Your news: Palatine Children's Chorus sings in Nashville
Gracing the same stage as such diverse notables as Booker T. Washington, Hank Williams and Katharine Hepburn, 35 singers from the Palatine Children's Chorus performed at the famed Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on July 14.
Choristers from five different states comprised the Crossroads Children's Festival Chorus, performing group choral numbers as well as singing backup for Country Music legend Ronnie Milsap, Tony award winner Sutton Foster and internationally acclaimed operatic soprano Kallen Esperian, a Barrington High School alumna, whose professional career has included performing opposite Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo in some of the great opera houses of the world.
The evening program included 21 selections, accompanied by a mini-orchestra, which the young singers had learned during their spring and summer concert seasons and refined during their stay in Nashville, under the direction of composer Stephen Hatfield and accompanist Russell Davis, himself a performer, arranger and composer.
The concert began with four choral pieces composed or arranged by Hatfield, followed by four songs which the choristers performed with Sutton Foster, including "Astonishing," which she sang on Broadway in the role she created as Jo March in Little Women.
The chorus also sang three additional pieces on their own throughout the show which included some simple choreography representing dance moves that reflected the origins and stories of the songs.
Selections with Kallen Esperian included "Never Never Land" from Peter Pan and "Nessun Dorma" from the Puccini opera Turandot.
Ronnie Milsap took the stage to perform four songs with the group, including "Smokey Mountain Rain," which was just named the Tennessee state song. One of the highlights of the show was his performance with the chorus of "Bridge Over Troubled Water."
The three artists joined the chorus for two finale numbers, ending fittingly with an encore performance of "How Can I Keep from Singing."
Ryman sales manager David Collier told the group, "I've seen a lot of great performances over the years, and two numbers you did gave me chills - 'Smokey Mountain Rain' with Ronnie Milsap and 'What a Wonderful World.' You'll have all our jobs in 10 years. You've lived what some performers never live - a chance to perform at the Ryman."
The festival performance was originally slated for the Grand Ole Opry, but spring floods resulted in the change of venue and a more challenging rehearsal schedule.
The singers accompanied by 15 staff members and chaperones took a nine-hour motor coach ride to Nashville on Saturday, then spent the next four days in daily seven-hour rehearsals in addition to performing a concert in which the five individual choruses performed for each other. When the work leading up to the main event was concluded, it was time to play and enjoy some of Music City. The group shopped, learned to line dance at the Wildhorse Saloon and toured the Ryman to learn about the historic venue in which they had performed.
The Palatine Children's Chorus is a program of the Palatine Park District. Under the artistic direction of Susan Falbo, the program is open to children and youth ages 6-18 and is made up of six individual choir levels. Singers receive weekly instruction in vocal skills and music theory. Since 1997, the Concert Choir has traveled to Canada, New York City, England, Wales, Hawaii, Austria and Italy. The singers, who traveled to Nashville, live in Palatine, Inverness, Rolling Meadows, Arlington Heights and Hoffman Estates.
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