Elgin Master Chorale looks ahead after name change, rebranding

Upcoming concerts by the Elgin Master Chorale symbolize the evolution of the 68-year Fox Valley institution and its rebranding efforts, its leaders say.

The group - known for years as the Elgin Choral Union - will perform excerpts from the musicals of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein in three upcoming concerts, two at Elgin Community College and one at Orchestra Hall in Chicago. The first performance, March 6 at ECC, is designed to attract students and seniors, whose tickets and busing costs the nonprofit group hopes to fund via donations and sponsors.

"We want to expose students to the intersection of music and history," Elgin Master Chorale Board President Chris Johnson said. "Rodgers and Hammerstein - there is nothing like American musical theater. History is not just about wars and elections; history is also about culture."

The Elgin Master Chorale is a true gem, Johnson said.

"Outside of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, with all the respect to all the other choruses out there, we are probably the best chorus in Illinois," he said.

Elgin's commitment to fostering the arts - the city contributes funding via cultural arts commission grants - is a big part of the group's success, strategic development consultant Thomas De Walle said.

The Elgin Master Chorale, in turn, feels a commitment to the city and works in tandem with social service organizations such as Centro de Informacion, he said. For example, the group performs at citizenship recognition ceremonies held by the Elgin City Council each year.

The group, whose annual budget is about $300,000, is undergoing a rebranding process that included a new name and logo last summer, along with the addition of professional singers and the implementation of more strict audition procedures, De Walle said.

The group, which has about 90 members, has evolved greatly in the 10 years conductor Andy Lewis has been at the helm. He said the group is the go-to choir for the Elgin Symphony Orchestra.

"For the choir to even be heard, the choir itself really has to be large, and to be musical sounding, it has to be really highly trained," Lewis said. "That's our bread and butter."

There are now three paid, professional singers in the role of section leaders who also provide group voice lessons to other members, he said. Two more will be added soon, he said.

"Our membership has really responded tremendously to that," he said. "Having just a few professionals is sort of a rallying point. It makes just everyone sound better, everyone sing their best."

The group specializes in large choral works by orchestral classical masters - think Beethoven's 9th Symphony and Mozart's Requiem - but it's been fun to expand the repertoire for the upcoming concerts, he said.

"It's all these really great choruses and solo numbers," said Lewis, who conducts two choirs and teaches music theory at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "'South Pacific,' 'Carousel,' 'Oklahoma,'" - it's really great music, and we're having a lot of fun doing that."

The music of classical and contemporary masters has the potential to appeal to all young people, but it's not a mass-market product, Lewis said.

"We specialize in what we are really good at, and that is the greatest music written in the classical cannon. There are lot sand lots of young people that enjoy that."

For information, visit elginmasterchorale.org, facebook.com/pages/Elgin-Master-Chorale or call (847) 214-7225.