The 37-year-old Lake Forest Civic Orchestra is celebrating a well-deserved honor. It has been named Community Orchestra of the Year for 2026 by the Illinois Council of Orchestras.
“I was really proud of the work that LFCO did in any number of ways during my entire tenure,” said Chris Ramaekers, who served as Music Director of the orchestra from 2018 to May of 2025 when he accepted a full-time position at the University of Texas in El Paso. “And I think that the last season that I was there especially the group clicked into a different category. They really upped their game in terms of the level of playing but also in terms of organization.”
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Ramaekers reported that the orchestra has always gotten support from its audiences and the Lake Forest Community.
He added, “To have all of that also recognized by a group with the history that the ICO has that’s a cherry on top.”
Ramaekers praised last season’s highlights, which included a January performance of Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9,” which he conducted.
“That was a huge undertaking, artistically, organizationally, logistically,” Ramaekers explained. “We invited other players who wanted to fill out the orchestra. We hired four soloists. And then we collaborated with two different choirs — Chicago Master Singers and Lux Cantorum.”
Preparing for that project started two years before the performance.
It was a season of “big stories,” said Ramaekers, who called that season “Epics, Odes, and Sagas.”
Since they were going to play Beethoven’s last symphony, Ramaekers started the season with his first, “Symphony No. 1,” pairing it with pieces about the creation of the world.
For the last concert, which fell on May 4, the orchestra played the “Star Wars” theme as well as the pieces that inspired composer John Williams to compose that theme.
“I got to wear a cloak and walk onstage with a light saber,” Ramaekers laughingly revealed.
Howard Martino has been Board President of the Lake Forest Civic Orchestra for around 15 years and has played bass in the orchestra that long, too.
Learning that the Lake Forest Civic Orchestra had been selected as Community Orchestra of the Year was “such an amazing feeling,” Martino said. “We worked so hard as a board and as an orchestra to perfect our craft and it was so rewarding.”
Martino noted that the Illinois Council of Orchestras told them that they were impressed with how organized the Lake Forest Civic Orchestra is.
“It was good to get affirmation that what they were saying is what others felt was worthy of us earning that honor,” Martino said.
He noted that one of the biggest strengths of the orchestra is its participation in the community. They have smaller format groups that play throughout the community at such events as house tours, tree lightings, and even at a wedding.
They also offer opportunities for young artists to perform with the orchestra, Martino said.
“We partner with Midwest Young Artists,” he noted. “We take the winner of their concerto contest and they get to play their piece along with a live symphony orchestra.”
Martino admitted that sometimes it’s hard for him to play at that concert because “my eyes get all teary. You can imagine the feeling the kid has right now.”
The Lake Forest Civic Orchestra’s May 3 concert is sold out but they are selling tickets for the 2026-2027 season which will be led by four guest conductors as the orchestra continues its search for a new music director.
For tickets, visit lakeforestcivicorchestra.org.
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Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.