St. Charles Singers Announces 2017-18 Concerts

The St. Charles Singers has announced its complete 2017-2018 concert programming, which will mark the professional chamber choir's 34th season.

The mixed-voice ensemble, led by founder and music director Jeffrey Hunt, will present three different concert programs: the newest installment of its "Mozart Journey," the choir's multi-season survey of Mozart's complete sacred choral music; a Christmas concert with new arrangements of favorite carols; and a season finale featuring Ildebrando Pizzetti's "Requiem" and Benjamin Britten's "Hymn to St. Cecilia."

Mozart Journey XII

Hunt will conduct the St. Charles Singers and Metropolis Chamber Orchestra in "Mozart Journey XII" at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 30, at Baker Memorial United Methodist Church, 307 Cedar Ave., St. Charles; and at 4 p.m. on Sunday, October 1, at St. Mary Catholic Church, 397 Fulton St., Elgin.

"Audiences will hear some of Mozart's lesser-known but most transcendent choral works," Hunt says. These pieces will delight those who enjoy Mozart's symphonies and operas, he says.

Mozart's "Litaniae de venerabili altaris sacramento" (Litany in Honor of the Blessed Sacrament) in B-flat Major, K. 125, enlists soprano, alto, tenor, and bass soloists; four-part chorus; and an orchestra of woodwinds, brass, and strings, with organ accompaniment.

A highlight of Mozart's festive "Regina coeli" (Queen of Heaven) in C Major, K. 108, is a delicate, demanding operatic soprano solo with florid passages and wide vocal leaps. The uplifting final movement has been compared to a miniature symphony finale.

Mozart's "Misericordias Domini" (Mercies of the Lord) in D-minor, K.222, has been described as a "masterpiece of counterpoint." Mozart wrote it to demonstrate his skill at writing multiple melody lines that work perfectly together.

The chamber orchestra will perform Mozart's high-spirited Symphony No. 12 in G Major, K. 110. Mozart, then 15 years old, wrote this charming short symphony in 1771, the same year as the "Regina coeli," K. 108, to be heard in the program.

A preconcert lecture by Wheaton College Professor of Music Jonathan Saylor will begin an hour before each Mozart Journey performance.

Candlelight Carols: Fresh Takes on Holiday Favorites

The St. Charles Singers' "Candlelight Carols" concerts have been an annual tradition since the choir's founding in 1984.

The 2017 edition of the Christmas program will offer "fresh and engaging new arrangements of favorite carols," Hunt says.

These include "Jingle Bells" arranged for eight-part choir by Ben Parry. Hunt describes it as "jazz-inspired, complex, and very rhythmically interesting."

Hunts says that despite the holiday concert's longstanding title, this will be the first edition that consists solely of carols, rather than a mix of carols, motets, and anthems.

"About 90 percent of the repertoire is new to the St. Charles Singers," Hunt says.

Hunt has selected a half-dozen arrangements from a newly published collection titled "Christmas Carols of the World." Among them are Niels Gade's "Barn Jesus i en krybbe la," Jakub Zicha's "Byla cesta," Mark Sirett's "Huron Carol," Hans Schanderl's "Kiris Bara Bari," Jehan Alain's "Noël nouvelet," and John Rutter's "The holly and the ivy."

Also on the Christmas program: "In the Bleak Midwinter" by Ola Gjeilo; "My Lord Has Come" by Will Todd; "A Hymn to the Virgin" by Benjamin Britten, "Tuoro, louro, louro" by Robert Shaw and Alice Parker; "I Saw Three Ships" by Simon Preston; "Deck the Hall" by Hugo Cole, "Good King Wenseslas" by Paul Halley, and "Silent Night" by David Willcocks.

Hunt says the concert aims to be "fun and entertaining to see as well as to hear" and hints that there might be a few visual props - perhaps even a chorister or two in costume - and instruments creating atmospheric effects suggested by the lyrics.

The choir will present "Candlelight Carols" at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, December 1, at Baker Memorial Church in St. Charles; 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 2, at Fourth Presbyterian Church, 126 E. Chestnut St., Chicago; and 3 p.m. on Sunday, December 3, at Baker Church in St. Charles.

Pizzetti's Rarely Heard Requiem

The St. Charles Singers' season-finale concert will feature the choir's first-ever performance of Italian composer Ildebrando Pizzetti's "Messa di Requiem," an early 20th-century masterpiece that will occupy the concert's first half.

Music critics have called it "very listener friendly" and "a work of great beauty and sincerity" that "deserves to be far better known."

Pizzetti is known for operas that make exceptionally dramatic use of the chorus.

His "Requiem," an unaccompanied work in five-movements completed in 1923, combines late Romantic harmonies with neo-Renaissance polyphony and Gregorian chant.

"This is deep-dish Pizzetti," says choirmaster Hunt.

For contrast, the rest of the concert is devoted to English choral music.

Especially noteworthy, Hunt says, is Benjamin Britten's virtuosic "Hymn to St. Cecilia" for five-part choir and soloists, from 1942, with text by poet W. H. Auden.

Hunt calls it "remarkable, one of the finest pieces of choral music ever written." Audiences will hear "sophisticated use of word-painting, with the melody emulating what's happening in the words."

The concert will conclude with choral arrangements of English folk songs. From the two-volume Oxford Press collection "Folk-Songs for Choirs" come Edward Bairstow's arrangement of "The Oak and the Ash," James Byrt's "Faithful Johnny," Donald James's "Strawberry Fair," and Ralph Vaughan Williams's "The Turtle Dove." Hunt will also lead the choir in selections from Oxford's "A Fancy of Folksongs," a set of four choral arrangements, with harp or piano accompaniment, by composer Cecilia McDowell.

Concerts will be at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 28, at Grace Lutheran Church, 7300 W. Division St., River Forest, Ill.; and at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 29, at Baker Church in St. Charles.

Tickets and Information

Single tickets for all concerts are $35 adult general admission, $30 for seniors 65 and older, and $10 for students.

Tickets and general information about the St. Charles Singers are available at www.stcharlessingers.com or by calling (630) 513-5272. Tickets are also available at Townhouse Books, 105 N. Second Ave., St. Charles (checks or cash only at this ticket venue). Tickets may also be purchased at the door on the day of the concert, depending on availability. Group discounts are available.

Chorus America Concert

The St. Charles Singers will reprise English works from its April program for a performance at the 2018 annual conference of Chorus America, a national organization of professional vocal ensembles, to be held June 20-23 in Chicago. The St. Charles Singers is one of a select handful of choirs invited to sing at the industry conference.

St. Charles Singers

Founded and directed by Jeffrey Hunt, the St. Charles Singers is a professional chamber choir dedicated to choral music in all its forms. The mixed-voice choir launched in St. Charles in 1984 as the Mostly Madrigal Singers. ClassicsToday.com calls the ensemble "one of North America's outstanding choirs," citing "charisma and top-notch musicianship" that "bring character and excitement to each piece."

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