ECOC to join with Kemmerer Community Choir for Handel's Messiah 2018

The Evanston Civic Chorus is happy to collaborate with the Kemmerer Community Choir and the Evanston Civic Orchestra for this year's performance of Handel's Messiah. Both the Kemmerer performance on December 1st and the Evanston performance on December 3rd are free.  Note that in Kemmerer the start time is 6:00 p.m. and in Evanston it is 7:00 p.m.  Refreshments will be served.


by Sara

May 7th Concert - "Together"

The Chorus is singing some beautiful songs at our spring concert coming up soon, including "Dirait-on" and "Oh, My Love's Like a Red, Red Rose."  The orchestra is playing some great orchestral works that are very familiar, including "The Moldau" by Smetana and a movement from Schubert's "Unfinished Symphony."  The exciting finale of the concert will be a combined orchestra and chorus piece, "Dry Your Tears, Afrika" by John Williams. See you on May 7th, 7:00 p.m. at Davis Middle School. The concert is free, and families are invited.

by Sara 

My Song in the Night - Fall Concert on October 30th

The Evanston Civic Chorus is excited for the upcoming fall concert with the Evanston Civic Orchestra titled, My Song in the Night.

The men's chorus will sing several songs in their debut performance under the direction of ECC co-director Nathan Baxter:

• Brother's Sing On!
• Coney Island Baby/We All Fall medley
• We May Not Be Vampires (But We're Still Men)

The women's chorus, led by ECC co-director Crystal Roskelley-Delgado, has prepared three songs:

• Scarborough Fair
• Long time Traveller  
• Ev'ry Time I Feel the Spirit

The combined chorus will sing a couple of songs that lean toward Halloween, including "Jabberwocky," a fun musical setting of Lewis Carroll's fantastical poem.

Several of the songs speak of longing, home, and faith.  In these presentations, the chorus is looking forward to Thanksgiving.  These include "Goin' Home," and "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need."  The finale song, and title song of the concert, will be combined with the orchestra - "My Song in the Night."

The concert is free, families are welcome, and refreshments will be served!
by Sara

Rehearsals for Handel's Messiah 2016 start soon - September 22nd

The Evanston Civic Chorus us excited to be collaborating with the Evanston Civic Orchestra and the Kemmerer Community Choir for a production of Handel's Messiah in December.

Our first rehearsal will be at Davis Middle School on Thursday, September 22nd from 6-8 p.m.

All community members, high school age and older, are welcome to come sing, regardless of prior experience.

You can get by with a Schirmers vocal score, but the preferred edition is the Van Camp score.  Read about it on our Messiah in Evanston website.


by Sara

Combined Spring Concert - May 9, 2015

The community is invited to our free spring concert, "For the Beauty of the Earth," this Saturday, May 9th at 6:00 at Davis Middle School. We're combining on a couple of songs with the orchestra. It should be a really good concert, and less than an hour long. Refreshments will be served afterwards.

by Sara

Spring Concert this week - May 22, 2014

I hope you are planning to attend our Spring Concert this Thursday, May 22, 2014 at 7:00 p.m.  We're excited to perform several classic choral pieces, including Maurice Durufle's "Ubi Caritas," Daniel Gawthrop's "Sing Me to Heaven," and Mack Wilberg's arrangement of "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need."  Ryan North will direct the Chorus

The Civic Orchestra will also perform several classic pieces at this concert under the direction of James Arbizu.

Please note that the concert will take place at EVANSTON MIDDLE SCHOOL.  Refreshments will be served afterwards and families are invited

by Sara

Community Christmas Gala 2013 a Great Success!

"We Need a Little Christmas"

Our recent Christmas Gala was a huge success.  I have only heard great comments about it.  People never felt anxious about the time even though it was close to an hour and a half in length.  We had a great variety of performances from the Evanston Civic Chorus, the Evanston Civic Orchestra, the Evanston Handbell Choir and other small instrumental and vocal ensembles. 

Evanston Handbell Choir

"Silent Night"

Check out the VIDEOS taken by Allen and the PICTURES taken by Glen

by Sara

The Civic Chorus is excited to be hosting the 4th biennial Evanston Community Christmas Gala concert with the Civic Orchestra this year.  We're going to be singing cool arrangements of several Christmas favorites.  The blues arrangement of "Silent Night" is not your typical lullaby.  Be prepared for dynamics and soul.  "We Need a Little Christmas" is exciting and fast, and our Chorus/Orchestra combined song, "Christmas Day" by Gustav Holst, though unique in its arrangement of traditional carols, will sound familiar. 

We're excited to have other groups from the community performing also.

I hope to see you with your families on December 15th!

by Sara

Spring Masterworks Concert This Saturday

You won't want to miss our spring concert this Saturday, May 11th at 7:00 p.m. at Davis Middle School.  We're sharing the concert with the Evanston Civic Orchestra.  Each group will perform its own songs then we'll join at the end for some combined Mozart pieces.  Carolee Fairbanks will be the soloist for one of the Mozart selections.

The Chorus is singing four of Aaron Copland's Old American Songs, including "The Little Horses" and "Zion's Walls."  We're also singing some contemporary American songs, including "Homeward Bound" and "Down to the River to Pray."

The concert is free and refreshments will be served.  Families are welcome.

by Sara

Messiah 2012 - A Great Experience

Messiah 2012

Our recent performance of Handel's Messiah was a great experience for all involved.  We enjoyed our collaboration with the Evanston Civic Orchestra, the soloists were wonderful, and the audience was very appreciative. 

Thanks to Allen for taking photos and video.

by Sara

Messiah Performance This Sunday, Dec. 16th

Wow!  This fall has gone by so fast.  The Chorus has had a great time rehearsing Messiah with Ryan North, and we're looking forward to our performance this Sunday.
 

G.F. Handel's Messiah

Sunday, Dec. 16th

6:00 p.m.

Davis Middle School

Free admission

Refreshments will be served following the program



It's a real treat for a chorus to sing accompanied by an orchestra, and we're excited to be working with the Evanston Civic Orchestra for this program.  We had our first combined rehearsal with them last week, and they are sounding great!

The chorus will sing several familiar songs, such as "And the Glory of the Lord" and "Hallelujah."  In addition, several soloists are lined up to perform:  Eric P., Todd B., April M., Clarissa C., Rebekah M., Bethany L., Jessica S., Crystal R. and Jonathan L.  The program will last a little over an hour.

If you aren't performing with us on Sunday, we hope you'll come listen and be inspired by the music and the message. 

by Sara

ECC Fall Program - Handel's Messiah

For its fall 2012 program, the Evanston Civic Chorus will join with the Evanston Civic Orchestra to perform Handel's Messiah on Sunday, December 16, 2012.  All community members are invited to join the Chorus for this event, even if you've never sung Messiah before. 

Rehearsals will be on Thursdays from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. at Davis Middle School, starting on September 20th.  Ryan North will direct the Chorus for this event.  You can read a little about him and find out more about the program, including solos to be auditioned, on the Evanston Messiah website.  Check the website often and sign up for posts by e-mail to get updated information as it becomes available.  I won't be posting any more Messiah-related information to the ECC website until performance time.

by Sara

Evanston Civic Orchestra Planning Messiah 2012

It might seem a little early to be thinking about a christmas concert, but mark your calendars now!  The Evanston Civic Orchestra Board is in the early planning stages of the 2012 production of Handel's Messiah.  The performance is scheduled for Sunday, December 16, 2012.  Ryan North will rehearse the choir again this year, and the whole community is invited to participate.  No experience is necessary.  Rehearsals will be on Thursdays from 6:00 - 8:00, starting in the fall.  Feel free to pass this along to your friends who might be interested in participating.

There aren't too many details about the performance solidified at this time, but you can check out the website to watch video and a slideshow of the 2010 performance.

by Sara

Christmas Gala 2011 a Big Hit!

Jonathan Lange - Stille Nacht

St. Paul's Episcopal Church Choir

I keep hearing great compliments about the Community Christmas Gala that we hosted on Sunday, December 18th.  We had a great crowd, and though there were eighteen songs performed, I never felt as though the audience was getting restless.  The applause after every song was genuine and enthusiastic.  The stage setup really helped the concert flow very smoothly and it lasted well under an hour and a half.

Snowy Mountain Brass

We had a nice variety of songs and groups at the concert.  Our ECC feature, "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" was fun and unexpected.  Pastor Robert Douglas, from the Aspen Grove SBC Church, livened it up a bit with his solo "Mary, Did You Know," and the audience participation when they sang "Go Tell It on the Mountain" was a great idea.  Jonathan Lange sang the beautiful "Stille Nacht" in the original German, and the Snowy Mountain Brass quartet gave us a nice medley of traditional Christmas songs.  The LDS 7th Ward Choir was one of several choral groups, and there were also several vocal solos and duets.  Take a look at videos and photos of the concert to see all the groups involved. 

"O Holy Night"

The grand finale of the concert was the beautiful, "O Holy Night," performed by the combined choirs and the orchestra.  It really came together very well, and several people told me that was their favorite song of the concert.  Several church choral groups joined with the Civic Chorus for the performance, and the energy and sound from this large group was exhilarating for those on stage as well as in the audience.  ECC Director, Kirk Young, directed the performance.  He says he had the best "seat" in the house.  The Civic Orchestra did an excellent job, and it was a treat for the choirs to sing with them.  Thanks to Stephen Fairbanks for rehearsing them.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this concert possible and for all the musicians who performed.  This was truly a great community event.

by Sara

A Season of Concerts - Gala Up Next

This truly is a season of concerts, and the Evanston Civic Chorus is gearing up for its final performance of the year this Sunday when it hosts the Evanston Community Christmas Gala.  We're pretty excited about the concert.  We've got several church music groups in the lineup along with several vocal ensembles, brass and flute choirs, and the Civic Orchestra.  Here are the details:

Evanston Community Christmas Gala

Sunday, December 18, 2011

7:00 p.m.

Davis Middle School

Free Admission

Kirk has designed the stage setup to eliminate set changes between songs.  We anticipate the concert will flow very smoothly.  It'll be a great event for families.

Chorus members performed recently in a couple of Christmas events.  On December 1st we were in the Parade of Lights.  It was absolutely frigid and windy that evening, but we still had a great time singing as loud as we could from our trailer "float."  Kirk dressed as Santa.  I thought that was a pretty clever way to get another warm layer on.  Thanks to Deb for arranging for our parade transportation.

Last Sunday, Chorus members joined with the LDS Evanston South Stake Choir to sing "O Holy Night" during their Christmas musical program.  It turned out to be a great experience from both perspectives.  Chorus members enjoyed participating and appreciated the invitation.  Since I was involved in the Stake Choir I can say that we truly enjoyed performing this song together and are glad for ECC members that could come to our program.  We'll be joining together again with some other church choral groups and the orchestra to perform "O Holy Night" at the Gala.  We hope to see you there!

by Sara

ECC Starts Christmas Music This Week

The Christmas season is always a favorite with the Evanston Civic Chorus, and we're excited to jump into new music this week on Wednesday, Nov. 16th.  This is a great time to join us!

We've got a couple of holiday events scheduled so far:

• December 1st - We're planning to be in the Parade of Lights as Christmas carolers.  In the past we've strolled around downtown singing in different businesses.  This year we're planning to sing our carols on a float in the parade.  
• December 18th - We're hosting the 3rd biennial Evanston Community Christmas Gala concert.

Evanston Community Christmas Gala

Sunday, December 18th, 2011

7:00 p.m.

Davis Middle School

Free Admission

2009 - Combined Choir and Orchestra

The Civic Chorus and Chamber Choir will each prepare a song for the Gala. In addition, the Chorus will form the nucleus of a combined choir which will sing "O Holy Night," accompanied by the Evanston Civic Orchestra.  We formed a combined choir for the 2009 Gala and it was a great success.  We already have several local church choral groups signed up to be in the Gala and in the combined choir.

All singers in the Evanston area are invited to be in the combined choir.  If you don't belong to a participating choral group, come sing with the Civic Chorus!  Even if you are in a different choral group, come sing with us.  I'm involved in three different choirs this year, plus the orchestra.  It's great fun!

I hope to see many of you on Wednesday at 7:00 in the EHS choir room!

 by Sara

Evanston Arts: Civic Orchestra and School Strings Halloween Concert

We're to that point in the season where we're going to see a lot going on in Evanston Arts in the near future.  In just a couple of days there is a fun concert by the Evanston Civic Orchestra and school strings classes.  They are putting on a joint Halloween concert, complete with costumes and a little melodrama.

Evanston Civic Orchestra and School Strings
Wednesday, October 26th

7:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Davis Middle School

Free admission

Yes, I will be dressed up too, playing timpani.  But I'm not going to tell you what I'm going to be.  You'll just have to come see for yourself.

by Sara

The Arts In Evanston - What's Happening Now!

I've added a new feature to our website on the left sidebar.  It's a list of current Arts events in Evanston.  Any of our readers who want to submit information about events you are involved in or know about may contact me using this form.  I'd like to post information about concerts, plays, art exhibits, and anything else artsy.  I'll send out an occasional post about events, and have everything listed on the website in a central location.

Two concerts coming up:

• Jazz Night, featuring EHS Vocal Jazz and Missalayneous.  Tuesday, May 10th at 7:00 pm in the EHS lobby.  Tickets: $2.00/person or $5.00/family.  Complimentary refreshments served during the show.
• Evanston Civic Orchestra Spring Masterworks.  Saturday, May 7th at 7:00 pm at Kemmerer High School and Saturday, May 14th at 7:00 pm at Davis Middle School in Evanston.  There will be a reception after the May 14th concert.  The concerts are free.  The orchestra will perform works by Schubert, Dvorak, Bruch and Bach. 

Both concerts should be really fun.  The HS Jazz Choirs will perform a variety of Jazz tunes they've worked on since September, including songs they performed at several festivals recently.

Several local musicians will be featured at the Orchestra's concert.  Teenage siblings Bethany and Ben will perform the Bach Double Violin Concerto with the orchestra.  They are very good.  Melissa from Kemmerer will be featured on cello in the Bruch piece.  Her cello playing is absolutely exquisite.  If you need something to fill your soul, this is it.

by Sara

ECO Presents Handel's Messiah - December 19th

The Evanston Civic Orchestra is presenting Handel's Messiah this coming Sunday, December 19th at 6:00 p.m. at Davis Middle School.  Several of our Civic Chorus singers are also part of the Messiah Choir.

The program includes favorite choruses, such as "For Unto Us a Child is Born" and "Hallelujah."  The soprano aria, "Rejoice, Greatly" is my favorite solo, and I'm glad it is included this year. 

The concert is free, and there will be a reception afterward.

Messiah is always the highlight of my Christmas.  I hope you'll come make it a part of yours.

by Sara

From Ireland's Shores - Civic Orchestra Concert

Our friends in the Evanston Civic Orchestra will present their fall concert, From Ireland's Shores, on Thursday, September 30th at 7:00 p.m. in the Davis Middle School auditorium.  Joining the orchestra for this exciting Irish music event are two local groups, Celtic Mist and the Evanston Irish Session Ensemble.

The orchestra is directed by Stephen Fairbanks.  View pictures of the orchestra at last December's Christmas Gala.

Admission is free and the orchestra is sponsoring a reception following the concert.

by Sara