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Home > Press FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE: August 28, 2008
CHICAGO A CAPPELLA LAUNCHES 16TH SEASON
Acclaimed vocal ensemble’s new concert ranges from Chicago, IL — The singers of Chicago a cappella will open their 16th season with a captivating romp through the history of English music in The British Are Coming!. The acclaimed vocal ensemble will perform music ranging from anthems heard in Tudor cathedrals to pop classics by the Beatles in this clever and beautifully sung program. Some of England’s tastiest musical exports will be served, including saucy madrigals, sacred motets, choral works by Holst, Elgar, and Purcell, and even a song by King Henry VIII himself. Audience members are invited to stay after each performance for an informal question-and-answer session with the singers. The British Are Coming! will take place Friday, October 3, 2008, at 8:00 pm, at Gottlieb Hall at the Merit School of Music, 38 S. Peoria Street in Chicago, IL; Sunday, October 5, at 4:00 pm, at Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Avenue in Evanston, IL; and Saturday, October 11, at 8:00 pm, at Pilgrim Congregational Church, 460 Lake Street in Oak Park, IL. For tickets and more information, visit www.chicagoacappella.org or call (773) 755-1628. History Repeats Itself It was 15 years ago, in September 1993, that Chicago a cappella gave its debut performances at The Theater Building in Chicago. Two pieces heard at that very first concert return to our stage for The British Are Coming!: John Rutter’s swinging take on Shakespeare, “It was a lover and his lass,” and Gerald Finzi’s ardent “My spirit sang all day.” Joining these familiar favorites will be a series of lively and lighthearted songs from the late 16th and early 17th centuries, the golden age of English madrigals. The ensemble will sing works by the masters of the madrigal form, including Thomas Weelkes and John Wilbye. Chicago a cappella will go back to the early 15th century for John Dunstable’s famous three-voice motet “Quam Pulchra Es,” and the ensemble will sing Romantic partsongs from the 19th and early 20th centuries by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and C. H. H. Parry. Famed Brilliance, Recent Lights Music by some of Britain’s most renowned composers is part of the story in The British Are Coming! Chicago a cappella will sing unaccompanied versions of Edward Elgar’s “False Love” and Henry Purcell’s “Lost is my Quiet” as well as Gustav Holst’s gentle and tender Cornish folksong arrangement, “I Love my Love.” In addition, the ensemble will bring to life newer scores by living composers hailing from the British Isles. Geoffrey Burgon, a composer perhaps best known for his film and television music, including his award-winning score for the 1981 TV miniseries Brideshead Revisited, contributes an intense and evocative work called “But Have Been Found Again.” One of Chicago a cappella’s favorite composers, Paul Crabtree, writes music that bridges the worlds of popular culture and highbrow art. Hailing from Great Britain, Crabtree moved to California after graduating from the University of Edinburgh. His settings of the folksong “The Lark in the Morning” and the Beatles’ “Got to Get You Into my Life” are both examples of his inventive vocal writing. Other Lennon and McCartney classics will be heard in arrangements by Bob Chilcott and Ward Swingle. Chicago a cappella Chicago a cappella is one of the area’s most accomplished and innovative vocal ensembles. Spanning a repertoire from Gregorian chant to the Beatles and beyond, the group has performed over 100 concerts in the Chicago area as well as tour appearances in 11 states and in Mexico since its founding in 1993 by Artistic Director Jonathan Miller. In June, Miller received the Louis Botto Award from Chorus America for his innovative action and entrepreneurial zeal in developing a professional choral ensemble. With musical preparation by Music Director Patrick Sinozich, Chicago a cappella was recently lauded for its “appealing charisma and seamless blend” (Chicago Tribune). The ensemble has received rave reviews nationally for its six CDs, and has been hailed as “a jewel in the crown of Chicago’s musical life” (American Organist).
Calendar Editors, Please Note:
Chicago a cappella: The British Are Coming! # # # |
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