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 Peter Olson, who has been singing with the group for almost 20 years:
I attended one of the first performances of Chicago Chorale at a church in Bridgeport over 20 years ago and knew then that I wanted to sing with this group. I had sung for Artistic Director Bruce Tammen previously at the University of Chicago and was glad to see him come back to Chicago. I was living in Naperville at the time and was singing in Rockefeller Chapel Choir, so I was already driving to Hyde Park twice a week. Adding another rehearsal in Hyde Park each week put a lot of miles on my car that year -- so much so that the Illinois IPASS wanted to know what I was doing!
There is so much that makes Chorale special. I find that Bruce's passion for good music, his command of language and aural imagery, and his dedication toward building community, make Chorale a place to grow as a performer and person. The Chicago Chorale model of volunteer singers allows us additional preparation time to build nuance and really get familiar with the music. Professional choirs that I have sung with may only have one or two rehearsals to prepare a major work. In Chorale it is a luxury to be able to hear and sing such wonderful music over time and build a deep understanding of it. For me, the opportunity to participate in something bigger than myself is a really profound part of what makes this choir work. We are more than the sum of our individual parts. My attendance counts. My contribution to the overall sound of the choir counts. But it is not all about me. I am just one of many.
I am grateful for the friends I have made through Chorale and for the experiences we have had during performances and choir tours. I met my wife Mary Bellmar (Alto) through Chorale. We moved to Oak Park, so getting to Hyde Park for rehearsal is many fewer miles on our car! Mary and I helped build a snack tradition to make our rehearsal breaks more communal and fun. The pandemic unfortunately curtailed that particular tradition, but I look forward to bringing it back again soon.
I am glad we are singing music for Memory Eternal that remembers and memorializes those who died in the Great War. I hope that through our efforts we can provide at least a small measure of comfort to those who are mourning the loss of life and home in Ukraine.
Advance tickets for Memory Eternal and the 20th Anniversary Concert can be purchased here.