This year Chicago Chorale celebrates its 20th Anniversary. In honor of this momentous occasion, some of our singers have agreed to share their experience of singing with the Chicago Chorale. This is a reflection by Chicago Chorale member Jana French:
I joined Chorale 20 years ago and recently came back after a three-year hiatus. Much has changed. There are new names and faces to learn (alas, masks don’t help), a few new traditions (Zoom galas!), and many beautiful new voices. Meanwhile, a number of longtime members have moved away or left the choir to focus on work and family during the pandemic. I miss their voices and the camaraderie that develops after years of singing together.
While the changes are bittersweet, it’s good to be back and singing challenging repertoire with the discipline and artistry that Artistic Director Bruce Tammen insists on. I’m grateful, as well, to rejoin such a committed group of musicians. As Bruce reminds us, Chorale is an ensemble of singers with various levels of training and natural talent. Some have performance degrees and sing professionally in other contexts. Most of us earn our living in non-musical fields. What makes us a choir is everyone’s willingness to check their egos at the door and let him shape our collective sound.
For this concert cycle, we are reprising beloved, shorter pieces by Rachmaninoff, Chesnokov, and Gretchaninoff as well as tackling Alexander Kastalsky’s major a capella work, Memory Eternal to the Fallen Heroes. Kastalsky’s piece was written to commemorate soldiers killed in the First World War and is rarely performed. As the aggression, displacement, and loss of life continues in Ukraine, it serves as a timely reminder of the real human cost of war. More broadly, as a requiem, it invites us to remember loved ones lost during the past two years, when live music and opportunities to grieve in community were both put on hold.
The weekend of March 26-27, I will be thinking of two people in particular who shaped me as a singer, but won’t be in the audience this time: my mother-in-law, Elizabeth Gotsch, who died in July of 2020, and my voice teacher, Walter Kirchner, who died in January this year. Elizabeth was one of Chorale’s most ardent supporters and careful listeners. She came to every concert and, as a choir director herself, offered detailed (and mostly glowing) feedback about our blend and diction. Walter was more of an opera buff, but no one loved the human voice more than he. While he didn’t give two figs about vocal blend, he did teach me that singing is about vulnerability and communication. Maybe that’s true about all art.
Advance tickets for Memory Eternal and the 20th Anniversary Concert can be purchased here.
Chicago Chorale Reflects on 20 Years: Jana French