Chi acapella-chi, chi

1Chicago a capella

Chicago, Chicago

Friday, April 1, 2011, 8:00 pmAnne & Howard Gottlieb Hall at

Merit School of Music38 S. Peoria St., Chicago

Saturday, April 2, 2011, 8:00 pmNichols Concert Hall

1490 Chicago Ave., Evanston

Sunday, April 3, 2011, 7:30 pmWentz Concert Hall

171 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville

Sunday, April 10, 2011, 4:00 pmPilgrim Congregational Church

460 Lake Street, Oak Park

Chicago a cappellaKathryn Kamp, SopranoAlexia Kruger, Soprano

Elizabeth Grizzell, Mezzo-sopranoSusan Schober, Mezzo-soprano

Hoss Brock, TenorTrevor Mitchell, TenorMatt Greenberg, BassBenjamin Rivera, Bass

Brian Streem, Bass

Founder and Artistic DirectorJonathan Miller

Music DirectorPatrick Sinozich

Chicago a cappella is supported by the Klaff Family Foundation; Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation; the MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation;

the Arts Work Fund for Organizational Development; Dr. Scholl Foundation; a CityArts Program 2 grant from the City of Chicago Dept. of Cultural Affairs and Special Events; the Oak Park

Area Arts Council, in partnership with the Villages of Oak Park, Forest Park and River Forest; and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. The Naperville Sun is a media sponsor of

Chicago a cappella’s series at Wentz Hall in Naperville.

2 Chicago a capella

ABOUT CHICAGO A CAPPELLA

Chicago a cappella is a vocal ensemble dedicated to performing fun and innovative concert programs at the highest possible musical standards. Through its Chicago-area performances, touring engagements and recordings, the group enlightens and entertains audiences with repertoire from the ninth to the twenty-first century with a special focus on music written in the present generation. Now recognized as one of the area’s most accomplished ensembles, Chicago a cappella is known for its performances of early music, vocal jazz, and spirituals.

Founded in 1993 by Jonathan Miller, Chicago a cappella has released seven CDs, including its newest release, Christmas a cappella, on Cedille Records. The group has introduced more than sixty works to Chicago audiences, including newly commissioned works by Chen Yi, Tania León, Ezequiel Viñao, Stacy Garrop, and Rollo Dilworth. In 2007, Jonathan Miller appointed Patrick Sinozich as the group’s first

Music Director. In 2008, Miller was honored with the prestigious Louis Botto Award from Chorus America in recognition of this innovative action and entrepreneurial zeal in developing a professional choral ensemble.

Chicago a cappella has presented over 150 concerts in the Chicago area in addition to guest appearances in 11 states and in Mexico. John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune recently hailed Chicago a cappella’s “fine-tuned ensemble and secure blend” and American Organist praised the group’s “breathtaking ensemble and control [and] stylistic elegance... Chicago a cappella is a jewel in the crown of Chicago’s musical life.” The ensemble has been featured on national radio broadcasts and performed live concerts on Chicago’s WFMT Radio. Chicago a cappella has completed educational residencies in the Chicago Public Schools and is a proud business partner of Naperville North High School.

2936 N. Southport Ave., 2nd Floor, Chicago, IL 60657Office: (773) 281-7820 | Fax: (773) 435-6453

Tickets: (773) 755-1628www.chicagoacappella.org | [email protected]

Founder and Artistic Director ................................................................................. Jonathan MillerExecutive Director ..............................................................................................Matthew GreenbergMusic Director ..............................................................................................................Patrick SinozichBox Office & Concert Manager ....................................................................................... Deb HobanEducation Outreach Coordinator ............................................................................Susan SchoberMarketing & Operations Coordinator ...............................................................Shaina FarwellInterns......................................................................................................................... Jennifer Aparicio, Lisa Czaplicki, Kennyetta Dillon

Board of DirectorsMichelle EppleyWilliam K. FlowersHelen C. Gagel (President)Joyce GrenisHoward HushLeslie LauderdaleRobert B. Linn (Treasurer)

Linda Mast (Vice-President)Diana Ramirez (Secretary)Stephen ShawMaria T. Suarez

Committee MembersCarole Baumgart

(Marketing)

William Thomas Huyck (Finance/Legal)

Yvonne Owens (Finance/Legal)

David Perlman (Marketing)Lisa Scott (Financial

Development)

Find us on Facebook for photos, audio clips and more: www.facebook.com/chicagoacappella

Read blogs and join the conversation at www.chicagoclassicalmusic.org

3Chicago a capella

CHICAGO A CAPPELLA CDS

Shall I Compare Thee?Contemporary settings of Shakespeare’s

timeless words

Holidays a cappella LiveLive performances of Christmas spirituals, Chanukah songs and holiday music from

around the world

Mathurin Forestier: MassesWorld-premiere recording of breathtaking

Renaissance church music

EclectricNew works, familiar favorites, pop & jazz.

“An overflowing cornucopia of choral delights” (ChicagoTribune)

Go Down, MosesA stunning collection of spirituals

Palestrina: Music for the Christmas Season

Brilliant Renaissance polyphony by the Italian master Palestrina

Available in the lobby: $16 each (includes sales tax)

Christmas a cappella: Songs From Around the World

Our latest release on Cedille Records is a sparkling selection of seasonal songs including lively African works, delightful treatments of traditional French and French-Canadian carols, a unique Danish take on the Christmas story, distinctive works by leading American composers Stephen Paulus and Gwyneth Walker, two pieces based on Hebrew texts, and James Clemens’s brilliant, jazz-inflected Jingle a cappella. The disc has received the

coveted “10/10” rating from ClassicsToday.com.

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LOCATION INFOR M ATION

Smoking is prohibited in all venues. Food and beverage are not permitted in the audience seating area. No photography or recording of any kind is permitted.

Anne & Howard Gottlieb HallMerit School of Music38 S. Peoria St., ChicagoRestrooms and drinking fountain: Near main lobby entrance on first floor.

Nichols Concert HallMusic Institute of Chicago 1490 Chicago Avenue, EvanstonRestrooms and drinking fountain: On lower level; take stairs or elevator from lobby.

Wentz Concert Hall171 E. Chicago Ave., NapervilleRestrooms and drinking fountain: in the main lobby.

Pilgrim Congregational Church460 Lake Street, Oak ParkRestrooms: Off the lobby, in the southeast corner of the building. Accessible restroom in south hallway near the chapel. Additional restrooms on the lower level.

RESTAUR ANT SUGGESTIONS

ChicagoJaks Tap Bar & Grill901 W. Jackson Blvd. Friday 11 AM - 2 AM / Sat. 4 PM - 2 AM / Sun. 4-11 PM15% off all pizzas

Lloyd’s Chicago1 S. Wacker Dr.Dinner 5:00-8:30 pm10% off food

Venus Greek Cypriot Cuisine820 W. JacksonHours: Fri. and Sat. 4:00 PM - 12:00 AM15% off food + Complimentary Parking

EvanstonLulu’s Dim Sum & Then Sum804 Davis St. (two blocks from

Nichols Hall)Hours: 11:30 am – 10:00 pm20% off

Prairie Moon1502 Sherman Ave. (one block

west of Nichols Hall)Hours: Fri. & Sat. 4-11 pmSunday 4-1015% off

NapervilleCatch 3535 S. Washington St.Hours: Fri. & Sat. 5-10 PM, Sun. 4:30-8:30 PM10% off food

Quigley’s Irish Pub43 East Jefferson Ave.Hours: Fridays until 2 AMSundays until 1 AM10% off food Tango Argentinean Grill 5 W. Jackson Ave.Hours: Fri. & Sat. until 1 AM, Sun. dinner 2:30-10 PMFree appetizer with purchase

of two entrees

Oak ParkCafé Winberie151 N. Oak Park Ave.Hours: Sunday 1 pm - 10 pm10% off Cucina Paradiso 814 North Blvd.Hours: Sunday 5:00 - 9:30 pm1/2 off wine bottles with purchase of

two entrees (Reservations: mention Chicago a cappella)

Hemmingway’s Bistro 211 N. Oak Park Ave. (in The Write Inn,

2 blocks north of Lake St.)Hours: Sunday until 9:00 pm10% off food

Show your ticket stub or program book to receive discounts at these area restaurants.

5Chicago a capella

PROGR A M

Intro: Chicago (That Toddlin’ Town)....................................................Fred Fisher, arr. Jonathan Miller

* * * * * * *

SETTLING THE “GREAT WEST”C’est l’aviron ..............................................................Trad. French Canadian (17th-18th c.), arr. J. Miller

Shawneetown ..........................................................................................................Ohio Valley folksong, arr. Dillon Bustin/Malcolm Dalglish/Grey Larsen

El-A-Noy .............................................................................................. Trad. Folksong, arr. Augustus Zanzig

* * * * * * *

FIRST-WAVE IMMIGRANTS: BUILDING A CITYCity of Chicago ..................................................................................................Barry Moore, arr. Nick Page

Die Wollust in den Maien ..................................................................................................Johannes Brahms

* * * * * * *

CIVIL WAR AND SLAVERYFollow the Drinking Gourd .......................................................................... African-American folksong, arr. Allen Koepke

Lincoln and Liberty ................................................................................. “Old Rosin the Bow” (folksong); text from 1860 Lincolncampaign; arr. Anne Heider

* * * * * * *

THE GREAT FIRE, THE GREAT EXPOSITION, AND THE GROWING CITYPassing Through The Fire ........................................................................................................ George F. Root

America, The Beautiful .....................................................................................Poem: Katherine Lee Bates; tune: Samuel Ward; arr. Deke Sharon

Take Me Out to the Ballgame .......................................................... Albert von Tilzer arr. Anne Heider

Prayers of Steel ....................................................................Poem: Carl Sandburg; Music: Jerry J. Troxell (1936-1998)

Chicago (That Toddlin’ Town) ............................................................. Fred Fisher, arr. Jonathan Miller

INTERMISSION

LIFE IN THE “SECOND CITY”Chicago Bound Blues ...........................................................................................Lovie Austin, arr. J. Miller

Precious Lord ....................................................................................Thomas A. Dorsey, arr. Arnold Sevier

La Bamba ...........................................................................................................Trad. folksong from Veracruz (Mexico), arr. Deke Sharon

Madonna Mia! ..............................................................................................Al Capone, arr. Patrick Sinozich

* * * * * * *

FUN AND GAMESBear Down, Chicago Bears ....................................................................Al Hoffman, arr. Jonathan Miller

Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? ....................................Robert Lamm, arr. Joe Herbert

* * * * * * *

Latecomers will be seated at the discretion of the ushers. Unauthorized photography or sound recording of any kind are strictly prohibited. Thank you for your cooperation.

6 Chicago a capella

INTRODUCTION

I first set foot in this glorious city on August 30, 1971—my ninth birthday—when our Chrysler Newport and our moving van pulled up at a married-student-housing apartment in Hyde Park, my family’s first home here. I remember getting a Chinese checkers game set as a present that day. A year prior, we had moved from Brookline, Massachusetts to Richmond, Indiana, for what had been a relatively bucolic year, during which both of my parents were in graduate school. While they would continue in grad school upon our arrival in Chicago, little else in our lives would display a similar continuity. Playing Chinese checkers with my older sister and little brother that day, I had little inkling of how completely my life would change as a result of this encounter with this tremendous city.

* * * * * * *

Living in Chicago was, at first, rather terrifying for me. I was a nine-year old “white boy” suddenly transplanted in the South Side at the height of the Black Power movement. I attended Shoesmith School at 50th and Kenwood. That was my first of three stops on the journey through Chicago Public Schools’ District 14 where, even at Kenwood Academy, I was always a racial minority.

The other kids were tough and physical, especially at recess, and not just the black kids. It took me a little while to realize that they were also friendly, generous, and hilariously funny, as long as you played by the prevailing rules. (I tried at first to play by Brookline rules, where you told the teacher if another kid stole your eraser. A few minutes on the ground with a bloody nose outside Shoesmith, where I had been decked with a hard right, were enough to teach me that the old rules didn’t work here.) I danced awkwardly in gym class, despite the kind and insistent coaching of Patrice Linder, a girl in my class whose complete comfort at dancing the “breakdown” section of our class dance tune impressed and rather awed me. In later years, I would feel confident—some would say overconfident—at my level of George Clinton- and Earth, Wind & Fire-inspired “funkification,” but it did not happen overnight.

The Chicago Children’s Choir and the Jewish Community Center were my first two after-school places of refuge. A year later, KAM Isaiah Israel Congregation would be the place for Sunday and Hebrew school, though being in synagogue didn’t keep me from being bullied. It took a few more years to develop a thicker skin.

It was in the Chicago Children’s Choir that I not only found what personally felt like my first real “tribe” in the big city—that of fellow singers—but also developed the beginning of a sense of belonging in a line (or many lines) of history. One of the songs found early on this concert is “El-A-Noy,” a quaint and funny song about settling here in the 19th century. The CCC was the first place I ever heard or sang it.

As years went by and I became more confident in my own skin and in my adopted city, features about Chicago—“city things”—came to excite and embolden me. My parents gave me a wide berth to explore, permission for which I am deeply grateful. I fell in love with public transportation, riding on Supertransfers all day on summer Sundays. I was pleased that I could handle myself in a wide variety of situations, from riding the 47th Street bus without getting mugged to walking down Michigan Avenue all by myself with the wind in my hair on a beautifully crisp fall afternoon, on my way to hang out at Pacific Stereo on Oak Street—where I would listen to dozens of different speakers, amps, tuners, and LP needles, in the company of the most patient salesman a teenage boy could have known. (I did eventually buy my first complete stereo system from him, at age 13.)

7Chicago a capella

INTRODUCTION (c o n t.)

I developed pride for living in a multi-racial city where people got along remarkably well. I fell in love with our great buildings and the skyline that visually defines us to the rest of the world. I took a course at the Chicago Architectural Foundation during my senior year in high school, and I got my start as a singer right here with Chris Moore, Lena McLin, Max Janowski and Richard Proulx. How can you be more blessed than that? I have now lived in Chicago for 31 of my 48 years, and I feel lucky indeed to be here. (And although I would not have admitted it while in high school or college: yes, the suburbs do count if you say you’re from Chicago.)

* * * * * * *

Creating this program about Chicago has been a joyous eye-opener, a chance to fall in love with our amazing city all over again. It has been, to quote Shakespeare, “rich and strange” to create this musical history tour of Chicago. There have been a number of wonderful and thrilling things for me about putting this program together. It is difficult to articulate exactly why this has been such a blast. The joy seems to stem in part from being able to wield my more musically-oriented tools of research and program-building on our own city, the place that is more familiar than any other.

When I was training as a musicologist, I mostly studied the music and history of faraway places and people: medieval France, the Italian Renaissance, colonial New England, even contemporary Indonesia. There were a number of faculty and fellow students who deeply understood the wider cultural background of the music they were studying, and I was not one of them. I didn’t have a strong handle on the wider cultural, political, or humanistic context of Italian madrigals and 16th century European sacred music, which was my dissertation area. I could sing it with the best of them, and I could analyze the inner workings of the music from a composer/theorist’s point of view, but I couldn’t articulate well why their musical expressions made sense in their culture, except in broad and vague terms that I ultimately found unsatisfying. Perhaps the era was just too remote for me, except in the arena of sound—which was ironic, because it was the ravishing sound of Renaissance music that made me want to study it so intensively in the first place.

* * * * * * *

But Chicago? Now that’s something I can relate to! A program about Chicago has allowed me to hear and read about places I have seen with my own eyes, heard with my own ears, or otherwise experienced very close to firsthand, as opposed to cities I’ve never or rarely seen and people who died long before I was born. It’s just so cool. Have you ever dug deeply into the incredible history of this place? What a location we live in, and what a whirlwind of events got us here!

A few years ago, my wife gave me the Encyclopedia of Chicago. Talk about a perfect present! I can get lost in that book for hours—and did while doing the initial research for this program. (“Jon, can you take out the trash now?”) The book covers both the broad sweeps of Chicago’s history and minute details of individual trends, organizations, ethnic groups, and people. One of the leaders on the editorial team was James Grossman, a towering figure in Chicago history.

Our concerts usually run about ninety minutes including intermission. Just starting with Chicago’s official charter in 1838, we have to average about two years’ duration for every minute of concert time. “So,” you might ask, “how did you decide what to

8 Chicago a capella

INTRODUCTION (c o n t.)

keep in and what to leave out?” I decided to break the musical history of Chicago up into six sections, like this:

• initial settlers who founded the city and state; • the first wave of immigrants, including Germans and Irish; • events and forces leading up to the Civil War, including abolitionism and Lincoln’s election; • the unprecedented growth of Chicago into the “second city,” including the 1892- 93 Columbian Exposition; • the Great Migration of black southerners and continued immigration of others; • and a final section that is just for fun.

Along the way, you’ll hear some terrific finds, including the only song every written by Al Capone, and several pieces heavily influenced by or firmly rooted in the blues.

* * * * * * *Now that this history has been drawn in music, I have a sense of how difficult it must be to write works of history. How do you decide how widely to cast your net, be it in terms of timespan, geography, social circles, and so on? How do you decide what to leave out, especially if you are going to keep it to a reasonable length? People have already asked me, “So, did you include a song about so and so?” Some people may be a little disappointed if we didn’t cover your favorite topic about Chicago. I’m confident you’ll enjoy this show anyway.

You’ll probably notice that not much of this music is that high-brow. That’s our town for you. Even with its fancy people, glorious restaurants and architecture, world-class theatre and classical music and creature comforts, Chicago has always been a sort of rough-and-tumble place. It’s a crossroads of trade and transportation, of people coming and going, always in flux. As I write these notes, we’re in the middle of a raucous mayoral campaign. Nine million people with differing agendas, skin colors, traditions and values aren’t going to agree on everything. That is part of why it is fun to live here.

I have a strong feeling that this program is just the beginning for us in our role as “Chicago” a cappella, being musical ambassadors for our fantastic city. You’re the audience pioneers, since you’re here, so please let us know: What did we leave out? What might be useful in a future incarnation of this show? Who else should we be singing this concert for? Don’t be shy. Drop us a note, or put it on your audience comment card, and let’s mix it up and see what widest possible reach this program can have.

Thank you for being here and for bringing your friends. We always appreciate your comments, so please don’t hesitate to write your impressions on the audience comment cards, or drop me an e-mail ([email protected]) or a comment on our Facebook page if you feel like it. Enjoy the show.

—Jonathan Miller

PROGR A M NOTES

Intro: Chicago (That Toddlin’ Town) Fred Fisher, arr. Jonathan Miller

We give you just a taste here of the song made famous by Frank Sinatra and oth-ers. See below for the full text and fuller program notes.

9Chicago a capella

M’en revenant de la jolie Rochelle

recontré trios jolies demoiselles.

REFRAIN:C’est l’aviron qui nous mène, qui nous mène C’est l’aviron qui nous mène en haut.

J’ai recontré trios jolies demoisellesJ’ai point choisi, mai j’ai pris la plus belle.

Au bout d’cent lieues, ell’ me d’mandit à boireJe l’ai menée auprès d’une fontaine.

J’l’y fit monter derrièr’ moi, sur ma selleJ’y fis cent lieues sans parler avec elle.

Quand ell’ fut là, ell’ ne voulut point boireJe l’ai menée au logis de son père.

Quand ell’ fut là, ell’ buvait à pleins verresÀ la Santé de son père et sa mère.

À la Santé de ses soeurs et ses frères.À la Santé d’celui que son coeur aime.

While I was returning from lovely Rochelle town I met three lovely ladies.

REFRAIN:It’s the paddle that takes us,It’s the paddle that takes us up.

I met three lovely ladies;on the spot I chose the best.

After a hundred leagues, she asked me for a drink;I led her to a nearby fountain.

I mounted her behind me on my saddleI rode a hundred leagues without talking to her.

When we got there, she didn’t want to drink (the water);I led her to her father’s lodge.

When we got there, she drank full glasses (of wine?)to the health of her father and her mother.

…to the health of her sisters and brothers,to the health of the one that her heart loves. -trans. Jonathan Miller

PROGR A M NOTES (c o n t.)

SETTLING THE “GREAT WEST”’

C’est l’aviron (“It’s the paddle”) Trad. French-Canadian folksong, arr. Jonathan Miller

“Michilimackinac” was the name given by local First Nation tribes to the area where Lake Michigan meets Lake Huron—at the northern end of what is now called the state of Michigan. It was a central jumping-off point for canoe trips further inland to Illinois, Wisconsin and points west and south (such as Missouri). In use as early as the late 1600s, this tune is said to have been the most popular song among the French traders who plied the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River in pursuit of the fur trade. First Nation trappers would trap beaver pelt, which was the top prize, valued primarily for use in hat-making. In exchange for beaver pelt, the Native Americans received the goods they valued from Europeans, such as brass kettles and iron tools.

The main point behind this song is that “it’s the paddle” that “takes us up.” The direc-tion of “up” refers to the trip from “lower Canada” (Toronto, Montreal, and similar points) to “upper Canada” (the Great Lakes and beyond). The rhythm easily suggests a work song. If you’ve ever paddled a canoe, see if you can imagine moving the paddle through water and air to the beat of the song.

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Shawneetown Trad. Ohio Valley folksong, arr. Dillon Bustin/Malcolm Dalglish/Grey Larsen, ed. J. Miller

This is a song about keelboats going up and down the Ohio River in the vicinity of far southern Illinois. In the late 1700s and early 1800s, before the Illinois and Michigan Canal opened up travel between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River, the main entry point to Illinois was downstate. Folksinger Dillon Bustin gives most of the back-ground to this song:

Shawneetown (also known as Shawnee Ferry) is a point on the Illinois side of the Ohio River, just downriver from the junction with the Wabash. It was the first Anglo settlement on the Ohio and, before 1830, was the major trade point between Native Americans and the new settlers. Salt mines nearby provided the area’s main trading commodity, as the “rock salt” in the song’s lyrics tell.

The easiest way to get to Shawneetown for trading was to float downstream. However, if one were a trader, it was necessary to also get upstream to keep goods flowing in both directions. Rafts and flatboats were almost impossible to get back upstream. By contrast, a strong crew and “beech oars” would literally pull the keelboat back upstream, a process called “bushwhacking” or “cordelling.” In the era before steam power and dams, the downstream trip of a few weeks between Cincinnati and New Orleans was contrasted with the several months that it took to get back. The beech oar was a long oar that helped on downstream trips to guide the boat and keep it off mudslicks and snags. As with “C’est l’aviron,” you couldn’t do the work of river-based trade without some terrific paddles, so the men would have to paddle “hard on the beech oar.”

11Chicago a capella


Some rows up, but we floats downWay down the Ohio to Shawneetown, and it’s

CHORUS:Hard on the beech oar, she moves too slowWay down to Shawneetown on the Ohio.

Now the current’s got her and we’ll take up the slackWe’ll float her down to Shawneetown and We’ll bushwhack her back, and it’s…

The whiskey’s in the jug, boys, the wheat is in the sack, We’ll trade ‘em down to Shawneetown and We’ll bring the rock salt back, and it’s…

Now, I got a wife in Louisville and one in New Orleans And when I get to Shawneetown gonna see my Indian queen, it’s…

The water’s mighty warm, boys, The air is cold and dank; and the cursed fog, It gets so thick you cannot see the bank, and it’s…

El-A-NoyTrad. “booster song,” arr. Augustus Zanzig, from Singing America

The Midwest would never have been settled without “boosters,” people whose job it was to convince Easterners to bring their money, their families, and their talents and ambitions to the “Great West.” One way that they spread the “gospel” of westward migration was through songs, sort of like motivational pep talks to make you want to go somewhere new. This song is both quaint and vigorous, causing the singer and listener to want to spring up and move to El-A-Noy. (You are encouraged to pay special attention to the verse about the Queen of Sheba visiting our state—it’s hilarious.) A fourth verse, added later, suggests in the chorus, “Then move your family westward, bring all your girls and boys/ And cross at Shawnee Ferry to the State of El-A-Noy.”

Way down upon the Wabash,Sich land was never known,If Adam had passed over it,The soil he’d surely own.He’d think it was the gardenHe’d played in when a boy,And straight pronounce it Eden In the state of El-A-Noy.

CHORUS:Then move your fam’ly west-ward. Good health you will enjoy, And rise to wealth and honor in The state of El-A-Noy!

‘Twas here the Queen of Sheba cameWith Solomon of old.With a donkey load of spices,Pomgranates and fine gold;



And when she saw this lovely land Her heart was filled with joyStraightway she said, “I’d like to be a queen in El-A-Noy.”

She’s bounded by the Wabash, The Ohio and the Lakes.She’s crawfish in the swampy lands,The milksick and the shakes.But these are slight diversions,And take not from the joyOf living in the garden land,The state of El-A-Noy.

* * * * * * *

FIRST-WAVE IMMIGRANTS: BUILDING A CITY

City of ChicagoBarry Moore, arr. Nick Page

The Irish first came to Chicago in the 1830s and were associated early on with the building of the I&M Canal (1836-1848). The potato crop failures that started in 1845 drove 1.5 million Irish to emigrate, and Chicago was a popular destination. The journey was not easy, borne as it was of the urgency to eat; Irish women of-ten traveled in groups apart from the rest of their families, in contrast to the more intact families of German, Jewish, Polish, and Italian immigrants.

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13Chicago a capella


Die Wollust in den Maien, die Zeit hat Freuden bracht.die Blümlein mancherleien, ein jeglichs nach sein’r G’stalt:das sind die roten Röselein,der Feyl, der grüne Klee;von herzer Liebe scheiden, das tut weh.

Der Vögelein Gesange die Zeit hat Freuden bracht,ihr Lieb tät mich bezwingen, freundlich sie zu mir sprach:Sollt, schönes Lieb, ich fragen dich, wollst fein berichten mich.Genad mir, schöne Frauen, so sprach ich.

Nach manchem Seufzer schwere komm ich wohl wieder dar,nach Jammer und nach Leide seh ich dein Äuglein klar.Ich bitt dich, Auserwählte mein, laß dir befohlen sein das treue, junge Herze, das Herze mein. -Johannes Brahms

Spring passion in May, the season has brought great joy.The flowers blossom, each after its own shape:These include the little red roses, the violet and the green clover;But they separate me from my dear love, which makes me sad.

The songs of the little birds in season bring me joy,Because I was conquered by love when she said to me:“If, beautiful one, I were to ask of you, would you tell me of your love?”“Certainly, my dear, I’d tell you of my love:”

“After these many arduous trials of misery and sorrow,I will return to see your sincere little eyes.I ask you, my chosen one, let yourself be influencedBy my young true heart.”-trans. Courtesy of UC Davis Dept. of Music

* * * * * * *

The difficult journey of the Irish to Chicago is documented in this sad and mov-ing song by an Irish songwriter, Barry Moore, who hails from Newbridge, County Kildare, Ireland. Barry changed his name to Luka Bloom to get out of the shadow of his more famous singer brother, Christy Moore. Luka has developed quite a fol-lowing in his own right, and City of Chicago is probably his best-known song. (You can see and hear more about Luka Bloom at www.lukabloom.com.) The unpub-lished setting by Boston’s Nick Page was made available by special arrangement with the arranger.

Die Wollust in den Maien (The Sensuality in May)Johannes Brahms

Germans were an important early immigrant group to Chicago, taking prominent roles especially on the North and Northwest Sides. Michael Diversey was a lead-ing German who was alderman of the Sixth Ward in the 1840s. Between 1850 and 1900, Germans were the largest single ethnic group in Chicago. Not only did they make up one-sixth of the population in 1850, but in 1900, a full 470,000 Chicago residents were either born in Germany or had at least one parent who was. Ger-man was being taught in Chicago Public Schools by 1870. The posh Germania Club in Lincoln Park was founded in 1865 by the city’s German elite. Lincoln Square, anchored by the venerable Merz Apothecary, is the Chicago neighbor-hood with the strongest German character at the present time.

Concerts and other musical activities serve to strengthen ethnic identity, and the Germans were particularly strong in this area. Singing societies would have performed partsongs much like this one by Brahms, composed with amateur singers in mind.



CIVIL WAR AND SLAVERY

Follow the Drinking GourdTrad. African-American folksong, arr. Allen Koepke

Historian Glennette Tilley Turner, who is the leading scholar of the Underground Railroad in Illinois, notes that Chicago was a hotbed of antislavery activity. There were many routes on the Underground Railroad that originated in Illinois towns bordering the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers; most of these ended in Chicago. Before the divisive Fugitive Slave Law was passed in 1850, Illinois was quite hospitable to runaway slaves; after 1850, slavecatchers or “pattyrollers” would capture black people even if they had certificates of freedom.

Getting across the Ohio River is the topic of this well-known song. The coded language tells slaves how to maintain a northern bearing: the “drinking gourd” in the chorus and every verse is the Big Dipper, whose pointer stars lead you to the North Star. The verses take the slave from Mobile, Alabama northward, through northeastern Mississippi and Tennessee toward Paducah, Kentucky, where the river crossing into Illinois would take place. The “old man” is reputedly a friendly boat operator and former sailor named Peg Leg Joe, who would mark the final part of the path with his “peg foot” and ferry slaves across the river to freedom.

Allen Koepke’s vigorous new arrangement is texturally thick, perhaps a subtle re-minder that the perilous journey was through densely forested, unfamiliar territory.

When the sun goes back and the first quail calls,Follow the drinking gourd.For the old man is awaitin’ for to carry you to freedom,Follow the drinking gourd.

The river bed makes a mighty find road,Dead trees to show you the way.And it’s left foot, peg foot, then traveling on,Follow the drinking gourd.

The river ends between two hills,There’s another river on the other side,Follow the drinking gourd.

I thought I heard the angels say,Follow the drinking gourd.

Lincoln and LibertyIrish folk song, “Old Rosin the Bow,” combined with 1860 political lyrics, arr. Anne Heider

In decades past, satirical or other political songs were a popular way to communi-cate a campaign’s message. Partisans would routinely borrow familiar tunes and slap on new words, as is the case here; imagine “Yankee Doodle” with new words about Rahm Emanuel or Gery Chico from the recent Chicago mayoral campaign, and you have the right idea. In this case, a popular Irish fiddle tune, “Old Rosin the Bow,” was paired with new lyrics that promoted Abe Lincoln as the “liberty” candi-date in the 1860 presidential campaign.

15Chicago a capella


Anne Heider found this combination of text and tune in Irwin Silber’s collec-tion called Songs America Voted By. In an interesting example of the way words can change meaning, she notes:

The term “Sucker” to denote someone from Illinois had its origins in the 1820s. Illinois men who traveled up the Mississippi in the spring, worked the Galena lead mines during warm weather, then migrated south when the cold weather came, were called after a type of river fish that had similar habits. The name had no connotation of gullibility and for a time was in common use, like “Hoo-sier” to indicate someone from Indiana.

Lincoln’s victory in 1860 would have been unthinkable without the city of Chi-cago, as the Republican National Convention was held here.

Hurrah for the choice of the nation! Our chieftain so brave and so true!We’ll go for the great reformation, for Lincoln and Liberty too!We’ll go for the son of Kentucky, the hero of Hoosierdom true,The pride of the Suckers so lucky, for Lincoln and Liberty too!

Our good David’s sling is unerring, the Slaveocrat’s giant he slew;Then shout for the freedom preferring, for Lincoln and Liberty too!We’ll go for the son of Kentucky, the hero of Hoosierdom true,The pride of the Suckers so lucky, for Lincoln and Liberty too!

They’ll find, they’ll find what our railmaker statesman can do;For people are ev’rywhere calling for Lincoln! Then up with our banner so glorious, the star spangled red, white, and blue! We’ll fight till our cause is victorious, for Lincoln and Liberty too!

* * * * * * *

THE GREAT FIRE, THE GREAT EXPOSITION, AND THE GROWING CITY

Passing Through the Fire George Frederick Root

Named after Handel, George F. Root was one of the most prolific composers, arrangers, and music publishers in the middle of the 19th century. Born in New England, he moved to Chicago in 1859 to join his brother’s music-publishing firm, Root & Cady. His 35 wartime songs include the following “greatest hits”: Just Before the Battle, Mother; The Battle Cry of Freedom; and Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!

Root wrote this song about Chicago’s Great Fire of 1871 and published it the same year; since the Fire was in October, he must have written it quickly. The song em-bodies the spirit and values of Victorian-era middleclass society, as well as a rather pious and passive approach to tragedy. Following the Fire, he moved back to New England, where he died in 1872.

Flames! flames! terrible flames! How they rise, how they mount, how they fly…The heavens are spread with a fierce lurid glare,The red heat is filling the earth and the air,While mercy! mercy! We hear the despairing ones cry.



CHORUS:We are passing thro’ the fire! passing thro’ the fire,But it is our Father’s hand, Tho’ we may not understandWhy we’re passing thro’ the fire, passing thro’ the fire!

Flames! flames! terrible flames!How they sweep, how they rush, how they roar…See their hideous tongues round the roof, tree and spire,As swells their wild carnival higher and higher, Till falling! crashing! Our glorious city’s no more.

Flames! flames! terrible flames!What a fearful destruction they bring…What suff’ring and want in their train follow fast,As forth on the streets homeless thousands are cast, But courage! courage! From the midst of the furnace we sing. -George F. Root

America, the BeautifulPoem by Katherine Lee Bates, music by Samuel Ward, arr. Deke Sharon

Katherine Lee Bates was a college professor from New England and a tremen-dously prolific author and editor. On her way to teach a summer course at Colo-rado College in 1893, she passed through Chicago, where she seems to have seen the “White City” of the great Columbian Exposition. Upon her arrival in Colorado, she wrote the poem that would become our unofficial second national anthem, which she originally titled “Pike’s Peak.” Evidently, the impression that the White City made on her was the inspiration for her mentioning “alabaster cities’ gleam,” a memorable and unusual line. The poem was not originally paired with the now-famous music by Samuel Ward; common practice of the time (see “Lincoln and Liberty” above) was to interchange lyrics with different tunes and vice versa. Ward’s music was originally a hymn, and the now-classic text and tune were not published together until 1905.

Oh beautiful for patriot dream that sees beyond the years.Thine alabaster cities gleam undimmed by human tears.America, America, God shed His grace on thee,And crown thy good with brotherhood,From sea to shining sea.

Oh beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain.For purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain.America, America, God shed His grace on thee,And crown thy good with brotherhood,From sea to shining sea!

America, America, God shed His grace on thee,And crown thy good with brotherhood,From sea to shining sea! -Katherine Lee Bates

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Katie Casey was baseball mad,Had the fever and had it bad.Just to root for the home town crew,Ev’ry sou Katie blew.On a Saturday her young beau called to see if she’d like to go to see a showbut Miss Kate said, “No, I’ll tell you what you can do:”

Take me out to the ball game,Take me out to the crowd,Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack!I don’t care if I ever get back!For it’s root, root, root for the Cubbies!If they don’t win it’s a shame!For it’s one! two! three strikes, you’re out!At the old ball game! -Jack Norworth


Take Me Out to the Ball GameWords by Jack Norworth and music by Albert von Tilzer, arr. Anne Heider

Have you ever heard all the lyrics to this song? As with so many tunes from the early 20th century, this one usually has the first part cut off. In this case, when you do that, you miss the best part of the story! Anne Heider has created another fun and fetching arrangement here, and since she has sung alto for so many years it’s not surprising that the altos (and even the basses) get the melody from time to time. We are admittedly slanting the chorus toward one of our local teams.

Prayers of SteelPoem by Carl Sandburg, from Cornhuskers (1918); music by Jerry J. Troxell

We often hear people speaking with awe at Chicago’s skyscrapers, yet we rarely hear that awe expressed in song. Carl Sandburg wrote a poignant ode to sky-scrapers in his poem “Prayers of Steel,” published in the groundbreaking collec-tion Cornhuskers. That book earned Sandburg the first of his three Pulitzer Prizes and contains the iconic poem “Chicago,” which begins with the well-known line “City of the Big Shoulders…”

The music created by Jerry Troxell is a haunting, meditative work, considered his most perfect piece of music. Troxell was a saxophonist and teacher of reeds, a professor at St. Louis University, church musician, and gifted composer who spent time in Chicago following his graduate work at Sangamon State (now U of I-Springfield). With its slightly angular character and stark harmonic style, the composition perfectly illuminates and captures Sandburg’s awe at beholding the stark urban beauty of Chicago’s new downtown area.

O God, lay me on an anvil, Beat me and hammer me into a crowbar. Let me pry loose old walls. Let me lift and loosen old foundations. Beat me and hammer me into a steel spike. Drive me into the girders that hold a skyscraper together. Take red-hot rivets and fasten me into the central girders. Let me be the great nail holding a skyscraper, through blue nights into white stars. —Carl Sandburg, from Cornhuskers

For the record: Jerry J. Troxell’s “Prayers of Steel” appears on Chicago a cappella’s CD Electric.



Chicago (That Toddlin’ Town)Words and music by Fred Fisher, arr. Jonathan Miller

Here’s another song with more words than you may have known existed! It was customary in the days of Tin Pan Alley to write songs with a contrasting first sec-tion before taking off on the “hit” portion of the song. As with “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” this one has most of the action going on in the parts that we usually never hear. Frank Sinatra made the refrain of this song hugely popular. We have a new arrangement here of the entire song, including the less-than-politically-correct “patter” section. The song has a racier character than we have become used to, as it sings over and over again of people dancing anywhere and anytime they possibly can; the image of Chicago is more chaotic, too, with mention of the stinky stockyards. We must also acknowledge that the values of the time pro-vided for a no-longer-used word in the “patter” section. (If anyone knows what the phrase “cop a Flo” means, we would be grateful to hear it; our current guess is that it refers to dancing, as a reference to “Flo” or Florenz Ziegfeld of the Follies.)

I got a gal, I got a pal,I got a chance, I got a dance,waiting for me.

I’m going to make, right to the lake,There with the boys, in Illinois,I want to be.

You may not care, for to be there,But I declare, you’re not aware,Just where to go.

When you’re in town, just call around,Right there I’m found, really you ought to know:

CHORUS:Chicago, Chicago, that toddlin’ townChicago, Chicago, I’ll show you around.

I love it! Bet your bottom dollarYou lose the blues in Chicago, Chicago,The town that Billy Sunday could not shut down.

On State Street, that great street,I just want to say, they do thingsthey don’t do on Broadway.

Say, they have the time, the time of their life.I saw a man he danced with his wife in Chicago, Chicago, my home town.

I got a maid, who’s not afraidPowders her nose, puts on nice clothes,She’ll get a beau.



Any old guy, over in Chi,He’s got a chance, if he can dance, He’ll cop a Flo.

Any hotel, that’s a bit swell,Must have a band, right here on hand, Or else they’re cheap.

If you’ll invest, you’ll find a guest,They’ll never rest, they’re dancing while they sleep:

CHORUS

“Patter”:In “College Inn” you get the real beer in a glass,In that college from professors, you learn to jazz,More colored people up in State Street you can see,Than you’ll see in Louisiana, or Tennessee,They’ve got “Stock Yards” so I heard the people say, I just got wind of it today. -Fred Fisher

I N T E R M I S S I O N

LIFE IN THE “SECOND CITY”

Chicago Bound Blues Lovie Austin, arr. Jonathan Miller

The Great Migration of black Southerners to Chicago between World War I and 1970 was one of the largest movements of a people in history. As historian (and one of the editors of the Encyclopedia of Chicago) James Grossman notes, the trains brought more than half a million African-Americans during this period from the Deep South—Mississippi in particular—to Chicago, where they sought economic alternatives to the Jim Crow realities of former slave states. World War I sparked the early part of this migration. With a combination of white soldiers being shipped to Europe, a new wartime demand for the manufactured goods made here, and the American borders basically closed to immigration, northern factories were in need of fresh labor. The Chicago Defender was the newspaper that told the whole black American community where the jobs were, what the issues were in each major city, and so on.

Of course, Mississippi-style blues made it to Chicago and became a defining influ-ence on what would be known as Chicago blues. Twenty years before Muddy Wa-ters came here, the T.O.B.A. (Theatre Owners Bookers Association) black vaudeville circuit was the place where singers like Bessie Smith would perform. A female mu-sical giant in a field dominated by male music directors, Lovie Austin was a gifted pianist and composer on the T.O.B.A. circuit. Austin was the musical director at the Monogram Theater at 3453 South State Street. She led her own acts including her own “Blues Serenaders,” who accompanied many of the great singers of the age, including Ma Rainey and Ethel Waters.

In addition to her Chicago credits, Lovie Austin wrote some of the best-loved tunes for Bessie Smith, who recorded them in New York. In 1923, Smith laid down a phenomenal recording of Austin’s song, “Chicago Bound Blues.” The lyrics tell of

21Chicago a capella


a woman in the Deep South who wants to go to Chicago but is not on the train; her man went north without her, leaving her to die “down home” from the blues. The vocal chart here is a faithful transcription of the Bessie Smith recording, which featured piano and clarinet.

Late last night I stoled away an’ cried,Gat the blues for Chicago,And I just cain’t be satisfied.

Blues on mah brain,Mah tongue refuse to talk,I was foll’win mah daddy, But mah feet refuses to walk,

Mean old fireman, cruel ol’ engineer.

You took mah man away and lef his mama standin’ here,Big red headline Tomorrow Defender news.Woman dead down home,These old Chicago blues, I said blues. -Lovie Austin

Precious LordThomas A. Dorsey, arr. Arnold Sevier

While it brought tremendous economic opportunity to hundreds of thousands, The Great Migration caused some conflicts within Chicago’s black community. “Old settlers” who had been in Chicago as early as the 1840s were not thrilled at having to rub elbows with less sophisticated recent arrivals, especially in church. This generational rift between educated and working-class subgroups has played out in similar fashion with immigrant populations in Chicago, from Chinese to Ukrainians and others; sometimes the educated elites come later, but the conflict is still there.

As Michael Harris notes in The Rise of Gospel Blues, Thomas Andrew Dorsey’s genius in shaping early gospel music lay in two areas. One was audible: namely, the musi-cal fusion of more raw blues elements with weightier, classically-leaning stylistic features. The other, less blatantly audible but no less essential, was Dorsey’s recogni-tion that the black Baptist church needed to be able to appeal to both the more recent migrants to Chicago, whose more ecstatic and charismatic styles constituted “storefront” worship, as well as the “old settlers” who were used to hearing Bach and Mozart on Sunday morning.

Like spirituals, the best gospel music has the quality of “the moan” inside it. A text cannot be overly cloying if is to be successful; it must have an inner quality of sin-cerity and human struggle to balance the joyful, even ecstatic impulse that comes from the wish to praise and rejoice. Dorsey’s Precious Lord meets all these criteria for success and then some. It was created when Dorsey’s wife, Nettie Harper, died in childbirth in 1932, along with their infant son; Dorsey was inconsolable and wrote the song in his grief. It was first recorded by the Heavenly Gospel Singers in 1937 and was Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s favorite song. This arrangement by Arnold Sevier has traveled the world with countless choirs.



La BambaTrad. Veracruz melody and lyrics, arr. Deke Sharon

A proud and vibrant community, the Mexican presence in the city of Chicago makes up roughly a quarter of the city’s population. More than a million people of Mexican descent reside in the wider metropolitan area. Mexican-Americans have had a lasting and profound impact on the city, and vice versa.

The first serious wave of Mexican immigrants to Chicago followed the 1910 Mexi-can Revolution. A particularly interesting story of Mexican music taking hold in Chicago, which pertains to La bamba, is that of Angelina Moreno Rico. She was a musical pioneer in Chicago, arriving with her children here in 1926 a few months after her husband, José, was the first to arrive from Mexico City. The parents learned English and finished high school at Crane High School’s night-school pro-gram. An energetic and ambitious woman, Angelina insisted that all her children learn musical instruments, despite the family’s poverty. When many Mexicans wanted to shed their ethnic identity in the face of Depression-era deportations—Mexican youths tried to pass as Italian to avoid shame and expulsion—Angelina took action. The family began performing Christmas posadas in Chicago-area churches, and in 1949 they were invited to perform folkloric dances (including the wedding dance known as la bamba) at the Museum of Science and Industry.

Richie Valens’ 1958 version of the folksong from Veracruz gave it a rock drive, about which Valens was initially ambivalent. However, the song went on to be a rock icon, ranking #345 on the Rolling Stone list of top 500 rock songs of all time. This arrangement is by the venerable Deke Sharon.

Para bailar la bamba,se necesita una poca de gracia,una poca de gracia y otra cositaay, arriba, yarriba, por tí seréYo no soy marinero, yo no soy mariner,Soy capitán.

To dance La Bamba,You need a little grace,A little grace and a little something else,Ay! quickly – I will be [here] for you. I’m not a [mere] sailor, I’m the captain.

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23Chicago a capella


Madonna Mia!Words and lyrics by Al Capone, arr. Al Capone Fan Club/Patrick Sinozich

Yes, it’s true, you history fans: Al Capone really did write this song. He even wrote it in Alcatraz. Don’t ask us how we found it. The manuscript recently came up for auction, and the Al Capone Fan Club got hold of it and made a fetching lounge-music recording of the tune. Using that recording as a basis, Music Director Patrick Sinozich has given the song a complete a cappella treatment. Evidently, Al Capone had a tender side, though he didn’t show it to the feds.

* * * * * * *FUN AND GAMES

Bear Down, Chicago BearsAl Hoffman, arr. Jonathan Miller

This is the famous Chicago Bears fight song. The original 1941 sheet music at-tributed authorship to one Jerry Downs, which was a pseudonym for the famous songwriter Al Hoffman, a member of the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame, known as a co-author of the classic “Mairzy Doats.” The song consisted of one extended stanza.

The Monsters of the Midway almost made it to the Super Bowl in 2011, earning an 11-5 record and a first-round playoff bye. They lose in the NFC championship game to the Green Bay Packers, who went on to win the Super Bowl. Despite that disappointment, it was a good year. With an offense led by Devin Hester, Matt Forte, and Jay Cutler, the Bears put up more points in the 2010 fall season than many recent Bears teams had put up in several seasons combined. The defensive combination of veteran linebackers Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs was bol-stered by the acquisition of Julius Peppers as a mighty pass rusher and tackler.

In a quaint Italian garden While the stars were all aglowOnce I heard a lover singingTo the one that he loved so

In that quaint Italian garden ‘Neath the starry sky aboveEv’ry night he’d serenade herWith his tender song of love

REFRAINMadonna mia You’re the bloom of the rosesYou’re the charm that reposes In the heart of a song

Madonna mia With you true love to guide meLet whatever betide meI will never go wrong

There’s only one moon aboveOne golden sunThere’s only one that I loveYou are the one

Madonna miaThis I vow here before youTil the end I’ll adore youMadonna mia

Once again I see that gardenMany years have hurried byI can see that sweet MadonnaThere’s a teardrop in her eye

For her soldier has departedLeft his loved one with a sighShe said “I will wait forever” As he sang this last goodbye: -Al Capone



Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?Robert Lamm, arr. Joe Herbert

In 1969, a rock group known as Chicago Transit Authority (later shortened to “Chicago” after they were sued by the CTA) released an album of the same name, featuring this splendid and now-iconic song. With an integrated horn section (in contrast to that of Blood, Sweat & Tears where the horns are more incidental) and superb rhythmic drive, the band released several top-ranking singles and albums from its debut through the mid-1970s.

“Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?” was written in early 1968, just before the band loaded up its U-Hauls and headed for Los Angeles, where they practiced nonstop. Eventually they were signed by CBS, which brought them back to New York in 1969 to record the “CTA” album. The band members remember that this was the first song they attempted to record, and it went quite badly at first, with all seven of them trying to stay coordinated. Eventually they figured out—partly due to the pressure of limited studio time—that it made more sense to record the rhythm section first and then the horns. Once that was settled, the rest of the album went rather quickly. The newly powerful FM stations, especially college sta-tions, propelled the album into a hit, where it stayed on the charts for 148 weeks through 1972, a feat no other album had achieved before.

The opening introduction includes a 5/8 section and then settles into a heavy swing, with a strong R&B flavor in the horns, before the solo begins. The words combine an atmospheric detachment with social commentary, showing influenc-es of the Beatles (think “Lady Madonna”). The all-vocal chart is by Joe Herbert, the driving force behing the virtuoso vocal-jazz group Groove Society. If you weren’t alive in 1969, just let the music take you there; if you were, let it do the same thing!

SPEC IAL THANKS

Chicago History MuseumMalcolm Dalglish

Enid FrandzelAnne HeiderJoe HerbertBill Hoban

Merit School of Music: Tom Bracy, Nora Erickson Music Institute of Chicago: Fiona Queen, Sam Nordlund

North Central College: Ken HannahNorthwestern University Music Library

Pilgrim Congregational Church: Joan Hutchinson, Joycelin Fowler The Al Capone Fan Club

Thanks also to The Saints, Volunteers for the Performing Arts, for providing our house staff. For information visit www.saintschicago.org or call 773-529-5510.

25Chicago a capella

B IOGR APHIES

Jonathan Miller, Founder and Artistic DirectorJonathan grew up in the Chicago Children’s Choir and has devoted decades to giving

back the joy that he found there. While studying math at the University of Chicago, he quickly found himself in five choirs and decided to pursue music more deliberately. An early step was earning his musicology doctorate at UNC-Chapel Hill, studying Renaissance music. Since 1993 Jonathan has been blessed to lead Chicago a cappella’s superb vocalists and musical team, who value ensemble work, adventuresome repertoire, and a sense of fun. Jonathan’s composing career began when, as choir director at Unity Temple in Oak Park, he wanted new music for worship. He has written more than fifty choral works; his music has been sung at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City and on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Increasingly active in Jewish music, Jonathan leads the Rodfei Zedek Festival Choir in Hyde Park, serves as principal guest conductor of Kol Zimrah, writes synagogue music, and is honored to serve as publisher of the late Max Janowski’s catalogue. A board member of Chorus America, Jonathan lives with his wife and daughter in the woods of Downers Grove.

Patrick Sinozich, Music DirectorAn acclaimed choral conductor, pianist, vo-cal coach, and cham-ber musician, Patrick Sinozich joined

Chicago a cappella’s musical staff in 2007 as Music Director. He is currently in his 15th season as Artistic Direc-tor of the Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus. Patrick did his undergraduate studies at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and completed graduate studies at Northwestern Uni-versity. He is on the musical staff of the Chicago Symphony and has performed chamber music with members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Lyric Opera Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony and the Cincinnati Sym-phony. He has also produced four CDs for Chicago a cappella and three for the Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus (which fea-tured many of his own arrangements). Patrick’s association with Chicago a cappella goes back to the ensemble’s very first auditions, which he accom-panied, and he has provided musical support as the ensemble’s occasional rehearsal coach since 2005.

CHICAGO A CAPPELLA ARTIST ROSTER 2010 -11

Jonathan Miller ................................................................................................... Artistic DirectorPatrick Sinozich ......................................................................................................Music DirectorHoss Brock ............................................................................................tenor (Chicago, Chicago)Matt Greenberg .......................................................................................... bass (entire season)Elizabeth Grizzell ....................................................................................mezzo (entire season)Kathryn Kamp .........................................soprano (Tastes; Red Carpet; Chicago, Chicago)Alexia Kruger .............................................................. soprano (Holidays; Chicago, Chicago)Cary Lovett ......................................................................tenor (Tastes; Holidays; Red Carpet)Trevor Mitchell ........................................................................................... tenor (entire season)Cari Plachy .................................................................soprano (Tastes; Holidays; Red Carpet)Benjamin Rivera .......................................................................................... bass (entire season)Susan Schober .........................................................................................mezzo (entire season)Brian Streem ................................................................................................. bass (entire season)


B IOGR APHIES (c o n t.)

Hoss Brock, tenorWith feats of vocal and linguistic derring-do, Hoss Brock has become a perennial favorite with audi-ences and critics alike.

As a soloist with the Grant Park Music Festival, Hoss earned praise from critic John Von Rhein for his “plaintive, clarion singing” and his command of Slavic texts. When asked to fill in for Warsaw Opera star Adam Zdunikowski in the Lira Ensemble’s “Polish Christmas,” with only days to prepare selections by Pa-derewski and Moniusko, Brock (who can barely pronounce “Zdunikowski”, much less speak Polish) delivered a “warm and emotional rendition” (Chicago Sun-Times). Sponsored by a grant from the Metropolitan Opera Competition, Hoss traveled to Barcelona, Spain, to compete in the Francisco Viñas International Vocal Competition, from which he was promptly eliminated, and subsequently enjoyed a fabulous week of shopping, sightseeing, and sangria. Recently, Hoss has performed Mozart’s Requiem, Bach’s B Minor Mass, and “Baba Yetu” from Civ IV at Video Games Live.

Matt Greenberg, bassBaritone Matt Greenberg has appeared frequently on Chicago’s concert and theater stages, singing everything

from Bach to Broadway. His solo appearances include Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Mozart’s Requiem, and an evening of Rodgers and Hammerstein. Matt is a longtime member of the Grant Park Chorus and sang for over 20 years with the Chicago Symphony Chorus, where he made over a dozen solo or small ensemble appearances. A founding member of Chicago a cappella, he has also performed with Music of the Baroque, William Ferris Chorale, and the Harwood Early Music Ensemble. Matt’s work in musical theater includes the Jeff-award winning Sylvia’s Real Good Advice,

Hot Mikado, and appearances at Light Opera Works and Wisdom Bridge. He has also appeared with the pop quintet Table For Five. Combining his performing with a career in arts administration, Matt is Chicago a cappella‘s Executive Director.

Elizabeth Grizzell, mezzoMezzo-soprano Elizabeth Grizzell has performed with groups both in Chicago and

abroad. She has appeared as soloist with the Tunbridge Wells Opera, the Marlow Choral Society, and the Wooburn Singers of England. As a member of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, she has recorded the role of Apprentice with the late Sir Georg Solti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger. Especially fond of oratorio, her recent performances have included Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Mozart’s Requiem, and Dvorak’s Mass in D. Betsy records regularly for both GIA Publications and Hinshaw Music, and is a soloist with GIA’s Cathedral Singers. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree with a vocal emphasis from DePaul University. Of special note is her Musikgarten program, a musical education experience designed for children ages 16 months to 8 years old. Her studio in Naperville currently introduces more than 100 children to the fun and beauty of music.

Kathryn Kamp, sopranoA good mix of opera, operetta, and musical theater productions and oratorio and concert engagements

keeps Kathryn busy when she’s not singing with Chicago a cappella! She has appeared as soloist at the Ravinia Festival, Orchestra Hall at Chicago Symphony Center, Grant Park Music Festival, the Peninsula Music Festival, and Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society,

27Chicago a capella


among others. Favorite works include Mozart Requiem and Despina in Cosi fan tutte; Haydn Creation and Dixit Dominus; Handel (Messiah); Poulenc (Gloria) and Brahms (Requiem); Gilbert and Sullivan ingenues (Patience, Rose Maybud, Yum-Yum and Mabel); and anything by Steven Sondheim (Anne Egerman and Mrs. Segstrom). She also stage directs opera and operetta productions. Free time is spent in the garden, on a bike, cooking, reading, and hanging out with her husband. She always looks forward to the unique vocal demands and wonderful colleagues of Chicago a cappella.

Alexia Kruger, sopranoAlexia Kruger enjoys performing a wide variety of music from the stage to the recital hall. A member

of the Chicago Symphony Chorus and the Grant Park Chorus, Alexia has also been a soloist with such groups as the Chicago Chamber Orchestra (J.S. Bach’s Cantata 51), Chicago Sinfonietta at the Shedd and at Joffrey, Mantra Blue Free Orchestra, the Valparaiso University Symphony Orchestra (R. Strauss Beim Schlafengehen and Im Abendrot), and the University of Illinois Percussion En-semble (Stravinsky’s Les Noces). She loves art song as well and has given recitals at such venues as the Chicago Cultural Center, Fourth Presbyterian Church, and several locations with VOX 3. Past roles have included Susanna and Contessa dAlmaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro), Giulietta (Les Contes d’Hoffmann), the title role in Suor Angelica, Lola (Gallantry), and Eve (Children of Eden). She is very excited to sing with Chicago a cappella this season!

Trevor Mitchell, tenorAcclaimed as having “simply the most uniquely beautiful and easily produced

tenor instrument most people will ever hear,” Trevór Mitchell’s career has taken him across the U.S. and to Austria, Italy, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. Recently audiences heard him in Bach’s B-Minor Mass, Weihnachts-Oratorium, St. Matthew Passion, and St. John Passion, Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis and Ninth Symphony, Vivaldi’s Beatus Vir, Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, and several recitals, one being a recital for honored guest Paul, Duke of Oldenburg of Germany. Also this season, under the baton of the renowned John Rutter, Trevór performed Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music. Recent perfor-mances also include Messiah with the Baroque Band. Trevór also recorded Don Meyers’ Meditation in Three Reflec-tions with the Millennium Symphony of Norfolk, VA and was a tenor soloist on a recently completed recording of sacred music with St. John Cantius Church.

Benjamin Rivera, bassBass-baritone Benja-min Rivera appears often as a concert and oratorio soloist. Recent appearances

include performances of Bach’s St. John Passion, several Haydn Masses and a local premiere of a song cycle for bari-tone and instrumental sextet by Stacy Garrop. He is a longtime member of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, where he served in the position of section leader for several seasons. Benjamin also sings with the Grant Park Chorus during the summer. He recently completed his tenth season as conductor of the Chicago-area chamber choir Cantate, with whom he performs a wide range of mainly a cappella music. Benjamin holds the Master of Music degree in Music Theory from Roosevelt University and recently left a teaching position at St. Xavier University to pursue doctoral studies in conducting at Northwestern University.



Susan Schober, mezzoSusan Schober is a founding member of Chicago a cappella. A native Chicagoan, she sang for nine

years with the Chicago Children’s Choir, and has performed a wide variety of solo and choral music with Chicago-area ensembles. Most recently, she was a soloist at the 23rd International Kodály Festival in Kecskemét, Hungary. In addition to solo and choral music, Susan has performed leading roles in several theatrical productions, including Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Britten’s Albert Herring, Herman’s La Cage Aux Folles, and Sullivan’s Utopia Limited. Susan received her bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University and a master’s degree in Music Education from Holy Names University in Oakland, CA. She is an accomplished music educator, specializing in the Kodály Method. She has taught students at every level, from preschool to graduate level teacher training. Susan loves both singing and teaching, but her favorite job is being a new mom to twins Katherine and Andrew.

Brian Streem, bassA lover of choral music, Brian Streem has been a member of some of Chi-cago’s finest choral ensembles, including

the Chicago Symphony Chorus, the Grant Park Symphony Chorus, Bella Voce, the William Ferris Chorale, and the Chicago Jazz Ensemble. His theatrical credits have included Pippin (Pip-pin), Jesus (Jesus Christ Superstar), Sky Masterson (Guys and Dolls), Jack (Into the Woods), Philip (Lion in Winter) and the star of the one-man show All in the Timing. His recent work with Chicago a cappella was praised by critic Cathryn Wilkinson, who noted that he “pattered out a better maraca ostinato with his mouth than many drummers can with two hands.” Brian is a graduate of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, studying music theory with Dr. Rudy Marcozzi.

29Chicago a capella

HELP CHICAGO A CAPPELLA ACHIEVE EVEN MORE!

Be a part of our exciting musical endeavor!

Use the envelope in this program to make your gift today, and be a part of our vital musical endeavor – and our exciting future!

Current projects include:

• Educational residency at Whitney Young High School• New CD recording of Jewish music• Upcoming programs on spirituals and gospel, including new arrangements, commissions, and recordings

Why support Chicago a cappella now:

• Ticket sales cover only a fraction of our expenses.• Support of the arts from government and corporate sources is shrinking.• Contributions from friends like you cover over 1/3 of our operating budget.• Your tax-deductible donation makes our future possible!


DONORS

We offer our deep gratitude to our contributors who made gifts and pledges to Chicago a cappella between January 1, 2010 and February 25, 2011. We re-gret that we are unable to list the many thoughtful contributors who made gifts under $50. If this list contains an error, please accept our apologies and kindly let us know so that we may correct it.

FOUNDATIONSUPPORTERSArts Work Fund for

Organizational Development

Dr. Scholl FoundationThe Gaylord and

Dorothy Donnelley Foundation

Klaff Family FoundationThe MacArthur Fund for

Arts and Culture at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation

GOVERNMENTSUPPORTERSIllinois Arts CouncilCity of Chicago Dept. of

Cultural AffairsOak Park Area Arts

Council

MEDIA SPONSORSNaperville Sun (concerts

at Wentz Hall, Naperville)

98.7 WFMT (The Red Carpet of Sound)

CORPORATE SUPPORT,MATCHING GIFTS, ANDOTHER SUPPORTBank of AmericaBlue Cross-Blue Shield of

IllinoisFirst Bank and Trust

EvanstonHendricks Pianos (Gold

Sponsor, The Red Carpet of Sound)

JP Morgan Chase Foundation

King Insurance AgencyMinibar-WinebarRobert Morris UniversityWhole Foods Markets

VISIONARY ($5,000 or more)AnonymousEstate of Helen AsherHyslop Shannon

Foundation

ARCHANGEL ($2,500 or more)Ann and Roger ColeHoward and Jane HushMurray Kopelow and

Cathy Bachman

ANGEL ($1,000 or more)AnonymousMarguerite BlochFrank G. & Gertrude

Dunlap FundBill and Jeanetta FlowersHelen Gagel

Joyce Grenis and Michael Koen

Jay and Jackie Lauderdale

Susan and Joe LunnMary MillerDiana RamirezPriscilla and Steve Shaw

BENEFACTOR ($500 or more)Nora Bergman FundBonnie BensonMichelle EppleyMarina GilmanMatt Greenberg and

Chris BaerHank and Becky

HartmanAnn Hicks and Lawrence

HamiltonTom and Margaret HuyckCharles Katzenmeyer

Douglas and Christine Kelner

Leslie LauderdaleRonna LernerBob and Fleury LinnLinda Mast and Bard

SchatzmanDavid Miller and Mary

Ellen McNishJonathan Miller and

Sandra Siegel MillerRobert and Lois MoellerKen NovakAlice and David OsbergDavid and Carole

PerlmanDale and Donna PrestCarolyn SackstederMaria Suarez

INSTITUTIONAL CONTRIBUTORS

INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTORS

31Chicago a capella

DONORS (c o n t.)

SPONSOR ($250 or more)Claudia and Timothy

DivisFive K. Family Fund

at The Chicago Community Trust

Don and Joanna GwinnAnne Heider and Steve

WarnerRae KendrickJean McLaren and John

NitschkeDrs. Donald and Mary

Ellen NewsomRichard and Cindy PardoCaryl RineBette Sikes and Joan

PedersonTom and Linda SpringAnn StevensMary Beth StrahotaAlexander and Robin

StuartEmily Troxell JaycoxFrank Villella and Oscar

Ivan ZambranoJohn WashburnLance and Stephanie

WilkeningDuain Wolfe

PATRON ($100 or more)Wendy Anker and

Edward ReedAlison AshKaren AtwoodBob and Rose Marie BaerDavid and Denise

BunningTrent and Kara ColemanLaura and Gary CooperFaith DavisThomas DoyleMary EkinsRon & Judy EshlemanKris and Julie GagnonHoward and Judy GilbertNorm and Judy

GreenbergSanford Greenberg and

Betsy Perdue

Judith Grubner and Craig Jobson

Robert HarrisF. James & Margery

HeiderAnn HewittJim and Lois HobartValerie HumowieckiJean and Lester HuntKaren HuntSusan KampMelynda and Scott KohlJohn and Karen KrugerHelen and John

LauderdaleStephen and Lisbeth

LernerBarbara and Martin

LetscherJoan LevinCarol LoVerdeJay LytleJennifer MarlingLinda MatonichGlenn and Sandy MeadeBetsy Meisenheimer and

Wes WesterfieldDaniel Melamed and

Elizabeth SabgaEphraim and Ann MillerVreni NaessCathy and Paul NewportJohn and Gail PollesJane Ann PrestDoris RoskinKenneth SchugJennifer and Warren

SchultzDennis and Patricia

SmithLaura SmithJeni and David SpinneyJuan J. SuarezGeri SztukBarbara VolinClark and Joan WagnerShirlene Ward and Kevin

KippEllen Wehrle and Richard

PokornyTracy and Tony Weisman

Robert and Barbara Wichmann

Cheryl WollinShawn Ying and Jason

CohenJohn and Mary

Zimmerman

FRIEND ($50 or more)AnonymousJill Abramson and

Jonathan MalamyDavid and Patricia

AgnewCarole BaumgartSusan BealWilliam and Betty BoydFrank Brockway and

Mimi BrileJim and Ellen DaltonDavid E. DanielsonDale and Frances DellutriSusan EleuterioAnne EvansDale FitschenFrances FlowersMadelon and Roger

FrossDon and Diane GilliardElizabeth and Phil GouldCarolyn HayesAndy and Junia HedbergCharles Hoffman and

Tamara SchillerLaurie HowickCarol B. JohnsonCarl and Carola KupferDavid and Darlene

LandsittelIvan and Jasna LappinMarvin and Marlene

LevineDiane and Doug

MacDonaldCatherine MarquisScott, Kelly & Ian

McClearyCheryl and Tom

McRobertsPatrice Michaels and Jim

Ginsburg


DONORS (c o n t.)

William S. Miles and Michele D. Raible

Belverd E. NeedlesCharles & Janice OlsonJim PetersonMargarita PrietoVirginia RussellMichelle and Jonathan

SalesJoe and Joan SenkoJudith and Richard

Spurgin

Eileen SutterJim and Kathy SwagerBernard SzeszolNancy Ellen TauchmanLaura Temple and

Andrew WoodDave and Carolyn UtechWilliam WallaceJohn and Mary

Zimmermann

IN HONOR OF DOUGAND CHRISTINEKELNER Richard Holbrook Marina and Andrey

KuznetsovLorelei and Tim

McDermott Jonathan Miller and

Sandra Siegel Miller

SUSTAINING DONORSBy joining our Sustaining Donor program, the following individuals support the work of Chicago a cappella while reducing our fundraising costs and saving resources. Sustaining donors choose the level and frequency of their automatic payment, and receive the benefits of annual tax deductions without the hassle of writing checks. For more information, see the envelope in this program, visit our website, or call (773) 281-7820.

A huge thank you to our Sustaining Donors:

Susan BealFrank BrockwayNorma FelbingerPatrice Michaels and Jim

GinsburgSanford Greenberg &

Betsy PerdueAnn HewittJean & Lester Hunt

Doug & Christine KelnerLeslie LauderdaleVreni NaessDonald & Mary Ellen

NewsomKen NovakAlice & David OsbergDavid & Carole PerlmanCarolyn Sacksteder

Warren & Jennifer Schultz

Tom & Linda SpringAnn StevensDavid & Carolyn UtechFrank VillellaShirlene Ward & Kevin

Kipp

IN -K IND CONTR IBUTIONS

HouseRed Wine Shop / Forest ParkLeChocolat du Bouchard, Naperville

Naperville Sun98.7 WFMT

Press America, Inc.Whole Foods Market / Lakeview

Vosges Haut-Chocolat

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