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Civic Orchestra of Chicago
Civic Plays The Planets
Nov 17, 2025 — 7:30 PM
Overview
Thomas Wilkins guides listeners on a cosmic journey through The Planets, Holst’s interstellar suite spanning the ferocity of Mars to the ethereal stillness of Neptune. Drawing inspiration from the Orion Nebula and a Jewish harvest festival, James Lee III’s piece shows why he’s “a master colorist,” whose score is “dazzlingly vivid and teems with detail” (Gramophone).
Ticket Information: Pay what you wish, starting at $5, for this concert. By paying for your ticket, you demonstrate the value music plays in your life and help make this performance available to all. Seating is general admission.
Program
Lee III
Sukkot Through Orion’s Nebula
Holst
The Planets
Performers
Extras
Explore the cosmos with the Adler Planetarium
Learn more about the celestial bodies that inspired Holst’s The Planets! At 5:30 in the Forte event space at Symphony Center, join members of the Adler Planetarium Youth Leadership Council for hands-on activities, plus a Q&A with aspiring astronomers and program alumni Kyree Standifer and Anna Jensen. To access the event, enter Symphony Center at 67 E. Adams St. No separate ticket required.
Sponsors & Partners
The 2025/26 Civic Orchestra season is generously sponsored by Lori Julian for the Julian Family Foundation, which also provides major funding for the Civic Fellowship program.
The Civic Orchestra of Chicago acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council.
Discover more on Experience CSO
At its debut in 1918, Gustav Holst’s orchestral suite The Planets became a global phenomenon — it was so popular during Holst’s lifetime that it conferred what would now be considered rock-star status on the composer.
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James Lee III has written dozens of works during his career, but none has drawn more recognition than his orchestral work “Sukkot Through Orion’s Nebula.”
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On December 31, 1920, Frederick Stock led the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in the U.S. premiere of Gustav Holst's The Planets.
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