Chicago Master Singers fall concert marks the start of a new era
Chicago Master Singers will return to the concert stage this fall with its first live performances in more than 18 months. The concert is the first to be performed under the direction of the new music director, John C. Hughes, and at a new venue in Glenview.
The performances will be 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 7. Tickets are available at www.chicagomastersingers.org/concerts. Ticket prices are $25-$45, or $15 for full-time students.
Created around a theme of "Reflection," the concert program is a musical journey through the challenges of life's darker hours toward hope. It features classics as well as works by prominent living composers including Morten Lauridsen, Elaine Hagenberg, Nico Muhly and Eric Whitacre.
The chorus will perform both a cappella and accompanied by pianist Lyudmila Lakisova and cellist Steven Houser.
Hughes describes the program as "paradoxical in nature, combining works that are familiar and lesser known, old and new, on themes of loss and hope."
The music will be performed in sets that flow seamlessly and cohesively over 75 minutes.
The concert venue is Glenview Community Church at 1000 Elm St., Glenview. Safety policies at Chicago Master Singers concerts reflect the latest expert guidance. Details are at www.chicagomastersingers.org/healthy-concerts.
In 2020, Hughes, a distinguished collegiate and festival conductor, became the third music director of Chicago Master Singers in its 42-year history. During his first season with the chorus, he created CMS University, a popular series of weekly online seminars on a variety of choral music topics.
Chicago Master Singers (www.chicagomastersingers.org) is an auditioned chorus of volunteer singers from Chicago and many suburban communities. The chorus has performed choral masterworks in collaboration with professional soloists and orchestras in the Chicago area since 1979, and on tour throughout Europe.
The season will continue with "Gloria in Excelsis Deo" at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 11, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 12. Chicago Master Singers' Christmas concert tradition continues with favorites by Sir David Willcocks, John Rutter, and Philip Stopford, and beautiful works by Stephen Paulus, Abbie Betinis, Ola Gjeilo, and others.
The spring concert, "Jubilate Deo," on April 30 and May 1 will be a celebration of cathedral music, featuring Leonard Bernstein's "Chichester Psalms" and Tarik O'Regan's "Dorchester Canticles," with anthems by Benjamin Britten and Gerald Finzi.
Season tickets for all three concerts are 10% off the single-ticket prices.