Northwest Choral Society concert celebrates splendor of the night sky
Of the many inspirations to which humans turn, few can rival the immense splendor of the night sky. The Northwest Choral Society will explore this theme in Stardust, a concert program about the stars, planets, and the night sky, at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 9, at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, 205 N. Prospect Ave., Park Ridge.
The concert will mark the 60th anniversary of the Northwest Choral Society singing and entertaining audiences in the Chicago suburbs.
In addition to conducting, artistic director Thomas Colao will accompany the choir by playing several songs on the church’s organ. Collaborative pianist Lori Lyn Mackie will accompany the chorus on other songs.
The concert music “Starlight” was “commissioned by and dedicated to Northwest Choral Society and its members” by composer Thomas LaVoy, who acknowledges the assistance of Mackie and former artistic director Alan Wellman on the music score. LaVoy is an award-winning composer and multi-instrumentalist. He received an undergraduate degree from Westminster Choir College and his PhD from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, where he was a choral scholar in the Chapel Choir of King’s College, Aberdeen.
American poet Sara Teasdale, who won the first Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1918, wrote the poem “Stars,” which was put to music by Eriks Esenvalds. The following NWCS members will be accompanying the song on “glass harps” — rubbing their moistened fingers around the rims of six wine glasses filled with water to different levels in order to create different pitches: Soozie Cotter-Schaufele of Des Plaines, Mary Jane Matecki and Penny Perles, Mount Prospect; Diane Szuberla, Schaumburg; Grace O’Brien, Hoffman Estates; Lori Schmidt, Palatine; and Lori Mackie, Burbank.
Other songs on the concert program include “O schone Nacht” by Johannes Brahms, “Measure Me, Sky!” by Elaine Hagenberg, “Water Night” by Eric Whitacre, “O Oriens” by Melissa Dunphy, and “Seek Him That Maketh The Seven Stars (Amos 5:8; Psalm 13)” by Jonathan Dove.
Tickets for the Stardust concert are $20 for adults and $15 for students and seniors and can be purchased online at nwchoralsociety.org, by calling (224) 585-9127, or prior to the concert at the church.
Northwest Choral Society’s next concert, “Northwest Christmas,” will be at 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 14, at St. Raymond de Penafort Church, Lincoln Street and Elmhurst Avenue, Mount Prospect. The concert will feature popular Christmas chorales and the opportunity to sing favorite songs of the season along with the choir.
About Northwest Choral Society
Founded in 1965, the Northwest Choral Society is a nonprofit organization that promotes and encourages the appreciation, understanding and performance of a wide variety of outstanding choral literature. Its adult membership resides in the greater Chicago area.
The Northwest Choral Society invites experienced singers to audition to join the organization. Basses, tenors, altos and sopranos with previous choral experience and at least 17 years old can obtain additional information about the Northwest Choral Society at nwchoralsociety.org.