The Elgin Master Chorale and Handel's "Dixit Dominus"

The Blizzard Theatre at the ECC Arts Center looked like a west coast recording studio Sunday as the Elgin Master Chorale Children's Chorus took the stage in front of an array of high end microphones.

The Chorus in matching dress performed a four song set (entirely memorized) with unisons, part singing and confident solos. Though the mics picked up a bit too much noise, the 27 voices sounded full and clear through impressive changes in tempo and key, accompanied by piano and cello.

Conductor Matthew Bishop combined material from various genres, wisely including movie music which connects choral practice to contemporary culture. An excellent spokesman and cheerleader, Bishop described the group's aim to become the region's preeminent youth singing program, comparable to the highly respected Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra.

The accomplished singers of the Elgin Master Chorale (EMC) filled the risers next, behind the 24-piece Bella Voce Sinfonia, to sing the baroque aria Jesu Meines Lebens Leben (ca. 1675) by Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707). Except for one clear, beautiful passage in the tenors, it served best as a prelude for the more thoroughly prepared masterpiece that followed.

Best known for Messiah (1741) and other works from his later career in England, Georg Friedrich Handel (1685-1759) produced hundreds of compositions of every kind over a period of more than fifty years. Born German and died an Englishman, he was strongly influenced by Italian composers and wrote music with Latin texts for Roman Catholic worship.

Among the earliest of his large scale works was the eight-part Psalm setting Dixit Dominus (1707), scored for SSATB chorus, string orchestra and continuo. The Sinfonia gave a precise orchestral introduction to the nearly 40-minute piece by 22-year-old Handel, filled with glimpses of melody and rhythmic figures that would distinguish his musical voice for generations.

The choir's tone and Latin diction were transmitted nicely through the hall, but also exposed the challenges of baroque counterpoint which become exaggerated with an ensemble more than double the size of any choir from the original period.

In homophonic sections, the singers blended beautifully, favoring the upper voices and sounding especially divine in softer moments.

Five stalwart soloists handled the inner movements of the piece, managing long and complex melodies on a single vowel with fine breath control, even in passages where young Handel wrote dangerously low or high in the range. Sopranos Hannah de Priest and Henriët Fourie displayed sparkling technique and meshed nicely as a duet in part seven. Mezzo soprano Anna VanDeKerchove and tenor Matthew Dean tackled complex melismas with excellent intonation over quirky Renaissance accidentals.

Year after year, EMC Music Director Andrew Lewis gathers and develops an astonishing amount of talent to take on serious music by important composers in a professionalistic way. These concerts are a rare privilege to experience, and equally amazing is the opportunity to participate in this music making as a singer, board member or volunteer.

Lewis' dedicated artistic leadership and care for this choir's legacy as well as its future is an asset of which Elgin can justifiably boast. If the city continues to evolve into a center for the arts, it is thanks to the critical mass formed by the Elgin Master Chorale and the other superb organizations that make Elgin their home.

Between Worlds: Elgin Master Chorale and Duruflé's Requiem

The last concert of any choir's or orchestra's season is often the best, because the musicians have completed a full eight months of development, individually and together as an ensemble. This was evident Sunday as the Elgin Master Chorale and the EMC Children's Chorus concluded their season at the ECC Arts Center.

The nineteen-voice Children's Chorus showed the courage of a group many times its size in taking on an incredible variety of material, sung in three languages and almost entirely memorized. Sacred and traditional songs were combined with modern tunes arranged with tricky key and meter changes and subtle harmonies. The high point was possibly "Tcho tcho losa," a South African call-and-response folk song delivered with authentic tone and technique — entirely a cappella. 

The quality of the music was matched by the singers' confidence and professionalism. Managing Director Becky Narofsky is an enthusiastic and skilled artist-educator whose work with this group is clearly reflected in their sound and presence on the stage.

Joined by members of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra and guest instrumentalists, the Elgin Master Chorale presented the forty minute Requiem, Op. 9 (1947) by Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986). This impressionistic nine-part Mass for the Dead, well known in the choral repertory, was new to many in the audience and on stage.

Conductor and Music Director Andrew Lewis introduced the composer and the work in opening remarks, in a lecture-recital style that is appearing more and more in the concert hall. But this didn't soften the wonderful surprise of the first few moments of the Mass's Introit. This is very different from other works you've heard bearing the title "Requiem."

Ancient sacred Gregorian chants supplied the modal palette that gives this music its ethereal quality, avoiding the usual emotional interpretations of major or minor keys. The orchestra, augmented by organist David Schrader, produced sounds and textures that defied explanation at times, adding to the experience of being between worlds.

The power of more than one hundred voices was restrained and reverent throughout most of the Mass, but the full-throated delivery of "Hosanna in excelsis" ("Hosanna in the highest") or "judicare saeculum per ignem" ("to judge the world by fire") moved one's spirit in quite a different way.

Always technically on point, the Chorale enunciated the Latin text well enough to be followed easily in the program, and fragile entrances like "Cum sanctis tuis" ("with Thy saints") or "Chorus Angelorum" ("chorus of angels") did not detract from the overall execution.

Soprano soloist Katherine Wells gave a radiant delivery, and in the mezzo range her voice took on a modernistic tone that complemented the piece nicely. Maestro Lewis was clear and confident at the baton and elicited a powerful interpretation from the combined forces of more than 150 musicians.

With each passing season, these Elgin Master Chorale collaborations prove to be more than just a choir concert — they are significant art events. With this score and the voices assembled on the Blizzard Theatre stage, this performance made us forget what city, what century or what plane of existence we were in, and there is truly nothing more that can be asked of any concert.

For more information on the Elgin Master Chorale and the Children's Chorus summer programs, visit elginmasterchorale.org, emcchildrenschorus.org, or call (847) 214-7225.

Elgin Master Chorale's "A German Requiem" is Far More Joy than Sadness

All afternoon Sunday, the ECC Arts Center was humming with activity. The Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra (EYSO) held an open house in conjunction with recitals by its Chamber Music Institute ensembles. The ECC Musical Theatre was holding dance auditions for their summer production of American Idiot. And the Elgin Master Chorale (EMC), the Elgin Symphony Orchestra (ESO) and the EMC Children's Chorus combined for a concert in Blizzard Theatre. 

It was a striking example of the depth of local participation in the Arts, as musicians of all ages toted in instruments, formally-dressed singers hurried backstage and patrons lined up for tickets and lingered by an exhibit of the history of Elgin's premier choir.

The main event was the reprise of Johannes Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem ("A German Requiem"), marking seventy years since the Elgin Master Chorale was formed as the Elgin Choral Union, consisting of singers from local church choirs. The Choral Union's first performance in 1947 was Brahms' Requiem.

Welcoming remarks by EMC member Amy Cho struck the right note of informality in acknowledging Stu Ainsworth, perennial friend of the Arts and the event's key sponsor, and Ann Chipman, daughter of the EMC's founder, Dean Chipman. She also introduced the first act, the EMC Children's Chorus.

The Elgin Master Chorale Children's Chorus, conducted by Rebecca Narofsky.

They sounded like the Von Trapp singers in their renditions of five German songs (by Brahms) to open the program. Their 35-minute set included thirteen songs in all, displaying a wide range of technical skill in covering spirituals, theatrical scores and world music. Conductor Rebecca Narofsky has expanded their repertoire impressively in a short time and their discipline shows. Sharing the stage with the EMC and the ESO is a valuable experience for these young singers, and their co-appearances should help expand the audience.

More than 150 artists assembled after intermission for the German Requiem: nearly 100 singers arranged on risers in back of a 69-piece orchestra. So large was the combined ensemble that much of the audience was situated closer to the conductor than the choir. 

Brahms' seven movements were assembled over a period of several years, as detailed in the excellent program notes, and their effects are different. The music excelled in the sixth movement with its programmatic drama, and especially the fifth, which featured the choir's exquisite soft background harmonies.

The Elgin Master Chorale performs Brahms' A German Requiem with the Elgin Symphony Orchestra,
conducted by EMC Music Director Andrew Lewis.

Careful preparation was apparent in the Chorale's mastery of dynamics and articulation, and the German lyrics were rarely hard to follow by carefully reading in the printed program. The accompaniment included many ESO guest musicians, whose work generally defied criticism. Bass-baritone David Govertsen and soprano Henriët Fourie Thompson gave praiseworthy solos that emphasized tone and technique in the chromatic melodies of Brahms' Romantic style. 

Bass-baritone David Govertsen and
Soprano Henriët Fourie Thompson.

EMC Music Director Andrew Lewis maintained confident control of his massive array of forces for the nearly 75 minutes of continuous music. The volume of sound was enormous at forte and above, and the spatially expansive vocals lent an atmospheric quality to the divine lyrics and metaphysical subject matter. Funerals are filled with complex emotions and contemplations of eternity, and there was far more joy than sadness in this performance.

In the Arts, the difference between amateur and professional can be hard to define. It's not necessarily a matter of excellence or even whether a fee is involved. The willingness of Elgin artists to work together under all sorts of arrangements, regardless of their status, means audiences can experience the finest theatre, music, visual and literary arts in a local venue for relatively little cost. Always among the best examples is this pairing of the Elgin Master Chorale and the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, whose concerts are not just amazing in their audacity of scale but also highly successful as art.

Hear the EMC and ESO join forces again May 6-7 at the Hemmens Cultural Center in Elgin, where they present Vaughn Williams' Serenade to Music as part of the "Voices of Spring" festival. For more information, go to www.elginsymphony.org or www.elginmasterchorale.org.

Elgin Master Chorale Wraps its Season with Restless "Requiem"

Ninety singers were joined by a twenty-five piece orchestra on the Blizzard Theatre stage Sunday for a concert of classics that a city ten times Elgin's size would be fortunate to hear.

This joint appearance with a chamber-sized Elgin Symphony Orchestra and four professional soloists marked the end of a glorious season that included works by Schubert, Beethoven, Rossini, and Verdi performed in venues throughout Elgin in numerous artistic collaborations.

The top of this program featured Vivaldi's Gloria in D Major (ca. 1715), including its introductory Ostro picta sung by soprano Kirsten Hedegaard. She was joined for the Gloria by countertenor Thomas Aláan who covered parts originally written for soprano and contralto.

Their voices traced ornate melodies over long vowels like the arcs of water in a Venetian fountain, and blended beautifully a due with excellent timing and intonation. The chorus surrounded them like an April force of nature: at times stormy or serene, dark or heavenly radiant.

Unamplified music sounds surprisingly good in the Blizzard Theatre; only a cathedral could have improved matters by providing a pipe organ with a voice to match this ensemble. We strained to hear the excellent keyboard work of Jon Warfel, who is recognized locally as the Choirmaster at Elgin's First Congregational Church.

The highlight of the afternoon was the Requiem in C Minor by Johann Michael Haydn, composed for an Archbishop's funeral during a two-week period in December 1771. The younger Haydn has been historically overshadowed by his brother Franz Joseph, though he produced a wealth of music of comparable quality.

But there is nothing much restful in this requiem. The chorus stands throughout the forty-minute work, in which many sections of the Mass are joined together without breaks. Subconscious turmoil is palpable in the counterpoint, and anguished dissonances have led historians to suggest that Haydn's own bereavement at the recent loss of his infant daughter influenced its creation.

Soprano Kirsten Hedegaard, countertenor Thomas Aláan, Maestro Andrew Lewis,
tenor Matthew Dean and baritone Eric Miranda with the Elgin Master Chorale
and the Elgin Symphony Orchestra.

The pathos was evident in solo and duo passages by tenor Matthew Dean and baritone Eric Miranda, and the combination of all four voices as a solo quartet was spectacular. The chorus managed each entrance with great concentration and enunciated the Latin text so well that it was easy to follow in the printed transcription.

The Elgin Master Chorale, its singers, staff and board, accomplished a magnificent feat in this concert, in which every aspect — from the artists to the program booklet — was of the highest caliber. Maestro Andrew Lewis, celebrating ten years as Music Director, presented the chorus in its most highly practiced form, and exhibited complete control of the most important notes of every movement, especially the last one.

And this ensemble in particular represents the ever rising quality of amateur artists in the area, who join together with professionals in significant performances like these to create a record of excellence that continues to redefine Elgin as an important center for the arts.

For more information on coming events, including a rare summer outdoor performance, visit www.elginmasterchorale.org

"The Poetry of Music" at Elgin Art Showcase

After a weekend of amazing live chamber music performances at the Hemmens Cultural Center and Elgin Community College, two other groups joined forces at the Elgin Art Showcase to perform "The Poetry of Music" presented by Chamber Music on the Fox.

The 20-voice Chamber Singers of Elgin Master Chorale (EMC) were accompanied by the Elgin Chamber Players string quartet in Beethoven's "Elegischer Gesang" (1814) to open the death poetry-themed program. The choir made the room sound like a much bigger hall, especially faithful to the upper registers and more than honest with sibilant German consonants. Displaying tremendous dynamic range, the choir was capable of well-balanced fortes that could almost wake the dead.

The singers' gaze rarely left EMC Music Director Andrew Lewis, whose lucid conducting revealed the depth of their skill and preparation. No less a communicator with words, Lewis the educator shared insights on the evening's vocal works in impromptu remarks, for which the audience was overheard to whisper their gratitude during intermission.

The highlight of the choral performance was "Dark Night of the Soul," (2010) by living Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo, an expansive work that opens with a minimalist piano accompaniment played by Jon Warfel, known locally as the Choirmaster of Elgin's First Congregational Church.

Long, sustained vowels and modern harmonies evoked the mood of long Scandinavian nights, combined with the mysticism of the text by St. John of the Cross (1542-1592). Moments of powerful musical rapture fueled by lyrics like "love's urgent longings" were almost too big for the room, as complex chords gushed out overtones like a North Sea gale. "Dark Night" is a beautiful piece whose only critic was the hard surfaces of the Showcase.

Franz Schubert's String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor ("Death and the Maiden") offered a chance to witness the talents of area musicians Tarn Travers, Eleanor Bartsch (violins), Aurelien Pederzoli (viola) and Sara Sitzer (cello), who is also co-founder of Chamber Music on the Fox.

Despite its nickname, the piece is neither frail nor morose. A better understanding of its subject comes from the medieval "dance of death," understood for centuries as a pushing and pulling between mortals and the Grim Reaper.

The four players traveled a wide range of emotions and musical postures throughout the work's four movements, matching each other's phrasing, dynamic changes and rubatos as if they have played together for a long time. Schubert's startling shifts in key, rhythm and register never put these pros off their game.

The room made it difficult to play soft enough at times, but they are few and far between in this nearly 50-minute masterpiece of the quartet repertoire. Displaying the stamina to match their talents, the players rallied through a dramatic and tumultuous finale with aplomb.

Equally astonishing is the mere fact that performances of this quality are now appearing regularly in venues throughout Elgin, creating critical mass for the arts here, in the middle of what was once viewed as a lifeless suburban cultural desert.