Our 83rd Season: 2018-2019
The theme for NSCS’ 83rd season was “A Few of Our Favorite Things.” One of our favorite things is singing an oratorio with full orchestra and soloists – as well as teaming up with Music Director Julia Davids’ husband, baroque violinist Martin Davids. On November 18, we performed G. F. Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus at a beautiful and inspiring venue, the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston. Another of our favorite things is collaborating with Chicago musicians.
For our March concert we joined pianist and composer Thomas W. Jefferson as he shared numerous original works for piano, chorus, and band. We had the opportunity to perform in Evanston and at his home church, the magnificent Basilica of Our Lady of Sorrows. This concert also featured the NSCS favorite, soulful soprano Felicia Patton.
Finally, we were delighted to join the Evanston Symphony Orchestra in its celebration of Leonard Bernstein’s 100th birthday by singing two of our all-time favorite pieces, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, at Northwestern University’s Pick-Staiger Auditorium.
For our March concert we joined pianist and composer Thomas W. Jefferson as he shared numerous original works for piano, chorus, and band. We had the opportunity to perform in Evanston and at his home church, the magnificent Basilica of Our Lady of Sorrows. This concert also featured the NSCS favorite, soulful soprano Felicia Patton.
Finally, we were delighted to join the Evanston Symphony Orchestra in its celebration of Leonard Bernstein’s 100th birthday by singing two of our all-time favorite pieces, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, at Northwestern University’s Pick-Staiger Auditorium.
Our 82nd Season: 2017-2018
The theme of our 82nd season, “Music – The Universal Language,”embraced music from four continents and explored how music allows us to communicate across linguistic and cultural boundaries. For our November concert, “Music of the Americas,”we were joined by mezzo-soprano Christianne Rushton and cellist Francisco L. Malespin. From the sun-soaked summers in Brazil celebrated in the lively Alma Llanera and Verano Porteno, to the pristine winters of Canada, evoked in Sarah Quartel’s Snow Angel, musicians and audience alike enjoyed the diverse compositional standpoints expressed in this glorious music.
The second concert, “Music for Social Change: Africa, America, and the Singing Revolution of Estonia,”took inspiration from the massive singing demonstrations which helped return independence to the Baltic States; from South African music promoting healthy actions in the face of an epidemic; and from music that amplifies the causes of civil rights, human rights, and the environment. For this concert we collaborated with Mollie Stone, educator, conductor, and expert on Black South African Music, along with special guests The Chicago Children’s Choir Hyde Park Presto Ensemble.
Our final, uplifting concert of the season offered two settings of the Requiem, one by 19th-century French composer Gabriel Fauré, and the other by contemporary British composer Bob Chilcott. The concert with full orchestra and chorus featured past Donald Chen Young Artist Award winners Kateri Gormley, soprano; Ryan Townsend Strand, tenor; and Kyle Sackett, baritone. With these two related, yet distinctive pieces, we closed our 82ndseason by pointing towards light, hope, and peace.
The second concert, “Music for Social Change: Africa, America, and the Singing Revolution of Estonia,”took inspiration from the massive singing demonstrations which helped return independence to the Baltic States; from South African music promoting healthy actions in the face of an epidemic; and from music that amplifies the causes of civil rights, human rights, and the environment. For this concert we collaborated with Mollie Stone, educator, conductor, and expert on Black South African Music, along with special guests The Chicago Children’s Choir Hyde Park Presto Ensemble.
Our final, uplifting concert of the season offered two settings of the Requiem, one by 19th-century French composer Gabriel Fauré, and the other by contemporary British composer Bob Chilcott. The concert with full orchestra and chorus featured past Donald Chen Young Artist Award winners Kateri Gormley, soprano; Ryan Townsend Strand, tenor; and Kyle Sackett, baritone. With these two related, yet distinctive pieces, we closed our 82ndseason by pointing towards light, hope, and peace.
Our 81st Season: 2016-2017
This season's theme was “Renewal!” It opened with Glory!, our November concert of new and familiar holiday music including John Rutter's Gloria and Daniel Pinkham's Christmas Cantata. We collaborated once again with the Chicago Bronze English Handbell Ensemble under the direction of Andrea Handley, who wrote an exciting concert finale commissioned for this occasion.
Our March concert, Psalms Old and New, highlighted several settings of the 23rd Psalm, as well as Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and Tarik O’Regan’s Dorchester Canticles. Tenor Nathan Ward, winner of the 2016 Donald Chen Young Artist Award, was a featured soloist, along with William Lewis, treble, and accompaniment was by Ben Melsky, harpist.
In April we celebrated Earth Day with an encore performance of contemporary masterpiece Missa Gaia (Earth Mass), brought back by popular demand. Joining us once again were Felicia Patton, soprano; Thomas W. Jefferson, piano; and John Wojciechowski, soprano sax; as well as the Evanston Children’s Choir under the direction of Gary Geiger, and enidsmithdance.
In addition, we joined the Evanston Symphony Orchestra in December for their traditional holiday program An Evanston Symphony Christmas and again in June for Gustav Mahler’s second symphony, The Resurrection.
Our March concert, Psalms Old and New, highlighted several settings of the 23rd Psalm, as well as Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and Tarik O’Regan’s Dorchester Canticles. Tenor Nathan Ward, winner of the 2016 Donald Chen Young Artist Award, was a featured soloist, along with William Lewis, treble, and accompaniment was by Ben Melsky, harpist.
In April we celebrated Earth Day with an encore performance of contemporary masterpiece Missa Gaia (Earth Mass), brought back by popular demand. Joining us once again were Felicia Patton, soprano; Thomas W. Jefferson, piano; and John Wojciechowski, soprano sax; as well as the Evanston Children’s Choir under the direction of Gary Geiger, and enidsmithdance.
In addition, we joined the Evanston Symphony Orchestra in December for their traditional holiday program An Evanston Symphony Christmas and again in June for Gustav Mahler’s second symphony, The Resurrection.
