Our 85th Season 2020 - 2021
Continuing to Grow Musically
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: Non-idiomatic music, as it relates to Black composers, refers to original concert music that is not part of the canon associated with Black musicians (e.g., spirituals, gospel, jazz, hip-hop). Marques is Assistant Professor of Music in Choral Activities at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Thomas W. Jefferson, The History of the Spiritual: Thomas described how enslaved people created the Spiritual by first adding verses to hymns, conveying their social and political states, conditions, and sadness, sometimes embedding hidden messages. He then played some of his own arrangements of Spirituals, demonstrating his prodigious keyboarding skills. Thomas currently serves on the faculty at North Park University and is music minister at the Basilica of Our Lady of Sorrows on Chicago's west side.
Felicia Patton, Unsung Sheroes of Gospel Music: Felicia shared stories from her master’s thesis entitled “Hidden Figures, Unsung Sheroes, Silent Voices of Sacred Music” and described the significant contributions of Black female hymn writer/composers to the Gospel music tradition. Inspired by Felicia’s presentation, NSCS began working on “Free At Last: A Portrait of Martin Luther King, Jr.”, a work by Chicago composer Lena McLin. Felicia currently serves as worship leader at Urban Village Church in Chicago.
Terrace J. Smith, Singing Gospel Music: Terrance discussed and demonstrated the art of gospel singing, inviting and preparing us to participate in a virtual performance of “Oh Happy Day.” Terrance serves as Director of the Music & Arts ministry at Oakdale Covenant Church in Chicago. He also leads the Oakdale Christian Academy Choir, an ensemble of 80-100 students between the ages of 7-14, which has performed extensively across the Chicago area and in Europe.
Kateri Gormley, The Alexander Technique: A Tool for Embodied Living: A former NSCS soloist and current music educator, Kateri presented an interactive workshop in which members worked with Kateri on improving coordination, awareness, and movement, and even learned how to hold one’s head while singing, as well as the best way to sit and stand during a concert!
Karen Brunssen, The Evolving Singing Voice: Longtime NSCS collaborator Karen Brunssen, Co-Chair of Performance at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music and Immediate Past President of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, delivered an in-depth presentation of how the human voice evolves and develops over the course of a lifetime and how to best utilize the voice at different ages.
Elias Wygodny, Mindfulness Workshop: An educator, singer, actor, and artist, Elias has taught Mindfulness-Based practices since 2014 and works to raise awareness of mental health solutions within an overstimulated global society. He discussed the most common ways that people deal with stress and then introduced meditation tools and techniques to increase the ability to heal and grow, with the goal of sustainable well-being.
Thomas W. Jefferson, The History of the Spiritual: Thomas described how enslaved people created the Spiritual by first adding verses to hymns, conveying their social and political states, conditions, and sadness, sometimes embedding hidden messages. He then played some of his own arrangements of Spirituals, demonstrating his prodigious keyboarding skills. Thomas currently serves on the faculty at North Park University and is music minister at the Basilica of Our Lady of Sorrows on Chicago's west side.
Felicia Patton, Unsung Sheroes of Gospel Music: Felicia shared stories from her master’s thesis entitled “Hidden Figures, Unsung Sheroes, Silent Voices of Sacred Music” and described the significant contributions of Black female hymn writer/composers to the Gospel music tradition. Inspired by Felicia’s presentation, NSCS began working on “Free At Last: A Portrait of Martin Luther King, Jr.”, a work by Chicago composer Lena McLin. Felicia currently serves as worship leader at Urban Village Church in Chicago.
Terrace J. Smith, Singing Gospel Music: Terrance discussed and demonstrated the art of gospel singing, inviting and preparing us to participate in a virtual performance of “Oh Happy Day.” Terrance serves as Director of the Music & Arts ministry at Oakdale Covenant Church in Chicago. He also leads the Oakdale Christian Academy Choir, an ensemble of 80-100 students between the ages of 7-14, which has performed extensively across the Chicago area and in Europe.
Kateri Gormley, The Alexander Technique: A Tool for Embodied Living: A former NSCS soloist and current music educator, Kateri presented an interactive workshop in which members worked with Kateri on improving coordination, awareness, and movement, and even learned how to hold one’s head while singing, as well as the best way to sit and stand during a concert!
Karen Brunssen, The Evolving Singing Voice: Longtime NSCS collaborator Karen Brunssen, Co-Chair of Performance at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music and Immediate Past President of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, delivered an in-depth presentation of how the human voice evolves and develops over the course of a lifetime and how to best utilize the voice at different ages.
Elias Wygodny, Mindfulness Workshop: An educator, singer, actor, and artist, Elias has taught Mindfulness-Based practices since 2014 and works to raise awareness of mental health solutions within an overstimulated global society. He discussed the most common ways that people deal with stress and then introduced meditation tools and techniques to increase the ability to heal and grow, with the goal of sustainable well-being.
Our 84th Season: 2019-2020
The theme for NSCS' 84th season, "What Happens When," was cut short due to the Coronavirus pandemic. However, NSCS was delighted to be able to perform two of our three planned concerts, in addition to singing with the ESO in their "Evanston Symphony Christmas" celebration.
Ring in the Holidays!
What happens when the NSCS collaborates with the Chicago Bronze English Handbell Ensemble? An exhilarating concert of holiday favorites, of course! We enjoyed "ringing in" the holiday season with the Chicago Bronze and their director, Andrea Handley. The November 23 concert included Benjamin Britten's Ceremony of Carols for SATB with harpist Ben Melsky, as well as Andrea Handley's new arrangement of three joyous carols. Our concert venue was the beautiful First Presbyterian Church of Evanston.
What Happens When She Sets the Beat?
North Shore Choral Society celebrated women in musical leadership at our February 29 concert, “What Happens When She Sets the Beat?” with a repertoire composed entirely by women. An exciting collaboration with Artemisia, Chicago’s most versatile women’s trio, along with a trio of accomplished female guest conductors, Anne Heider, Felicia Patton, and Tierra Whetstone, along with choral ambassadors from Golf Middle School, made the concert an inspiring intersection of talent, personal experience, and musical expression. The diversity of women in musical leadership was reflected as NSCS performed music with classical, gospel, folk, and contemporary influences.
Ring in the Holidays!
What happens when the NSCS collaborates with the Chicago Bronze English Handbell Ensemble? An exhilarating concert of holiday favorites, of course! We enjoyed "ringing in" the holiday season with the Chicago Bronze and their director, Andrea Handley. The November 23 concert included Benjamin Britten's Ceremony of Carols for SATB with harpist Ben Melsky, as well as Andrea Handley's new arrangement of three joyous carols. Our concert venue was the beautiful First Presbyterian Church of Evanston.
What Happens When She Sets the Beat?
North Shore Choral Society celebrated women in musical leadership at our February 29 concert, “What Happens When She Sets the Beat?” with a repertoire composed entirely by women. An exciting collaboration with Artemisia, Chicago’s most versatile women’s trio, along with a trio of accomplished female guest conductors, Anne Heider, Felicia Patton, and Tierra Whetstone, along with choral ambassadors from Golf Middle School, made the concert an inspiring intersection of talent, personal experience, and musical expression. The diversity of women in musical leadership was reflected as NSCS performed music with classical, gospel, folk, and contemporary influences.
