About Beyond the Score®
Watch new full-length streaming videos:
Beyond the Score® stage at Symphony Center, Chicago
Learn More. Hear More.
Experience more.
Designed not only for classical music aficionados, but also
for newcomers looking to delve deeper into the world
of classical music, the first half of each Beyond the Score®
program offers a multimedia examination of the selected
score-its context in history, how it fits into the composer's
output of works, the details of a composer's life that
influenced its creation-sharing the illuminating stories
found "inside" the music.
"Seldom has enlightenment proved so entertaining."
— Chicago Tribune
Written and created by the
CSO's creative director, Gerard McBurney, live musical
examples are called upon to illustrate the structure of each
composition. After an intermission, concertgoers return
to the hall with newly discovered knowledge to hear a
performance of the work played in its entirety.
Read more about Beyond the Score® programs and download FREE video files »
Gerard McBurney
Creative Director,
Beyond the Score®
Critical Acclaim for Beyond the Score®
"The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has a winner in Beyond the Score®, its newest attempt to rethink the way
audiences experience live classical music."
— Chicago Sun-Times
"Of all the various attempts by the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra in recent years to lure new listeners to
Symphony Center and stimulate a deeper understanding
of its music, none has proved more of a runaway hit,
deservedly so, than the Beyond the Score® series."
— Chicago Tribune
"I couldn't help notice however that what made the
presentation work as an experience that really
changed my perception of the work was the high degree
of artistry applied to the presentation. It wasn't the
information that got to me, it was the art."
— Jesse Rosen, ASOL
"With Beyond the Score®, the CSO has created common ground on which newbies and seasoned concertgoers can meet, learn and be entertained."
— Chicago Tribune
Major support for Beyond the Score® is provided by a grant from The Davee Foundation.
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