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Community Corner

St. Charles Singers: "Mozart for the Masses"

St. Charles Singers and the Metropolis Chamber Orchestra will be joined by Anima, the internationally recognized, Chicago-area youth choir, for “Mozart for the Masses,” the eighth installment in the St. Charles Singers’ multiyear Mozart Journey series surveying the composer’s complete sacred choral music.

Jeffrey Hunt, St. Charles Singers founder and artistic director, will share conducting duties with Emily Ellsworth, Anima’s artistic director.

This is the first time a guest choir has appeared with the St. Charles Singers, which is in the midst of its 30th concert season.
 
“Mozart for the Masses” will be presented at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 25, at St. Vincent de Paul Church, 1010 W. Webster Ave., Chicago; and at 3 p.m. on Sunday, January 26, at Baker Memorial United Methodist Church, 307 Cedar Ave., St. Charles.

Audiences will experience Mozart sacred works that are rarely heard in concert settings or even during worship services, Hunt says.  The program includes two short Masses, Mozart’s Missa Brevis in C, K. 258, and Missa Brevis in C, K. 259; Regina Coeli (Queen of Heaven) in B flat, K. 127, and Kyrie in G, K. 89.

“The Regina Coeli in B flat and Kyrie in G are real rarities,” Hunt says. “This might be the only opportunity for many concertgoers to hear these Mozart works performed live.”

Joyful, uplifting, and exuberant, the three-movement Regina Coeli is noteworthy, Hunt says, for the musical give-and-take between soprano soloist and choir, accompanied by an orchestra of woodwinds, brass, strings, and percussion.

Hunt will conduct Anima and a group of sopranos and tenors from the St. Charles Singers in the Kyrie in G, a canon in which five separate sets of voices join in at different times singing the same melody.

Hunt will also lead the St. Charles Singers in the Missa Brevis, K. 258, which he calls “a work of highly refined classical elegance and clarity.”

The youth choir, under Ellsworth’s baton, will sing Classical-era Austrian composer Michael Haydn’s “Laudate Pueri Dominum” (Lord, Now We Praise Your Name). The younger brother of Franz Josef Haydn, Michael Haydn was an important musical influence on Mozart.

Adding a playful touch to the proceedings, Anima will perform the charming romantic duet sung by the characters Papageno and Papagena in Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute.”

Ellsworth will also conduct the St. Charles Singers in the Missa Brevis, K. 259, Mozart’s only small Mass setting that includes an organ solo.

Music history professor Dr. Jonathan Saylor of Wheaton College will offer a 30-minute pre-concert talk one hour before the performance — a Mozart Journey staple since the groundbreaking initiative launched in 2010.

St. Charles Singers Roster

St. Charles Singers ensemble members performing in “Mozart for the Masses” will include sopranos Kayleen Sanchez of Carol Stream; Amanda Brex-Castillo of Cary; Ingrid Burrichter of Chicago; Jeanne Fornari and Candace Kless of Geneva; Cynthia Spiegel of La Fox; Carelle Flores of Oswego; Grace Bardsley of St. Charles; Karen Lukose of Winfield; and Lydia Stalker of Woodstock.
 
Altos will include Bethany Wolford of Algonquin; Sarah Underhill of Aurora; Valerie Heinkel-Bollero of Batavia; Rachel Olson of Chicago; Bridget Kancler of Oak Park; Jennifer Hunt and AnDrea James of St. Charles; and Debby Wilder of Wheeling.

Tenors are Brett Kirhoffer of Aurora; Gregor King of Chicago; Tim Bergman of St. Charles; David Hunt of Wayne; Jay Cunningham and Steve Williamson of West Chicago; and Justin Dunkle of Wheaton.
 
Basses are Phil Nohl of Aurora; Doug Peters of Batavia; Anthony Quaranta and David Zemke of Carol Stream; David Hartley of Lake in the Hills; Ernie Klapmeier of North Aurora; Nate Coon of Palatine; and  Michael Thoms of Warrenville.
 
Tickets and Information
 
Single tickets for “Mozart for the Masses” are $40 general adult admission, $30 for seniors 65 and older, and $10 for students.

Tickets and general information about the St. Charles Singers are available at www.stcharlessingers.com or by calling (630) 513-5272. Tickets are also available at Townhouse Books, 105 N. Second Ave., St. Charles (checks or cash only at this ticket venue). Tickets may also be purchased at the door on the day of the concert, depending on availability. Group discounts are available.

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