St. Charles Singers Will Float Into Summer With Water-Themed Songs June 7, 2008

Images of water float through the St. Charles Singers season finale program like the Fox River flows through the ensembles hometown and neighboring communities.

The professional chamber choir of 30-some voices concludes its 24th season with a program titled "Just as the Tide Was Flowing," to be performed in St. Charles and Wheaton.

The internationally acclaimed mixed choir will perform on Saturday, June 7, 2008, 7:30 p.m., at Baker Memorial United Methodist Church, 307 Cedar Ave., St. Charles; and Sunday, June 8, 4 p.m., at St. Michael Church, 310 S. Wheaton Ave., Wheaton.

The concert program embraces a torrent of works in diverse styles relating to the ancient element of water. The title comes from one of the "5 English Folk Songs" of Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958). The other songs in the group are "The Dark-Eyed Sailor," "The Spring Time of the Year," "The Lovers Ghost," and Wassail Song."

The ensemble will give its first performance of contemporary Polish composer Henryk Greckis "Szeroka woda" ("Broad Waters"), Op. 39, a set of traditional Polish folk songs about rivers and morning dew. These hauntingly beautiful, rarely heard songs will be sung in the original Polish.

West Coast-based American composer Eric Whitacre (b. 1970) has earned worldwide renown. The choir will perform Whitacres "Night Water," which is based on a text by Mexican poet Octavio Paz and is especially popular with young vocal ensembles.

The musical cascade continues with James Erbs classic arrangement of the traditional American folk song "Shenandoah," with its reference to a picturesque rolling river.

Artistic director Jeffrey Hunt has assembled a set of Shakespeare-era English madrigals brimming with the whimsy and flirtatious vitality this sophisticated Elizabethan genre is known for. Songs include" I Love, Alas, I Love Thee," by Thomas Morley; "Ah! Dear Heart," by Orlando Gibbons; "All Creatures Now Are Merry Minded," by John Bennet; and "Lullaby, My Sweet Little Baby" and "Though Amaryllis Dance in Green" by William Byrd.

The mens sections and womens sections of the choir will take separate turns in the spotlight with sets of songs written expressly for all-male and all-female ensembles.

Its a way to engender more musical variety, Hunt says.

Tenors and basses will sing "The Pasture," by Randall Thompson; "Down in the Valley," arranged by George Mead; "Skye Boat Song," arranged by Robert Boyd; "Deep River," arranged by Harry Burleigh; and "Lowlands," a sailors work song, and "What Shall We Do With a Drunken Sailor," both arranged by Alice Parker and Robert Shaw.

Songs for sopranos and altos include "Three Mountain Ballads," arranged by Joliet, Ill., native Ron Nelson (b. 1929); and four songs from "12 Lieder Und Romanzen," Op. 44, which Johannes Brahms wrote for the womens chorus he founded in Hamburg, Germany.

Single concert tickets are $35 (premium seating, St. Charles only), $25 (general admission), $20 for seniors 65+, and $10 for full-time students 23 and under. For concert tickets and information, call (630) 513-5272 or visit www.stcharlessingers.com.

About The St. Charles Singers

Founded in 1984 by Jeffrey Hunt, artistic director, the St. Charles Singers is one of Americas preeminent professional choral groups. Based in St. Charles, Illinois, near Chicago, the mixed chamber choir of approximately 30 singers has a repertoire comprising about 600 works.

In a CD review, Englands Gramophone noted the ensembles impeccable vocal blend . . . and clear precise diction. ClassicsToday.com called the St. Charles Singers one of North Americas outstanding choirs, citing charisma and top-notch musicianship that bring character and excitement to each piece.

In a review of the St. Charles Singers 2007 performance of Aaron Coplands Old American Songs with the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Tribune critic John von Rhein praised the ensembles winning warmth and charm.

The international Naxos record label is about to release in the U.S. a CD of music by Copland which includes the St. Charles Singers performing the "Old American Songs" with the Elgin Symphony. The CD was recorded by Naxos in Elgin last May.

Event submitted by Eventful.com on behalf of natsilv.

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