Led by Music Director Ahmed Al Abaca and manager Bula Bulicek, the South Loop Symphony Orchestra is a community orchestra based in Chicago's South Loop neighborhood. We are committed to performing music from the 20th and 21st centuries with a focus on living composers of color from the Chicago area and abroad.  featuring young soloists from the Chicago area. We are always looking to grow our orchestra by adding new members, particularly strings, and would love to have you join us!

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one of Ahmed's goals is to get to a 50% performance rate of chicago based composers. THey believe the only way to address the hesitancy of programming new music is to engage with local composers ranging from students composers to professional while also leaving room for composers from other parts of the country. Ahmed sees it as neglectful and disrespectful toward local and living composer when major ensembles continue to program music of dead European composers.  

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