St. Charles Singers to perform 'deep dish' Pizzetti 'Requiem' April 28-29
The St. Charles Singers' season-finale concerts will feature the professional chamber choir's first-ever performances of Italian composer Ildebrando Pizzetti's "Messa di Requiem," an early 20th-century masterpiece that will occupy the program's first half.
The final concert, conducted by Jeffrey Hunt, will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 28, at Grace Lutheran Church, 7300 W. Division in River Forest, and 3 p.m. Sunday, April 29, at Baker Memorial United Methodist Church, 307 Cedar Ave. in downtown St. Charles.
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 Hunt, St. Charles Singers' founder and music director.
Music critics have called it "very listener friendly" and "a work of great beauty and sincerity" that "deserves to be far better known."
For contrast, the concert's second half will be devoted to English and American music.
The choir will perform 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 include choral arrangements of English folk songs. From the two-volume Oxford Press collection "Folk-Songs for Choirs" comes James Byrt's "Among the Leaves So Green, O."
Hunt will also lead the choir in a selection from the Oxford collection "A Fancy of Folksongs": composer Cecilia McDowell's arrangement of "Green Bushes," with piano accompaniment.
The program will conclude with American choral works from the St. Charles Singers' forthcoming album, "American Reflections."
Single general admission tickets are $35, $30 for seniors 65 or older, or $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.
Season-Finale Singers
St. Charles Singers choristers who'll be performing in the season-finale program include sopranos Jeanne Fornari of Batavia, Marybeth Kurnat of Cortland, Laura Johnson of Hanover Park, Cynthia Spiegel of La Fox, Meredith Du Bon and Jennifer Gingrich of Naperville, AnDréa James and Jess Palmisano of St. Charles, Chelsea Rhodes of Sycamore, and Karen Lukose of Winfield.
Members of the alto section are Christina Collins of Arlington Heights, Valerie Heinkel-Bollero and Margaret Fox of Batavia, Liz Hutchinson of Glen Ellyn, Julie Popplewell of North Aurora, Bridget Kancler of Oak Park, and Debby Wilder of Wheeling.
Tenors are Rob Campbell of DeKalb, Bryan Kunstman and Bradley Staker of Elburn, Jonathan Cramer of Gurnee, Aaron James of St. Charles, Gregor King of Sycamore, David Hunt of Wayne, and Steve Williamson of West Chicago.
The choir's bass section includes Jess Koehn and Michael Thoms of Aurora, Brandon Fox of Batavia, Anthony Quaranta of Carol Stream, Chris DiMarco of Naperville, Mike Popplewell of North Aurora, Drayton Eggleson of Sycamore, and Jens Hurty of Yorkville.
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." Chicago Tribune classical music critic John von Rhein has described the ensemble as "splendidly disciplined, beautifully responsive" and proclaimed, "Chamber chorus singing doesn't get much better than this."