Daily Herald
St. Charles singers will perform sacred music in St. Charles and Wheaton
Posted Thursday, February 01, 2007
The St. Charles Singers will reach out to a new suburban audience during its spring concerts of sacred music of the 20th-century and Renaissance periods.
The 34-voice professional chamber choir will give its first-ever performances of Maurice Duruflés’ “Requiem,” modern French choral music, at 7:30 p.m. March 31 at Baker Memorial United Methodist Church, 307 Cedar Ave., (Fourth Avenue at Route 64) in St. Charles, and again at 4 p.m. April 1 at St. Michael Church, 310 S. Wheaton Ave., Wheaton.
The April 1 “Duruflé” Requiem and Other Sacred Masterworks’ concert marks the St. Charles Singers’ Wheaton debut, although the ensemble has been performing in metropolitan Chicago for 22 years.
“It’s always exciting to reach a new audience,” Jeffrey Hunt, founder and artist director of the St. Charles Singers, said in a prepared statement. “Wheaton is a culturally sophisticated community that appreciates great music and great singing. We’re delighted that St. Michael invited us to perform as part of their sacred music series.”
Duruflé’s 40-minute Requiem of 1947 combines the timeless spirituality of medieval Gregorian chant with the luminous 20th-century French Impressionism of Debussy, Ravel, and Dukas and the influence of Fauré.
Duruflé (1903-1986) composed several arrangements of the Requiem for various instrumental forces. The St. Charles Singers will perform the version for choir and organ.
Duruflé was an organ virtuoso. The wide-ranging organ part substitutes for an entire orchestra and is notoriously difficult. It will be played by Ellen Coman of Wheaton, the ensemble’s regular organist.
Hunt plans to enrich the audience’s experience of the Requiem through the creative placement of singers in the sanctuary. For the “Sanctus” movement, he will position the sopranos and altos on stage and the tenors and baritones in another location in the hall for a surround-sound experience.
In the “Pie Jesu,” a prayer sung by a solo mezzo-soprano with cello and organ accompaniment, Hunt will have the other singers leave the stage. The soloist will represent the voice of all humanity.
Just as Duruflé’s Requiem draws on ancient and modern musical styles, the seven short Latin motets and English-language anthems Hunt chose to round out the concert span the centuries. Three date from the English Renaissance, written around the time of Shakespeare. These include Orlando Gibbons’ “Almighty and Everlasting God” with its dramatic word painting; William Bryd’s “Sing Joyfully” and John Sheppard’s “Liber nos, salva nos.”
The chorale will also perform the work of Russian “migr” Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971), who underwent a religious reawakening in France, where he wrote his “Ave Maria” in 1934.
Charles Villiers Stanford’s “Beati Quorum Via” is based on a psalm. Stanford (1852–1924) combined European musical training with his Irish heritage of folklore, folk music, and mysticism to bring a fresh vision to English church music.
The concert includes the “Lord’s Prayer” by English composer John Tavener, who won a 2003 Grammy Award.
“Regina Caeli” by Herbert Howells (1892–1983) will also be performed.
Single tickets for the Duruflé Requiem concerts are $35 (premium seating); $25 (general admission) and $20 for seniors age 65 and older and full-time students 23 and younger.
For concert tickets and information for both the St. Charles and Wheaton concerts, call (630) 513-5272.
St. Charles Singers tune up for new season
Rachel Baruch Yackley
Posted Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Christina Sutton grew up in St. Charles and has been a member of choirs before.
But never one quite like the St. Charles Singers.
Sutton, who recently left her corporate job in Los Angeles and returned to St. Charles, is working on becoming involved in artistic endeavors.
A month ago, she tried out for the professional choir along with about 50 others, including the 28 members of last year's group for 31 slots.
"We do auditions every two or three years" said Jeff Hunt, the director of St. Charles Singers, who founded the group in 1984. "This yearâ's response has been phenomenal."
Sopranos Amanda King, Grace Bardsley, Cynthia Spiegel, Breanne Koll and Olivia Flanigan
Everyone who auditioned, whether new to the group or a veteran of the St. Charles Singers, had to bring two musical pieces to perform. Each singer was also evaluated on sight-reading and tonal memory skills.
The odds weren't great for Sutton. But she did have plenty in her favor. In addition to her choir experience, the 1993 graduate of St. Charles High School has studied voice, violin, piano and flute.
For her two musical pieces, Sutton sang from "Cats."She was then tested on tonal memory, for which the group's pianist, Ellen Coman, played several series of notes on the piano, and Sutton had to sing each series back.
Also tested for sight reading abilities, Sutton sang "Dixit Maria," accompanied by Coman.
Sutton made it.
"It was so exciting," Sutton said. "I was keeping my fingers crossed. With all the exceptional people they had over the two days (of auditions), I wasn't sure I'd make it."
This is the first time she has been part of a choir that compensates its singers. All members of this professional ensemble group's sopranos, altos, tenors and bass-baritones are paid for rehearsals and performances. Rehearsals are held each Sunday for two hours, and more frequently right before a performance.
"To be compensated is nice," she said. "But this is very exciting. It's really very emotional."
Auditions were held in the chapel at Baker Memorial United Methodist Church in St. Charles. This beautiful space with phenomenal natural acoustics is the group's principle concert venue.
Singers auditioned in front of Jeff Hunt and David Hunt, the group's associate director. Members of St. Charles Singers range in age from 18 to their mid-50s.
Jeff Hunt directs during a recent Sunday evening rehearsal
When Jeff Hunt started this group in 1984, he had just finished graduate school at Northwestern University. He is director of music at Baker and also teaches music appreciation courses at Elgin Community College.
The Singers' repertoire includes pieces from the Renaissance to the 20th century, secular works and part songs, chamber and even vocal jazz compositions.
Over the past 22 years, the choir has performed with the Dale Warland Singers, the Apollo Chorus and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. It has even toured England and France and recorded a number of CDs.
In May, the St. Charles Singers will perform songs by American composer Aaron Copland with the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Robert Hanson, both in a concert and for a CD.
Beacon News
Birthday bash honors Rutter
Posted March 8, 2006
John Rutter turned 60 last year and earned a well-deserved a world-wide celebration of his life in music. One might ask, who is John Rutter? If you have heard of a little band of musicians out of England called the Beatles, you should know about John Rutter of England.
At about the time the Beatles hit their stride with Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in the 1960s, Rutter was on his rise to choral greatness. The Beatles revolutionized popular music as we know it today and Rutter did the same with choral music. In 1977 Rutter composed his Beatles Concerto full of tuneful Lennon/McCartney songs.
Rutter, born in 1945, almost missed the boat to becoming Britain's most successful composer. His parents wanted to send him to sing in the St. Paul's Cathedral Choir school, but he turned the offer down. He went instead to Highgate School and became a friend of fellow student/composer John Tavener who put him on to composing in the 1950s.
Cambridge Singers Strike New Path in Church Music
While here he wrote Nativity Carol. He chose to attend Clare College at Cambridge and soon became its director of music. From this point on in his life his music and singing group called the Cambridge Singers became the cutting edge of new music for the church.
Rutter's music is happy music, melodious and not too difficult for ordinary church choirs to tackle. All across England and the United States his music caught on with church choirs. Rutter currently has two CDs on the best seller list in England occupying spot 1 and 9.
St. Charles Singers and Rutter Enjoy Partnership
This choral music master has had an intimate relationship with the St. Charles Singers. Rutter has conducted the St. Charles Singers on five occasions, recorded the ensemble at England's Cambridge University, and hosted them at home. "He's been a great friend to the St. Charles Singers," group director Jeffrey Hunt said.
Rutter was not present at the concert Saturday evening but he personally provided the group with the music to one of his newest works, the Wedding Canticle, to premiere in the United States. The core work in this concert of a dozen Rutter works was his 1985 Requiem, a work noted for its most cheerful and uplifting nature.
Saturday evening's concert was played to a capacity crowd. Hunt carefully chose selections that showed off Rutter to best advantage. While Rutter's music is carefully crafted and beautifully arranged, it can at times seem much the same, in league with another English music icon, Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Hunt programmed to show a diverse John Rutter. The first set of two tunes O Clap Your Hands and the Wedding Canticle with organ and choir were standouts in an evening of great music making. Three cheers for the singers and organist Ellen Coman.
Much of the successful sound created by the musicians can be credited to the placement of the orchestra and singers. The sweet spot in a church like the Baker is forward of the altar area. In this way the music is not blended into one blurred mass before reaching the audience. Hunt, realized this moving his musicians forward to interact with the audience. The last song of the concert The Lord Bless You and Keep You had the singers performing from the outside aisles of the pews creating surround sound of such exquisite quality it took the breath away!
Like Listening to the Pied Piper
When you listen to Rutter's music and notice how much of it has traces of famous British composers and a sort of Broadway musical shell, you would be right. That after all is job 1 and it SELLS. Listening to Rutter is like listening to the Pied Piper His music is most seductive. Keep adjectives that describe Rutter's music are "folksy," "friendly," "cheerful," "energetic," "expansive," "melodic," "pastoral," "playful," "uncomplicated," and "easy listening."
The St. Charles Singers have lots of singing technique but this technique does not overshadow the music itself. They may be only 35 voices, but at full voice they sound like a hundred. The choir is not grouped by sections, and this gives a most delightful sound mix. The choir performed at many of the great cathedrals in England in 2002 even singing in Ely Cathedral. The group will sing this summer in French cathedrals.
Besides Set One, The Miller of Dee and The Keel Row were most energetically sung. The Requiem was done after intermission. Both Latin and English was used and made for connecting the past to the present. Hunt's Metropolis Chamber Orchestra was packed Saturday night to the brim with fine musicians. Stephen Hartman, harp; Jonathan Saylor, bassoon; Susan Saylor, flute and Steve Houser, cello, were standout players.
So, in summation, what style music does Rutter produce, since there is so much disagreement on his music's worth? Perhaps the best answer is "Eclectic" and leave it at that.
New on CD
I Know Where I'm Going
St. Charles Singers with the Metropolis Chamber Orchestra
Jeffrey Hunt conductor
Choral Music of John Rutter and American and British Folk Songs
Proteus 4027, available from Townhouse Books and Cafe
105 N. Second Ave., St. Charles
Also available on amazon.com
This is the most recent release of music by the St. Charles Singers and showcases 20 songs that are sure to delight. Lots of wonderful Rutter, Grainger and Holst. The Rutter The Keel Row and The Urchins' Dance which was performed on Saturday evening' concert is also on the disc.
I Know Where I'm Going shows off the considerable musical talents of Jeffrey Hunt's band of musicians. Highly recommended.
03/09/06
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