News

Songs of freedom fill the air at Elgin Children's Chorus concert

Posted March 05, 2009 10:00 pm

By Jamie Greco Daily Herald correspondent

For the Elgin Children's Chorus on the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth, freedom is the word.

Conductors chose the music for the spring concert in keeping with the title, "Freedom Sings," according to Executive Director Ann E. Kepley.

The chorus has been showcasing the children of the Fox Valley for 23 years, she said.

"It's kind of interesting to see what (the conductors) pick and how they balance it," Kepley said. "Obviously, if you have two songs from the Holocaust you need something like 'Laughing and Shouting For Joy' by J.S. Bach."

Andrew Jeffrey will be a guest conductor with this production, leading the concert choir and the chamber choir in what he describes as a wide variety of music.

"As I thought about Lincoln's birthday, I realized there are so many themes related to freedom," he said. "There are a lot of other music traditions and music from different time periods that have come out of different historical events that are related to the idea of freedom."

"I thought it would be a good idea to expose kids to some music that tied it to the theme and gave us the opportunity to talk about some of the issues," he said.

Having expanded the idea of freedom from a strictly Lincoln related subject, Jeffrey

went about choosing from a vast collection of music. "Everything from a song in Hebrew that talks about one who makes peace in the Middle East region to a song called, 'Bird Song' which was written by a child in a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia.

"It's a really positive song about hope," Jeffrey said. "It's about happiness. It's an interesting text that comes out of a really horrible time period in human history."

Jeffrey, who is the choir director at Glenbard West High School in Glen Ellyn, also drew from a more traditional focus including spirituals coming from the African-American and classical tradition.

"One's a Vivaldi piece and the other is a cantata by J.S. Bach about joyfulness."

Beth Ellis, who conducts the intermezzo choir, has also chosen a unique group of songs for Freedom Sings.

"We are doing a song called, 'Follow the Drinking Gourd,' it's from the African-American tradition," Ellis said. "The drinking gourd was the North Star so it was directions to the Underground Railroad and how to escape and who was going to help them along the way."

"It has whispering, speaking parts. You're telling a story with that one," she explained. "The music speaks to you first but you find meaning in the text and the meaning is important so that you can sing the song that will move the audience."

"The Battle Hymn of the Republic," perhaps the song most closely associated with the Civil War and Lincoln, will be covered by the intermezzo choir, which has afforded a teaching opportunity for Ellis. "We spent some time talking about the Civil War and what these songs meant," she said.

On the opposite end of the serious spectrum is the jazz classic called "Route 66," an ode to the open road.

"I like to take a jazz standard as often as I can because it's uniquely American," said Ellis.

Ellis has added some choreography to the "Route 66" number and says the kids really enjoy the aspect.

"That's always their favorite thing to do. Kids naturally want to move."

Another piece features the words of Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Swing."

"It's about how children feel when they're swinging and the sense of freedom from that," said Ellis.

Ellis said she looks for selections with familiarity and lesser-known titles.

"They'll probably know 'Route 66' and 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic' and the other two songs they won't be (familiar with)," she said. "I go for variety and quality, what will be appealing. There has to be something teachable in it. It has to be appealing to the students so they'll want to work on it."

The treble choir led by Lisa Bettcher has been working hard as well, learning such songs as "Little Innocent Lamb," an African-American spiritual; "Down in the Red River Valley", a bluegrass tune and "Let There Be a Song" by Dave and Jean Perry.

But the chorus, which consists of 150 children, ages 7-16, with unchanged voices, meaning there are no basses or tenors, is not all about education, according to Kepley.

"These are young musicians, they enjoy singing," said Kepley. "It serves as an outlet for them, but they also learn team building skills and listening and following skills, creative and social skills, discipline and commitment."

If you go What: Freedom Sings, a concert by the Elgin Children's Chorus When: 3 p.m. Sunday, March 8 Where: Elgin Community College Performing Arts Center, 1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin Tickets: $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, $8 for students. Visit <a href="http://www.elgin.edu/arts" target="new">www.elgin.edu/arts</a> or call (847) 622-0300.