St. Charles Singers to feature Fauré's Requiem and female composers in Wheaton and St. Charles

The St. Charles Singers, led by founder Jeffrey Hunt, will trace the legacy of medieval chant across the centuries at the chamber choir’s “Echoes of Splendor” concerts in Wheaton on March 4 and St. Charles on March 5. The program also focuses on female composers in recognition of Women’s History Month.

“The archetypal sounds of medieval chant will reverberate throughout these performances,” Hunt said in a news release. “It’s a musical thread connecting the sacred works we’ve chosen from the Middle Ages through the 21st century. All but one of the works, Gabriel Fauré's singular and sublime Requiem in D Minor, Op. 48, were composed by women.”

The program will be heard at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 4, at St. Michael Catholic Church, 310 S. Wheaton Ave., Wheaton; and 3 p.m. Sunday, March 5, at Baker Memorial United Methodist Church, 307 Cedar Ave., St. Charles.

“Echoes of Splendor” will open with Fauré's Requiem, “a remarkable work of great serenity and beauty,” Hunt said.

The St. Charles Singers, accompanied by the Metropolis Chamber Orchestra, will perform the version for soloists, mixed-voice choir, organ and instrumental chamber ensemble, edited by English composer and choirmaster John Rutter.

Chant-like elements include repeated notes sung by the baritone soloist in the Offertoire section. The late French Romantic composer’s 30-minute work stands apart from other great Requiems, Hunt says, because of its “ethereal, sublime and peaceful character.”

Archetypal sounds of medieval chant will echo through the second half of the program, which features 20th and 21st century works by female composers Lili Boulanger, Nancy Grundahl, Jocelyn Hagen, Cecilia McDowall, Alice Parker and Elaine Hagenberg, plus two pieces by Hildegard von Bingen, German medieval mystic, abbess and saint: “Karitas habundat” (“Love abounds”) and “Laus Trinitati” (“Praise to the Trinity”).

“It will be enchanting,” Hunt says.

Grundahl and Hagen composed modern takes on the von Bingen works, and their versions will be paired in concert with von Bingen’s originals. Grundahl is a highly esteemed Minneapolis-based composer, choirmaster and singer. Hagen, another Twin Cities composer of wide renown, writes music praised as “dramatic and deeply moving” by the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Boulanger’s intimate “Pie Jesu” (“Pious Jesus”), scored for mezzo-soprano, string quartet, harp and organ, will be sung by St. Charles Singers ensemble artist Margaret Fox. Hunt describes it as “an amazing piece, full of mystery, passion and depth.” The precocious young French composer wrote this luminous work in 1918, shortly before her death at age 24 from chronic illness.

The choir will perform contemporary English composer McDowall’s setting of “O Oriens” (“O Rising Sun”), one of seven short prayers known as the Advent “O Antiphons.” Gramophone magazine says, “McDowall’s work has qualities that include a communicative gift that is very rare in modern music.”

Parker’s 1967 arrangement of “When I Can Read My Title Clear” paints a vision of the afterlife based on words and music from the early American “harp singing” tradition.

Hagenberg’s 2020 “Alleluia” is a joyous and rhythmic a cappella setting of a Saint Augustine text that includes the lines, “We shall see and we shall know./We shall know and we shall love.” The Choral Journal says her music “soars with eloquence and ingenuity.”

Tickets

Tickets cost $40 for adults, $35 for seniors 65 and older, and $10 for students. Group discounts are available.

Tickets and information are available at 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 also may be purchased at the door on the day of the concert, depending on availability.

The voices

Thirty-seven St. Charles Singers ensemble members will perform in “Echoes of Splendor,” including sopranos Ingrid Burrichter of Chicago; Marybeth Kurnat, DeKalb; Mary Kunstman, Elburn; Laura Johnson, Hanover Park; Jennifer Gingrich and Meredith Taylor Mollica, both of Naperville; Amanda Kohl, Oak Park; AnDréa James and Cynthia Spiegel, both of St. Charles; and Karen Rockett, West Chicago.

Alto singers are Margaret Fox and Valerie Heinkel-Bollero, both of Batavia; Kelly Grba, Bolingbrook; Nicole Tolentino, Carol Stream; Julie Popplewell and Chelsea King, both of North Aurora; Debra Wilder, Vernon Hills; and Karen Archbold and Rachel Taylor, both of Wheaton.

The concert’s tenors are Tyler Theis, Aurora; Christopher Jackson and Brian Jozwiak, both of Crystal Lake; Rob Campbell, DeKalb; Bryan Kunstman and Bradley Staker, both of Elburn; Marcus Jansen, Geneva; Stephen Mollica, Naperville; Gregor King, North Aurora; David Hunt, Wayne; and Steve Williamson, West Chicago.

The bass section includes Michael Thoms, Aurora; Brandon Fox, Batavia; Nate Coon, Crystal Lake; Jess Koehn, Downers Grove; David Hartley, Lake in the Hills; Michael Popplewell, North Aurora; and Antonio Quaranta, River Grove.

Organist is Mark Edwards of Wheaton, organist at Baker Church in St. Charles.

St. Charles Singers

Founded and directed by Jeffrey Hunt, the St. Charles Singers is a chamber choir dedicated to choral music in all its forms. Hailed by American Record Guide as “a national treasure,” the mixed-voice ensemble includes professional singers, choral directors and voice instructors, some of whom perform with other top-tier Chicago choirs. Classics Today has called the ensemble “one of North America’s outstanding choirs,” citing “charisma and top-notch musicianship” that “bring character and excitement to each piece.”

Among the St. Charles Singers’ prominent guest conductors have been renowned English composer John Rutter, founder of the Cambridge Singers; Philip Moore, composer and former music director at England’s York Minster cathedral; and Grammy Award-winning American choir director Craig Hella Johnson. The choir launched in St. Charles in 1984, as the Mostly Madrigal Singers.