Constable: Chorale groups keep seniors in tune

As the artistic director and CEO of Encore Illinois, Jonathan Miller has grown the group created in early 2016 to seven choruses with 400 singers across the suburbs and city. This week, he reached a more personal milestone.

"I'm old enough to sing in my own choir," quips Miller, who turned 55, the minimum age for his organization designed for older singers. Many of the singers are in their 70s or 80s. "But we don't card," Miller says with a grin.

The concept of a choral group designed for older people grew out a health study, developed by the National Endowment for the Arts and George Washington University, titled, "The Creativity and Aging Study: The Impact of Professionally Conducted Cultural Programs on Older Adults."

It concluded that older people are healthier, have reduced risk factors that land them in long-term care and are more likely to maintain their independence and to be more social when they sing in a choir conducted by a professional.

Started in Washington, D.C., the not-for-profit Encore now has affiliates in seven states.

"It's taking off all over the country. It's somewhat of a rage," explains Bob Black, an 86-year-old Arlington Heights man who joined the choir in part to give him a respite while caring for his wife, Jean, who suffers from dementia. "Years ago, when I was 11, I was in a choir at Sts. Peter & Paul Cathedral in Providence, Rhode Island, and I really enjoyed it. It is rather relaxing. It makes me feel good."

Miller and his wife Sandy Siegel Miller, who joined him in founding the chorale effort in Illinois, say they hear that all the time.

"Most people don't sign up because of the health benefit, but it's there," Jonathan Miller says.

"It's about the singing," says member Jenna Eisenberg, 67, before quickly adding, "but, really, it's about the community."

The Wheaton chiropractor says a friend in her writers' group talked her into seeing one of Encore Illinois' free concerts last year.

"When I got home that night, I got on the computer and signed up. It just looked like so much fun," she says, noting that she gets an extra kick out of her two young grandsons coming to see her perform.

The Millers run the operation out of their home in Downers Grove. They use the CD-burner next to the dog crate in their basement to produce recordings that let people hear each of the four parts (soprano, alto, tenor and bass) that make up the finished piece.

"Which is how most children learn to sing, by ear," Siegel Miller says, noting that members aren't required to read music or audition. The fall practice schedule begins Wednesday in Arlington Heights, Thursday in Hinsdale and Sept. 12 in Glen Ellyn.

Members pay $175 for 15 weeks of rehearsals and concerts under the direction of professional conductors, and can attend practices and concerts at any location, including Evanston, Oak Park/River Forest, and Chicago's Hyde Park and Gold Coast neighborhoods.

For details visit encoreillinois.org.

Growing up in Glen Ellyn, Sandy Siegel Miller, now studying to become a deacon in the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, played French horn and sang alto in her Presbyterian Church choir. She still blushes at the memory of her 13-year-old self, the only teenager in the adult choir, singing a sevenfold "Amen" part while the rest of the choir sang a simple threefold version.

Her husband, who grew up Jewish in Hyde Park, landed a spot by age 9 with the prestigious Chicago Children's Choir. Starting as a boy soprano and staying with the choir until he was a Kenwood High School student singing bass, he also played a little oboe and the clarinet. But his career path, which included a stay in math camp, seemed a bit more practical.

"I thought I was going to be a college professor, but I couldn't stop performing," Jonathan Miller says. "When I was 15 or 16, I got bit by the choral bug."

The founding artistic director of Chicago a cappella, Jonathan Miller is a veteran of recordings and performances around the globe. He has worked as a composer, arranger, producer and radio host. His "Wacky Christmas Carols," featuring mashups of classic songs such as "Jingle Bells" and "Hallelujah Chorus" have been performed by numerous choral groups and have been watched by thousands on YouTube.

There are no starring roles in the chorale groups. Some members are accomplished singers. Some have never sung. And some, including Jonathan Miller's 81-year-old mom, Mary, haven't sung in a choir since their teenage years, "which is cool," he says.

Ruthanne Johnson, 87, of Arlington Heights, met her husband, Frank, singing in the Kraft Foods Co. choir. Kraft disbanded the choir in the late 1950s, "and then I stopped," Johnson says. "There was no place else to sing."

Now a widow, she sings with the Arlington Heights group.

"The people I'm meeting are wonderful," Johnson says. "Singing parts with people is a camaraderie you don't find in any other way. It's a wonderful feeling."