been called one of the country’s finest symphonic orchestras, and our unique chamber music ensembles perform as Chicago Phil Chamber. The brilliance of our structure is in our versatility – we curate the best ensemble for each concert from our exceptional pool of musicians, be it classical, jazz, pops, movie concerts, outreach programming, and everything else.

The Illinois Council of Orchestras has awarded Chicago Philharmonic “Orchestra of the Year” (2018), “Programming of the Year” (2019), “Community Relations of the Year” (2019), “Executive Director of the Year” (2020), and “Conductor of the Year” (2021).

“One of the country’s finest symphonic orchestras.”
John von Rhein, – Chicago Tribune