The mission of St. Charles Singers is to perform, promote and preserve the finest choral music to inspire diverse audiences regionally, nationally and internationally. Thank you for your belief in our mission and for your support of our choir.

Kaleidoscope April 18^th, 19^th, 2020

The focal point of St. Charles Singers’ spring performance “Kaleidoscope”, will be the premier of Cello Songs, Suite for Cello, Choir and Piano, a composition by celebrated composer Jake Runestad. The work, a beautiful, 10 minute blending of music in 4 movements for cello, choir and piano, features internationally acclaimed cellist Sophie Webber. Cello Songs was commissioned by Jeff and David Hunt, and is made possible by a gift from Douglas Bella. The composition, which is dedicated to Doris Hunt. will anchor a program devoted, in part, to exploring the sensuous sound world of choir and cello.  British-born, San Diego-based Sophie Webber is an award-winning performer and composer who studied with legendary cellist Janos Starker at Indiana University, where she earned her doctorate in cello performance.  

The Kaleidoscope program includes the Chicago premier of Webber’s inventive B2C: Bach Cello Suites to Choir version of J.S. Bach’s Cello Suite No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009. Webber’s creation comprises J.S. Bach’s original score and her own choral accompaniment. The choral “lyrics,” penned for Webber by the King’s Singers longtime arranger and choir member Philip Lawson, consist of what choirmaster Hunt describes as “neutral syllables.”

Other choir-and-cello works on the program are Ola Gjeilo’s Serenity (O Magnum Mysterium) and Gregory Good’s arrangement of Dan Messe’s Half Acre.

Hunt notes Kaleidoscope offers listeners “a mosaic of songs reflecting romance, whimsy, religious faith, and observations on the world of nature.” 

Rounding out the program are Charles Villiers Stanford’s motet Beati Quorum Via (Blessed are those whose way) from Psalm 119, William Dawson’s Soon ah will be done, Arvo Pӓrt’s O Weisheit (O Wisdom) from his Seven Magnificat-Antiphons, and Felix Mendelssohn’s Frühlingsfeier (Celebration of Spring).

Kaleidoscope will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 18, at Old St. Patrick’s Church, 700 W. Adams St., Chicago; and 3 p.m. Sunday, April 19, at Baker Memorial United Methodist Church, 307 Cedar Ave., St. Charles.

Single admission to the concert is $40 for adults, $35 for seniors 65 and older, and $10 for students. Group discounts are available.

​Tickets and information are available at www.stcharlessingers.com or by calling (630) 513-5272. 

Visit www.stcharlessingers.com to purchase tickets

Saturday, April 18, 7:30 pm, Old St. Patrick’s Church, Chicago

* Baker Church is located at 307 Cedar Ave., St Charles, IL 60174

Individual Tickets:  $40 – adults; $35 – seniors; $10 – students (ID may be requested)

MOZART JOURNEY – Just 2 Steps to go …

Thank you for joining St. Charles Singers for our 2019 Mozart Festival, during which we presented the 15th of the 17 steps of our Mozart Journey, a seventeen concert undertaking to perform and record the complete known volume of Wolfgang Mozart’s sacred choral compositions. With a few notable exceptions, i.e. The Coronation Mass and The Requiem, Mozart’s sacred works are seldom performed.  To the choir’s knowledge no American recordings, or even recent European collections, exist of this genre of Mozart’s work.  Now, with just 2 remaining steps of the Journey, Maestro Hunt and the choir remain passionately committed to completing this endeavor to perform and record these 18^th Century works for a 21^st Century audience. 

Regina Coeli K108, Meredith Taylor Du Bon, soprano

SAVE THE DATE:  Mozart Festival, Mozart Journey XVI, August 27 – 30, 2020

 

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