Augustana Choir's spring tour to make stops in Naperville and Arlington Heights

As part of its spring tour, the Augustana Choir, under the direction of Jon Hurty, will be performing this weekend at Lutheran churches in Naperville and Arlington Heights.

The 52-voice ensemble will sing a selection of traditional and contemporary choral works. The choir is known for its innovative programming, attention to detail, and musical excellence.

The choir has a tradition of touring abroad and throughout the U.S. and has been invited to sing at many state and regional conventions.

The group's most recent tour, in the summer of 2022, was to Germany and the Czech Republic.

As part of the spring tour, they are performing concerts in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa.

"Our Midwest tours are always filled with the opportunity to interact with high school students," Hurty said. "We often collaborate with local high schools and have them perform a short set of music on our program and then sing together with them. This provides a rich experience, both for high school students that might consider attending Augustana as well as for our music education students.

"Midwest tours also allow us to rekindle contacts with alumni and close friends of our program - something that is especially important to the choir."

The concerts will begin at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 25, at Our Saviour's Lutheran Church, 815 S. Washington St. in Naperville; and on Sunday, March 26, at Our Saviour's Lutheran Church, 1234 N. Arlington Heights Road, Arlington Heights.

A freewill offering will be taken at each concert.

Established in 1931, the Augustana Choir has been conducted by Hurty since 1996. The choir has performed at Orchestra Hall in Chicago, and Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall in New York City, as well as many major cathedrals and concert venues in Sweden, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, Austria, Japan, Korea, Spain, France and the Czech Republic. Learn more at www.augustana.edu.