Our 89th Season: 2024-2025
The North Shore Choral Society’s 89th season, "Great Expectations" opened on November 9th with our "Literary Greats" concert with choral settings from William Shakespeare to Emily Dickenson; from Martin Luther to Maya Angelou; and from the Book of Psalms to Alice in Wonderland! It featured Randall Thompson’s Frostiana, a setting of poems by Robert Frost.
It was a privilege and a delight to perform Brahms' German Requiem to a sold-out crowd on April 6 with the Evanston Symphony Orchestra and with the magnificent soloists Josefien Stoppelenburg, soprano and Evan Bravos, baritone. Johannes Brahms’ German Requiem has been called “A Human Requiem.” In contrast to the many musical requiems which take their text from the Latin Mass, Brahms has created his libretto from Martin Luther's German translation of the Bible. Its focus is on offering comfort and hope to the living. Thank you to ESO's Maestro Lawrence Eckerling, and to NSCS' own Julia Davids, Music Director, and Tierra Whetstone, Assistant Conductor, for preparing us so well for the performance.
On June 8th, NSCS performed Gwyneth Walker's The Great Lakes at our concert also called "The Great Lakes". This concert featured a pre-concert talk with Gwyneth Walker, as well as an integrated lecture by Kirsten Hedegaard from The EcoVoice Project. Composer Gwyneth Walker describes The Great Lakes as “a musical journey across the magnificent five lakes bordering the Eastern US and Canada. Texts by American and Canadian poets have been selected as lyrics for this cantata. The journey moves from East (Lake Ontario) to West (Lake Superior), stopping to explore the unique character of each lake en route.” This concert featured soloists Michelle Areyzaga - Soprano, Sadie Chelsak - Mezzo-Soprano and DCYAA 2024 winner, Oliver Camacho - Tenor, and David Govertsen - Bass.
It was a privilege and a delight to perform Brahms' German Requiem to a sold-out crowd on April 6 with the Evanston Symphony Orchestra and with the magnificent soloists Josefien Stoppelenburg, soprano and Evan Bravos, baritone. Johannes Brahms’ German Requiem has been called “A Human Requiem.” In contrast to the many musical requiems which take their text from the Latin Mass, Brahms has created his libretto from Martin Luther's German translation of the Bible. Its focus is on offering comfort and hope to the living. Thank you to ESO's Maestro Lawrence Eckerling, and to NSCS' own Julia Davids, Music Director, and Tierra Whetstone, Assistant Conductor, for preparing us so well for the performance.
On June 8th, NSCS performed Gwyneth Walker's The Great Lakes at our concert also called "The Great Lakes". This concert featured a pre-concert talk with Gwyneth Walker, as well as an integrated lecture by Kirsten Hedegaard from The EcoVoice Project. Composer Gwyneth Walker describes The Great Lakes as “a musical journey across the magnificent five lakes bordering the Eastern US and Canada. Texts by American and Canadian poets have been selected as lyrics for this cantata. The journey moves from East (Lake Ontario) to West (Lake Superior), stopping to explore the unique character of each lake en route.” This concert featured soloists Michelle Areyzaga - Soprano, Sadie Chelsak - Mezzo-Soprano and DCYAA 2024 winner, Oliver Camacho - Tenor, and David Govertsen - Bass.
Our 88th Season: 2023-2024
NSCS opened our 88th season, "Dynamic Duos," on November 12, 2023, with "Holiday Duo: Magnificat and Gloria." The concert featured the US Midwest première of Dale Trumbore’s Magnificat, setting a contemporary poem about The Annunciation by Lynn Ungar – paired with Vivaldi’s effervescent Gloria, both performed by chorus and full orchestra. Rounding out the program were Dale Trumbore's Ring Out, Ye Bells; a setting of Howard Thurman's beloved text, I Will Light Candles This Christmas, by Kim André Arnesen, and two settings of O Magnum Mysterium, by Jeff Ens and Mark A. Miller.
On March 3, 2024, NSCS was joined by the four hands and two pianos of Andrea Handley and Sharon R. Peterson for "Piano Duo," a family-friendly community concert featuring highlights from Orff's Carmina Burana and Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem (featuring baritone Keaton Payne, 2023 winner of our Donald Chen Young Artist Award), and Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals, narrated by WFMT's Oliver Camacho. As the latter was performed, whimsical images of animals were projected, to the delight of all ages in the audience. The program concluded with Mack Wilberg's If Clarions Sound, with percussionists Collin Boltz and Jeff Handley. Following the performance, children were invited to come up to the stage and learn about the featured instruments.
Our final concert on June 2, 2024, was "Geographic Duo: Canada and the United States," for which Music Director Julia Davids and Assistant Conductor Tierra Whetstone curated choral works by female composers from their home countries of Canada and the USA. The repertoire included works by Eleanor Daley, Alice Parker, Elaine Hagenberg, Rosephanye Powell, Undine Smith Moore, Tracy Wong, and more. The concert opened with First Nations composer Sherryl Sewepagaham's Nitohtamok Askîy (Listen to the Land) sung in the Cree language, with other works sung in Malay, Latin, French, and of course English! The chorus was accompanied by Sharon Rich Peterson on piano, along with Elizabeth Hagen, viola; Lewis Kirk, bassoon; and Brandon Podjasek, percussion.
On March 3, 2024, NSCS was joined by the four hands and two pianos of Andrea Handley and Sharon R. Peterson for "Piano Duo," a family-friendly community concert featuring highlights from Orff's Carmina Burana and Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem (featuring baritone Keaton Payne, 2023 winner of our Donald Chen Young Artist Award), and Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals, narrated by WFMT's Oliver Camacho. As the latter was performed, whimsical images of animals were projected, to the delight of all ages in the audience. The program concluded with Mack Wilberg's If Clarions Sound, with percussionists Collin Boltz and Jeff Handley. Following the performance, children were invited to come up to the stage and learn about the featured instruments.
Our final concert on June 2, 2024, was "Geographic Duo: Canada and the United States," for which Music Director Julia Davids and Assistant Conductor Tierra Whetstone curated choral works by female composers from their home countries of Canada and the USA. The repertoire included works by Eleanor Daley, Alice Parker, Elaine Hagenberg, Rosephanye Powell, Undine Smith Moore, Tracy Wong, and more. The concert opened with First Nations composer Sherryl Sewepagaham's Nitohtamok Askîy (Listen to the Land) sung in the Cree language, with other works sung in Malay, Latin, French, and of course English! The chorus was accompanied by Sharon Rich Peterson on piano, along with Elizabeth Hagen, viola; Lewis Kirk, bassoon; and Brandon Podjasek, percussion.
Our 87th Season: 2022-2023
In our 87th Season, "The Power of Music," NSCS demonstrated the power of music to help us express who we are; to bring our families and communities together; and to move our emotions.
On November 13, 2022, NSCS presented "To Sit and Dream," a program curated and conducted by Assistant Conductor TIerra Whetstone. The repertoire was comprised of music by Black composers, including Rosephanye Powell, Adrian Dunn, Mark Miller, and Florence Price. We were joined by powerhouse soprano Felicia Patton.
On March 4-5, 2023, our special guests, the Folk/Indie group The Heartstrings Project brought their delightful sound and innovative songs to the North Shore. Their goal is to foster Peace, Resilience, and Well-Being within all communities. Repertoire included original songs and arrangements of traditional and contemporary folk songs and various collaborations between Heartstrings and NSCS. The weekend included a free community workshop on Saturday for all ages and stages, and the workshop participants were invited to sing with us in the Sunday concert's finale.
NSCS finished the season on June 4, 2023, with Handel's majestic oratorio for double choir, "Solomon," supported by full professional orchestra and featuring countertenor Daniel Taylor in the title role and Rosalind Lee as the Queen/Queen of Sheba. Marin Tack (soprano and Donald Chen Young Artist Award Winner), Sarah Ponder (mezzo), and Tyler Lee (tenor) sang the supporting roles.
On November 13, 2022, NSCS presented "To Sit and Dream," a program curated and conducted by Assistant Conductor TIerra Whetstone. The repertoire was comprised of music by Black composers, including Rosephanye Powell, Adrian Dunn, Mark Miller, and Florence Price. We were joined by powerhouse soprano Felicia Patton.
On March 4-5, 2023, our special guests, the Folk/Indie group The Heartstrings Project brought their delightful sound and innovative songs to the North Shore. Their goal is to foster Peace, Resilience, and Well-Being within all communities. Repertoire included original songs and arrangements of traditional and contemporary folk songs and various collaborations between Heartstrings and NSCS. The weekend included a free community workshop on Saturday for all ages and stages, and the workshop participants were invited to sing with us in the Sunday concert's finale.
NSCS finished the season on June 4, 2023, with Handel's majestic oratorio for double choir, "Solomon," supported by full professional orchestra and featuring countertenor Daniel Taylor in the title role and Rosalind Lee as the Queen/Queen of Sheba. Marin Tack (soprano and Donald Chen Young Artist Award Winner), Sarah Ponder (mezzo), and Tyler Lee (tenor) sang the supporting roles.
Our 86th Season: 2021-2022
North Shore Choral Society was delighted to return to a full season of in-person concerts. We opened the season with "Free at Last," a profound and inspiring tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., by living Chicago composer Lena McLin, one of the composers and works we had studied during our "virtual" rehearsals the previous year. This concert also featured a musical setting of "The Gettysburg Address," a world premiere by David Burger, commissioned for Julia Davids and the North Shore Choral Society. Our special guest, Dr. Thomas W. Jefferson, pianist and composer, performed his new arrangements of three familiar spirituals.
The return to live concerts could not have been more joyfully expressed than in our April 2022 concert with the Evanston Symphony Orchestra, when we performed Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, a choral and orchestral favorite with its iconic hymn to universal fellowship.
Our final concert of the season, titled "Lux," presented the music of John Rutter, including a new composition, "Ukrainian Prayer," a response to the tragedy unfolding in that country, and closing with Rutter's Requiem, a statement of our collective grief in the face of war and pandemic, and yet conveying a message of hope and comfort.
The return to live concerts could not have been more joyfully expressed than in our April 2022 concert with the Evanston Symphony Orchestra, when we performed Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, a choral and orchestral favorite with its iconic hymn to universal fellowship.
Our final concert of the season, titled "Lux," presented the music of John Rutter, including a new composition, "Ukrainian Prayer," a response to the tragedy unfolding in that country, and closing with Rutter's Requiem, a statement of our collective grief in the face of war and pandemic, and yet conveying a message of hope and comfort.
Our 85th Season: 2020 - 2021
North Shore Choral Society’s 85th season, suspended by the Covid-19 pandemic, became, under the leadership of Music Director Dr. Julia Davids, a time of substantive growth for us as individuals and as musicians. Weekly virtual rehearsals focused on vocal health, with extensive work on resonance, vowels, vibrato, and range development. Further, Dr. Davids invited an array of special guests for the enrichment of members’ musical knowledge. We also invited several prominent musicians to share their wisdom with us: Marques L.A. Garrett, Non-Idiomatic Black Choral Music; Thomas W. Jefferson, The History of the Spiritual; Felicia Patton, Unsung Sheroes of Gospel Music; Terrance J. Smith, Singing Gospel Music; Kateri Gormley, The Alexander Technique: A Tool for Embodied Living; Karen Brunssen, The Evolving Singing Voice; and Elias Wygodny, Mindfulness Workshop.
