Alumni of the Northwest Choral Society (“NWCS”) have received special invitations to sing select pieces with the chorus at its June 4 concerts to musically highlight “Why We Sing!”. And in this case, it represents 50 years of singing! The June 4 concerts, scheduled for 4 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Arlington Heights, culminate the NWCS’s 2015-16 performance season and its Golden Jubilee celebration.
Current members of NWCS have collaborated with Artistic Director Alan Wellman to select music for this Golden Jubilee “Why We Sing!” concert from the hundreds of compositions the chorus performed at its annual end-of-the-season June concerts during the last 50 years. The list of “favorites” includes a Medley from Les Misérables, Irving Berlin’s BlueSkies, Elijah Rock arrangement by Jester Hairston, Randall Thompson’s Choose Something Like a Star, a medley from Forever Motown and many more dating back over five decades.
In addition, O Song, a piece written by Chicago composer and teacher Daniel R. Salotti and commissioned by NWCS in celebration of its 50th anniversary, also will be performed. The composition combines a melody that came almost instantly into Mr. Salotti’s mind, with the text adapted from a variety of interest sessions the singers of the NWCS shared about being a part of the chorus. The work was premiered at the 2014 fall conference of the 2014 Illinois Chapter of the American Choral Director’s Association.
Alumni of Northwest Chorus Society who wish to participate in the June 4 celebration are encouraged to contact Penny Perles at nwchoralsociety@gmail.com for further information.
Tickets for the “Why We Sing!” concerts 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 each concert at the Southminster Presbyterian Church, 916 E. Central Road, Arlington Heights, IL.
The “Why We Sing!” concerts conclude the year-long celebration of the Northwest Choral Society’s 50th anniversary, which has included two other seasonal concerts, the recording and release at Christmas of the chorus’ first commercial compact disc And on Earth . . . Peace, a gala dinner celebration in April, participation in the six-choir Windy City Choral Festival on the stage of Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center, and several outreach performances. The new CD is on sale through the chorus’ website, nwchoralsociety.org
Rehearsals for the NWCS’s 2016-17 season will begin on September 6, with the new session’s first concert, “Come Celebrate!”, scheduled for December 4 at St. Raymonds Church in Mt. Prospect.
Lipke-Kentex-Hesse / Dionne Supply of Chicago and David Sung Lee Corporation is providing much appreciated sponsorship financial support for the Northwest Choral Society’s 2015-16 golden anniversary 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.nwchoralsociety.org.
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The Northwest Choral Society performs in April at First Presbyterian Church in Arlington Heights, accompanied by a chamber orchestra and an organ.