ESO Outdoors: Coming to Your Community this August

By Micha Oostenbrink

Grab your lawn chairs – ESO Outdoors returns for its third year of unforgettable musical experiences!

There is a lot to look forward to between August 17-27. We are excited to visit familiar ESO Outdoors locations again in Fort Saskatchewan, Beaumont, Stony Plain, and Devon. Within Edmonton, ESO Outdoors will return for a second year to Castle Downs Park. This year, members of your ESO will be performing two different programs across the five concerts. You will hear works by beloved composers including Mozart, Bach, and Handel, as well as other special treats, like Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and Ian Tyson’s Four Strong Winds. ESO Resident Conductor Cosette Justo Valdés will lead the orchestra, and it will also be a great opportunity to hear your ESO musicians perform exciting concertos and solos.

ESO Outdoors began back in the summer of 2021, when we tried something new and welcomed thousands of music lovers to a series of outdoor concerts held across the Edmonton area. The series was initially a pilot project to bring music into the community to safely combat social isolation while giving ESO musicians a chance to perform in larger groups for the first time since March 2020. The support we received was overwhelming and this initiative has since transformed into a community-building event where anyone can experience the ESO in a more accessible way.

This year, ESO Outdoors will kick off at Centennial Park in Devon on August 17. Join us for a unique concert and enjoy live music in a new environment. Bring your chair and a hat (don’t forget sunscreen!) and soak up the sun while members of the ESO serenade you with approachable, lighter classic pieces in a casual outdoor setting.

Tickets are pay-what-you-can and advanced registration is highly recommended.

View the ESO Outdoors schedule here.