Northwest Choral Society https://nwchoralsociety.org/ Giving Voice to JOY Tue, 25 May 2021 15:13:23 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://nwchoralsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/cropped-NWCSICON-3-32x32.png Northwest Choral Society https://nwchoralsociety.org/ 32 32 2020-2021 Handbook Revised https://nwchoralsociety.org/2020-2021-handbook-revised/ Tue, 25 May 2021 15:13:23 +0000 https://nwchoralsociety.org/?p=3712 https://nwchoralsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/NWCS_20-21_Handbook_Clean-Copy-converted.pdf

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2021 Handbook https://nwchoralsociety.org/2021-handbook/ Fri, 29 Jan 2021 19:13:33 +0000 https://nwchoralsociety.org/?p=3684 Click the link below to download the NWCS 2020-2021 Handbook. https://nwchoralsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/NWCS_20-21_Handbook_Clean-Copy-converted.pdf

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Click the link below to download the NWCS 2020-2021 Handbook.

https://nwchoralsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/NWCS_20-21_Handbook_Clean-Copy-converted.pdf

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2020 Membership Roster https://nwchoralsociety.org/2020-membership-roster/ Fri, 29 Jan 2021 19:08:37 +0000 https://nwchoralsociety.org/?p=3681 Click the link below to download the Membership Roster 2019-2020-Membership-Roster.pdf

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Click the link below to download the Membership Roster

2019-2020-Membership-Roster.pdf

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Christmas Concert 2019 https://nwchoralsociety.org/christmas-concert-2019/ Fri, 15 Nov 2019 14:26:46 +0000 http://nwchoralsociety.org/christmas-concert-2019/ LAUDA Respighi’s Laud to the Nativity Sunday, December 15, 2019 St. Raymond de Penafort Church Elmhurst Ave. & Lincoln St., Mt. Prospect 3:30 p.m. Pre-Concert Chat 4:00 p.m. Concert

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LAUDA

Respighi’s Laud to the Nativity

Sunday, December 15, 2019
St. Raymond de Penafort Church
Elmhurst Ave. & Lincoln St., Mt. Prospect
3:30 p.m. Pre-Concert Chat
4:00 p.m. Concert

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Join Us! https://nwchoralsociety.org/join-us-post/ Sat, 10 Aug 2019 17:55:56 +0000 http://nwchoralsociety.org/join-us/ The post Join Us! appeared first on Northwest Choral Society.

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recruitment poster frm Julie jpeg version

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Northwest Choral Invites Prospective Members to Meet & Greet https://nwchoralsociety.org/northwest-choral-invites-prospective-members-to-meet-greet-2/ Sat, 28 Jul 2018 18:00:43 +0000 http://nwchoralsociety.org/northwest-choral-invites-prospective-members-to-meet-greet-2/ PARK RIDGE, IL, July 28, 2018 – If you previously sang in a chorus – high school, college or community group – and are now looking for a great activity in which to participate, Northwest Choral Society (“NWCS”) invites you to a “Meet & Greet” on Tuesday, August 28.  The casual social event will be… Continue reading Northwest Choral Invites Prospective Members to Meet & Greet

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PARK RIDGE, IL, July 28, 2018 – If you previously sang in a chorus – high school, college or community group – and are now looking for a great activity in which to participate, Northwest Choral Society (“NWCS”) invites you to a “Meet & Greet” on Tuesday, August 28.  The casual social event will be held between 7:00 and 9:00 p.m. at First Congregational United Church of Christ, 766 Graceland Avenue in Des Plaines. 

The evening will include welcoming prospective members, refreshments and a short slide show about the chorus.  In addition, join NWCS for a short group lesson presented by Jade Maze on an aspect of singing.  Ms. Maze is on the faculty of the Merit School of Music in Chicago.  She has studied at Northwestern University and Northeastern Illinois University, and she is a teaching artist for the Ravinia Music Festival. 

NWCS also will welcome Kevin Kelly as its new Artistic Director, and he will outline his plans for the chorus for the coming season, starting with the annual holiday concert scheduled for December 2.

Through the Northwest Choral Society, singers who are at least 17 years of age with previous four-part choral experience enjoy the personal growth and satisfaction that comes from active participation in a performing arts organization known for excellence and camaraderie.  During the year, members sharpen their singing skills and learn a varied repertoire of sacred and secular, classical and popular music that has become the hallmark of the group.

NWCS meets on Tuesdays from Labor Day through the beginning of June in Des Plaines at First Congregational United Church of Christ from 7:30 – 9:30 p.m.   Concerts are performed in venues in the greater Chicago area.  

The 2018-19 season will mark NWCS’s fifty-third year of performances. The small size of the chorus (approximately 45 members) means members will see familiar faces each week, and find the group friendly, supportive, and fun. 

For further information regarding the Northwest Choral Society, visit its website at www.nwchoralsociety.org  or call 224/585-9127.

 

Caption:

Northwest Choral Society performed its final concert of the 2017-18 season in June at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Arlington Heights.

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Kevin Kelly Artistic Director of Northwest Choral Society https://nwchoralsociety.org/kevin-kelly-artistic-director-of-northwest-choral-society-2/ Tue, 03 Jul 2018 12:50:55 +0000 http://nwchoralsociety.org/kevin-kelly-artistic-director-of-northwest-choral-society-2/ It is with great pleasure that NWCS board announces Kevin Kelly as the artistic director.  “I look forward to a rewarding collaboration with the singers of the Northwest Choral Society,” stated Kevin. Kevin Kelly moved to the northwest Chicago suburbs in 2014, after 23 years living in Champaign-Urbana. In 1996, he founded a uniquely entertaining professional… Continue reading Kevin Kelly Artistic Director of Northwest Choral Society

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It is with great pleasure that NWCS board announces Kevin Kelly as the artistic director. 
“I look forward to a rewarding collaboration with the singers of the Northwest Choral Society,” stated Kevin.

Kevin Kelly moved to the northwest Chicago suburbs in 2014, after 23 years living in Champaign-Urbana. In 1996, he founded a uniquely entertaining professional chamber orchestra called The Prairie Ensemble, with a mission to “make first-rate music fun, approachable and affordable.” Kevin has been honored three times by the Illinois Council of Orchestras for his work with the Ensemble: for “Programming of the Year “ in 1999 and 2003 and for “Meritorious Service in Orchestral Conducting” in 2002. Since 1993, he has conducted the East Central Illinois Youth Orchestra—the ICO’s “Youth Orchestra of the Year” in 1999—and Kevin continues to commute to Champaign for Sunday rehearsals. After 13 years as a classical music host at public radio station WILL-FM in Urbana, he served as host and producer of “Live and Local,” which featured interviews with, and frequent live performances by artists across many musical genres, theater and dance. In the fall of 2015, he became Artistic Director of the Allegro Community Chorus, a program of the Palatine Park District, and Conductor for the Lake County Núcleo of Sistema Ravinia, an outreach program of the Ravinia Festival.

Kevin’s work with choirs included 17 years as choirmaster at Emmanuel Memorial Episcopal Church in Champaign. As music director of The Prairie Ensemble, he conducted collaborative performances with the University of Illinois Concert Choir and Women’s Glee Club, Amasong, the Chorus of the Baroque Artists of Champaign Urbana and the Central Illinois Children’s Chorus. He previously directed the Sangamon Valley Youth Orchestras in Springfield and the Illini Statesmen Barbershop Chorus in Champaign-Urbana, and he has been active in musical theater with the Champaign-Urbana Theatre Company.

Kevin holds bachelor’s degrees in English and music history and criticism from Northwestern University, and master’s degrees in orchestral and choral conducting from the University of Illinois. He has sung with several Chicago-area choral ensembles, including the Chicago Symphony Chorus, the Grant Park Symphony Chorus, The City Musick, Basically Bach and His Majesties Clerkes (now Bella Voce). He has studied conducting with Kenneth Kiesler, Paul Vermel, Victor Yampolsky and Harold Farberman.

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Mission: Audition Featured at Northwest Choral’s June 2 Concert https://nwchoralsociety.org/mission-audition-featured-at-northwest-choral-s-june-2-concert/ Fri, 04 May 2018 16:45:06 +0000 http://nwchoralsociety.org/mission-audition-featured-at-northwest-choral-s-june-2-concert/ Selecting a new dynamic, knowledgeable and personable leader is a major undertaking for any organization. However, that is the enviable challenge facing the board of directors and the forty-five members of the Northwest Choral Society (“NWCS”) as they consider the finalists vying to become the next artist director of the chorus. Their concert on June… Continue reading Mission: Audition Featured at Northwest Choral’s June 2 Concert

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Selecting a new dynamic, knowledgeable and personable leader is a major undertaking for any organization. However, that is the enviable challenge facing the board of directors and the forty-five members of the Northwest Choral Society (“NWCS”) as they consider the finalists vying to become the next artist director of the chorus. Their concert on June 2, entitled “Mission: Audition”, will be a unique opportunity to both celebrate the rich tradition of NWCS’s contemporary American music repertoire and meet the two finalist candidates who have been chosen from a wide field of applicants interested in being the next artistic director of Northwest Choral Society.

NWCS’s final concert of the 2017-18 season on June 2 will be at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Arlington Heights at 7:30 p.m. Each of the two artistic director finalists, Kevin Kelly of Elgin and Guillermo Muñoz Küster of Chicago, have selected the concert music to be performed during one half of the program. They have rehearsed with and prepared the chorus on alternative Tuesday evenings for the last two and a half months, and will be present at the concert to conduct their respective part of the program.

Mr. Kelly’s selection of music will “Look on the bright side,” a popular expression people say when life is not necessarily going their way. This program will put a smile on situations that might require a stiff upper lip, through music from Broadway, American and Scottish folk song, contemporary pop and songs from the Great American Songbook.

Selections include “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” a signature tune for Ethel Merman in Gypsy, “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”, adapted from the 1975 film Monty Python and the Life of Brian, and “Java Jive”, recorded in 1940 by The King Sisters, the Ink Spots and Manhattan Transfer in 1975. “Shenandoah” is a traditional American folk song originating from the 1800s as a river boatman’s shanty, or work song. “I chose it (for the concert) for its beauty, and its sense of love, loss and longing,” states Mr. Kelly. It is said that composer Paul Simon typically took a long time to write lyrics, but “Bridge Over Troubled Water” came to him “all of a sudden. It was one of the most shocking moments of my songwriting career,” according to Mr. Simon.

Kevin Kelly is the Artistic Director of the Allegro Community Chorus, a program of the Palatine Park District, Conductor for the Lake County Núcleo of Sistema Ravinia, an outreach program of the Ravinia Festival, and, since 1993, he has conducted the East Central Illinois Youth Orchestra in Champaign, helping to build an eleven-player middle school string ensemble into a full symphony orchestra of high school and middle school students from communities throughout the area. He previously founded The Prairie Ensemble in Champaign-Urbana, a professional chamber orchestra, and he was honored three times by the Illinois Council of Orchestras for his work with the Ensemble. He also has directed the Sangamon Valley Youth Orchestras in Springfield and the Illini Statesmen Barbershop Chorus in Champaign-Urbana. He has sung with the Chicago Symphony Chorus, the Grant Park Symphony Chorus, The City Musick, Basically Bach, His Majesties Clerkes (now Bella Voce), the choir at Winnetka’s Christ Church and the Schola Cantorum of St. Peter’s. Mr. Kelly received bachelor’s degrees in English (essay writing) and music history and criticism from Northwestern University, and master’s degrees in orchestral and choral conducting from the University of Illinois.

Mr. Muñoz Küster’s has titled his part of the program “Made in America.” It will explore some of the rich tapestry of music that makes up the American choral landscape from composers who have given us some of the most memorable songs of the past and present. Selections include pieces from Stephen Foster, the great song writer of the 19th century (“Nelly Bly”), to the legendary Leonard Bernstein, whose 100th anniversary is celebrated this year (“Make Our Garden Grow” from Candide), to James Taylor’s exquisitely soothing melodies (“That Lonesome Road”) to gospel tradition “Until I Found the Lord” and “Shall We Gather at the River”. “I hope that these selections provide us with an opportunity to appreciate the rich and diverse traditions of our musical landscape and energizes us in the discovery of the music that will become part of it,” said Mr. Muñoz Küster.

Guillermo Muñoz Küster is Director of Adult Choirs at Glenview Community Church in Glenview, IL and Executive Assistant to the Vice President of Artistic Planning for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Active in the Chicagoland area, he has performed with professional ensembles, including Music of the Baroque and the Grant Park Symphony Chorus. Previously, Mr. Muñoz Küster served as assistant conductor of the Apollo Chorus of Chicago, where he also was the chorus’ first-ever conducting apprentice. During his time with the Apollo Chorus, he regularly conducted the ensemble on television appearances as well as concert performances. He founded and directed the Millar Kammerorchester, a 40-member chamber orchestra based in Evanston and recently completed a conducting fellowship for Chorus America’s Choral Orchestra Academy.

A native of Santiago, Chile, Mr. Muñoz Küster earned a master of music degree in conducting (choral and orchestral) and classical guitar from the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University. He earned his bachelor of music (voice and classical guitar) degree magna cum laude from Lebanon Valley College in Annville, PA.

Tickets for the “Mission: Audition” concert are $25 for adults and $20 for students and seniors and may be obtained online at www.nwchoralsociety.org, by calling 224 / 585-9127 or an hour prior to the concert at the Southminster Presbyterian Church, 916 Central Road, Arlington Heights, Illinois.. Ample parking is available in the church lot.

Rehearsals for the NWCS’s 2018-19 season will begin on September 4, with the new session’s first concert to be scheduled for December. Details of the 2018-19 season programs and venues will be released as soon as possible this summer.

Lipke-Kentex-Hesse / Dionne Supply of Chicago is providing much appreciated sponsorship financial support for the Northwest Choral Society’s 2017-18 concert season.

Founded in 1965, the Northwest Choral Society is a non-profit organization that promotes and encourages the appreciation, understanding and performance of a wide variety of outstanding choral literature. Its adult membership resides in the greater Chicago area.

The Northwest Choral Society invites experienced singers to audition to join the organization. Basses, tenors, altos and sopranos with previous choral experience and 17 years of age can obtain additional information about the Northwest Choral Society at www.nw
choralsociety.org.

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17-18 Handbook https://nwchoralsociety.org/17-18-handbook/ Tue, 06 Mar 2018 20:02:48 +0000 http://nwchoralsociety.org/17-18-handbook/ NWCS_17-18_Handbook-v2.pdf

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Northwest Choral Society’s Plans for 2018 https://nwchoralsociety.org/northwest-choral-society-s-plans-for-2018/ Mon, 08 Jan 2018 16:26:42 +0000 http://nwchoralsociety.org/northwest-choral-society-s-plans-for-2018/ Northwest Choral Society is preparing for it’s April 8th concert, “Celestial Songs” at Trinity Lutheran Church in Des Plaines. We welcome Carling FitzSimmons as our guest conductor. During this performance, NWCS will feature the premier of its commissioned piece Starlight by Thomas LaVoy. We know you will enjoy this new work. Also on the program… Continue reading Northwest Choral Society’s Plans for 2018

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Northwest Choral Society is preparing for it’s April 8th concert, “Celestial Songs” at Trinity Lutheran Church in Des Plaines. We welcome Carling FitzSimmons as our guest conductor. During this performance, NWCS will feature the premier of its commissioned piece Starlight by Thomas LaVoy. We know you will enjoy this new work. Also on the program will be his work Orbits.  In addition, Sure on This Shining Night by Lauridson, The heavens are telling by Haydn, Stars by Eriks Eišenvalds, Follow the Drinking Gourd by Vincente Chavarria and other pieces contributing to the theme of “Celestial Songs.”  It will be an afternoon of music to bring forth the glorious, divine, and ethereal feelings from mostly living composers.

Carling FitzSimmons is a conductor and soprano and a native of Oak Park. She received degrees in English and music from Kenyon College. She also is an arts educator at Merit School of Music and serves as artistic director of La Caccina, a professional women’s vocal ensemble that she founded in 2011. La Caccina’s next concert is “Open Book: Reprise” on Saturday, February 10th at Glenview Community Church.  Carling is the guest conductor for William Ferris Chorale and she conducted their Christmas performances of “In the Moon of Wintertime.” Their next concert will be May 5th.

NWCS’ search for a new artistic director is in the final phase.  Two candidates will direct the chorus for the June 2nd concert. Come see who our new artistic director might be.

Mark your calendar, put it on your phone:  Sunday, April 8th at 4:00 pm at Trinity Lutheran Church for “Celestial Songs.”  Enjoy an afternoon of beautiful and sublime music by this talented chorus.

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