St. Charles Singers receives $6,500 local grant to produce new CD

The Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley has awarded a $6,500 grant to the St. Charles Singers to help pay for manufacturing the choir's forthcoming CD album of modern American choral works.

The foundation's capital expenditures grant will underwrite the physical production of the locally-based professional chamber choir's "American Reflections" album on the MSR Classics label. The grant will pay for manufacturing 1,000 CDs, CD jewel boxes, and enclosed booklets.

In a statement, Julie Christman, the foundation's director of community involvement, praised the choir's work as "a critically acclaimed example of the outstanding artistic endeavors taking place in Illinois' Fox Valley region."

The St. Charles Singers recorded "American Reflections," which features 20th and 21st century American music, during its June 2017 concert tour of six historic English cathedrals. "These locations offered magnificent acoustics for performing and recording these choral gems," said Kay Kendall, the choir's executive director. "We wanted to share this experience with choral music enthusiasts in the community, across the U.S., and beyond."

Kendall noted that while the album will also be available for download and on streaming platforms, "physical CDs are still the preferred medium for many classical music listeners, and the foundation's grant makes it possible to fulfill their wishes."

Jeffrey Hunt, St. Charles Singers founder and music director, says the album "showcases radiant works by revered American composers. They mirror and speak to our national spirit."

The album's centerpiece is Dominick Argento's "Walden Pond," from 1996, a sublime five-song cycle for chorus, three cellos, and harp. It's a virtuosic, evocative work inspired by Henry David Thoreau's "Walden," his classic meditation on nature and self-reliance.

The choir anticipates the album will be released in late spring 2018. CDs will first be available online at www.stcharlessingers.com and amazon.com and locally at TownHouse Books in downtown St. Charles. The album will be released industrywide shortly thereafter.

This is the third capital expenditures grant that the Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley has awarded the St. Charles Singers in recent years. A 2015 grant helped manufacture the choir's "Bushes & Briars" CD, featuring choral arrangements of British folk music. A grant in 2013 helped pay for the concert ticketing software program used by the choir's box office.

The Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley is a nonprofit, tax-exempt, philanthropic organization that administers individual charitable funds from which grants and scholarships are distributed to benefit the citizens of the greater Aurora area, the Tri-Cities, and Kendall County, Illinois.

Founded in 1948, the foundation provides a simple and powerful approach to charitable giving. Individuals, families, businesses and organizations have the opportunity to custom design their own named funds that reflect their charitable goals and interests.

Since its inception, the Community Foundation has grown to more than $80 million in assets and has awarded more than $63 million in grants and scholarships.

For more information on the foundation, visit www.CommunityFoundationFRV.org.

Now in its 34th concert season under its founder and music director Jeffrey Hunt, the St. Charles Singers is recognized locally, nationally, and internationally for its uniquely beautiful blend of voices and its vast and diverse repertoire.

For more information or to purchase concert tickets or CDs, visit www.stcharlessingers.com.