Musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra annually perform more than 150 concerts, September through June in Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center in downtown Chicago, and every summer since 1936 at the Ravinia Festival on Chicago’s North Shore. The most recent member joined the CSO in August 2016 and the longest-tenured players in 1962. For a complete roster, go to cso.org.
For violinist Alison Dalton, notes, staffs and signatures in scores can now twist beyond her acuity. Due to the visual condition known as bull’s-eye maculopathy, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra violinist realizes that her “focal point is gone, and wherever I look, there’s the whiteout.” Dalton has long understood that people with her condition “historically just have had to quit. That’s old school, and I’m from that old school.” But quitting’s not a present option.