GreetinGs from Professor meGill

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sPrinG newsletter 2017 | Vol 3

ChoralDivision

Greetings from Champaign-Urbana to all of our extended choral family! we’ve just embarked on the most exciting semester for our choirs in the past few years. All of our choirs are busy doing great musical work, bringing joy and beauty to the lives of our students and beyond.

in the next month, the Choral Division will be part of three concerts produced by the Krannert Center. on february 4, the women of Chamber singers will be part of the Venice Baroque orchestra’s presentation of Vivaldi’s only oratorio, Juditha Triumphans. the VBo is a leading period-instrument orchestra and the soloists for the evening are likewise world-class. we’re proud to be providing an important part of one of the two American performances of this rare work by the VBo (the other is in Carnegie Hall). And it’s fascinating historically – the all-female chorus is an attempt to recreate the performing forces scholars think might have been used by Vivaldi (with the tenor and bass parts transposed up the octave; the overtones are incredibly active in our rehearsal room as we prepare).

later in the month, oratorio society will participate in one of lyric theater’s major events of the year, a concert entitled “Viva Verdi!” os is excited to partner with lti, along with the Ui symphony and Professor Donald schleicher, in bringing some of the most beloved opera choruses to life (including “Va, Pensiero” and the Anvil Chorus).

At the end of the month, Chamber singers will collaborate with the Bang on a Can All-stars, the extraordinary new York City-based new music ensemble, for a concert of Julia wolfe’s Anthracite Fields, last year’s winner of the Pulitzer Prize in music. ms. wolfe was also a recipient of a mcArthur genius grant earlier this year, so it’s a thrill to work with her on this important new work. while she’s here, the women’s Glee Club will participate with her in a workshop, singing parts of a new oratorio commissioned for the new York Philharmonic.

As you’ll see from the schedule of choral performances, this is only the tip of the iceberg. the Black Chorus hosts their semi-annual Black Sacred Music Symposium in march, and the Varsity men’s Glee Club, University Chorus, illini women, and ecco will all present beautiful concerts containing a breathtaking range of repertoire both in Champaign and further afield.

we’re also excited to announce that Allison fromm has won the 2015 Julius Herford Dissertation Prize for her dissertation “Aaron Copland’s in the Beginning: context and creative process.” Her prize will be presented at the national ACDA convention in march.

If you’re attending the convention, please drop by the U of I alumni reception on Thursday night, March 9 from 10 – midnight, to share in the joy of Allison’s honor and to reconnect with alums and faculty.

SCHOOL OF MUSIC | COLLege OF FIne + AppLIed ArtS

Congratulations to Associate Professor emeritus, Chester Alwes (DmA, Choral music, UiUC) on the publication of his two volume text, A History of Western Choral Music, published by oxford University Press. Prof. Alwes taught for 35 years at the collegiate level including 29 as a member of the choral division at UiUC. He is well-known and much loved as the long-time conductor of Ui Concert Choir which Harold Decker had founded. Prof. Alwes is highly regarded as a scholar, teacher and conductor. He also established and directed the Baroque Artists of Champaign-Urbana (BACH). this is an ensemble of University and local artists specializing in the performance of music of the 17th and 18th century.

in a recent interview Prof. Alwes related that his choice of attending illinois was to have been in the field of musicology. following a somewhat discouraging interview in that area he was introduced to Prof. Decker and found that the doctoral choral program and Decker’s scholarly vision were closely aligned to that of his own. that is, the study of the historical context and performance practice of choral music. in this setting “i could be who i was.” Decker was “outgoing, gregarious, and he treated his students like family.” this is how Alwes then approached his own students.

in addition to the degree work within the program, Alwes’ subsequent teaching of choral literature at the masters and Doctoral level provided the impetus for writing the text. since his retirement in 2011, Prof. Alwes has “subbed” at northwestern University, Greenville College and has resumed teaching the doctoral choral literature courses at UiUC on a part-time basis.

Congratulations are also in order for recent graduate, Allison fromm (DmA, UiUC) for her selection as co-winner of the prestigious Julius Herford Prize for the “outstanding doctoral terminal research project in choral music.” the award is given by the American Choral Directors Association.

Allison is the founding director of Joyful Noise, a new Jersey and Delaware chorus of adults with developmental disabilities and acquired brain injuries, and also of sinai temple’s shabbat singers in Champaign. while at UiUC Allison worked with Professors william Kinderman, Andrea solya, Jerold siena, erik lund, eric Dalheim, Gayle sherwood magee, and Chester Alwes.

A band of thirty eager travelers, most of them singers from the U of i Chamber singers, will depart Chicago on may 24 for a twelve day study and performance tour of Austria and Hungary. while there, we’ll be hosted by the Anton webernchor of the Vienna University for music and the Arts and the freistadt stimmen festival. Concerts include: Haydn theresienmesse and Britten Cantata misericordium with the webenchor and the Vienna Youth orchestra (at st. michael’s in Vienna, built in the 1200s, and the monastery of Klosterneuburg); in eisenstadt (Haydn’s home for most of his working life); and Budapest as well. At the stimmen festival in freistadt, we’ll sing our own solo concert and collaborate with the professional choir sine nomine, conducted by Johannes Hiemetsberger.

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JAn. 29 ecco evensong Concert - music by tomas tallis and william Byrd 4:00 pm - emmanuel memorial episcopal Church, Champaign

feB. 4 Chamber Singers women and Venice Baroque orchestra Vivaldi’s Juditha Triumphans 7:30 pm – foellinger Great Hall, KCPA

feB. 23-26 Oratorio Society with Lyric Theatre @ Illinois and UI Symphony Orchestra Viva Verdi! february 23 - 25 at 7:30 pm – tyron festival theater, KCPA february 26 at 3:00 pm – tyron festival theater, KCPA

mAr. 3 Chamber Singers and Bang on a Can All-stars: Julia wolfe’s Anthracite Fields (winner of the Pulitzer Prize) 7:30 pm -tryon festival theater, KCPA

mAr. 9-11 Black Chorus at the Black sacred music symposium foellinger Great Hall, KCPA

mAr. 11 Oratorio Society and sinfonia da Camera – mendelssohn’s Elijah 7:30 pm – foellinger Great Hall, KCPA

mAr. 12 Black Chorus symposium Concert 7:30 pm – smith recital Hall, smH

APril 1 Chamber Singers I Hear America Singing 7:30 pm. first lutheran Church, 364 e. water street, Galesburg, il sponsored by the Galesburg Community Chorus

APril 2 Chamber Singers and ecco, Nueva Espana: Music of Baroque Latin America 2:30 pm - location tBA

APril 8 Women’s Glee Club mom’s Day Concert 2:00 pm - foellinger Great Hall, KCPA

Black Chorus Annual mom’s Day Concert 7:30 pm – foellinger Great Hall, KCPA

APril 20 Songs of Consolation University Chorus sings Chris DeBlasio The Best Beloved; Illini Women sing whitacre’s Five Hebrew Love Songs; Oratorio Society sings David Conte’s September Sun; and Chamber Singers sing Britten’s Cantata Misericordium, all with string orchestra 7:30 pm – smith recital Hall, smH

APril 22 Varsity Men’s Glee Club spring Concert 7:30 pm – foellinger Great Hall, KCPA

mAY 2 Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony – Ui symphony orchestra, Chamber singers, oratorio society, women’s Glee Club and Varsity men’s Glee Club 7:30 pm – foellinger Great Hall, KCPA

to learn more about the Harold Decker fund for Choral excellence, please contact Associate Director for Development, david Allen at (217) 333-6453 or at allend@illinois.edu

Members of the Decker Fund Steering Committee are Sandy Haas, chair; Joe Grant, Rick Murphy, Phil Ruch, Prof. Andrew Megill: Chair, Choral Division and Director of Choral Activities; and David Allen: Associate Director for Development, School of Music.

SCHOOL OF MUSIC | COLLege OF FIne + AppLIed ArtS

harolD DECKEr FUnD For Choral EXCEllEnCE

since its founding, the Choral Division of the school of music has been one of America’s most important centers for the choral art. Building on this rich legacy, the division pursues two parallel missions: performing beautiful choral music and mentoring tomorrow’s choral leaders. Concerts by the University’s vocal ensembles demonstrate the highest level of artistry and professionalism, in repertoire from Josquin to stravinsky, schubert to steven stucky, and Gregorian chant to gospel. our choirs regularly appear at regional and national conventions, tour nationally and internationally, and frequently collaborate with the Ui symphony orchestra, Champaign-Urbana symphony orchestra, and sinfonia da Camera and in staged production with the lyric theatre @ illinois.

Conductors: AnDrew meGillDirector of Choral Activities, Chamber singers, oratorio society

AnDreA solYAwomen’s Glee Club

ollie wAtts DAVisBlack Chorus

BArrinGton ColemAnVarsity men’s Glee Club

won Joo AHnillini women

JosePH BAlDwinUniversity mixed Chorus

the choral faculty is working to provide a dynamic vision of the future of our division. thanks to our donors’ efforts to realize this vision, the Harold Decker fund for Choral excellence was established to financially support these efforts.