Music Institute of Chicago Chorale Celebrates 25 Years 6/10

 The Music Institute of Chicago Chorale, conducted by Daniel Wallenberg, concludes its 25th Anniversary Season with "25 Great Years," presented by the Music Institute of Chicago Sunday, June 10 at 3 p.m. at Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Avenue, Evanston. In addition, the Chorale invites music lovers to join them in song at two Summer Sing-alongs June 27 and July 25 at 7:30 p.m. at the Music Institute's Evanston East Campus, also 1490 Chicago Avenue. 

"25 Great Years"

Highlighting audience favorites from the Chorale's history, the program features madrigals by Monteverdi, Morley, and Gines de Morata; part songs by Haydn, Rossini, Schumann, Lauridsen, and Whitacre; selections from The Liebeslieder Waltzes by Brahms; Verano Porteño by Piazzolla; folk songs from Bulgaria, Canada, South Africa, and England; and show tunes by Ellington and Loesser.

Special guests at the concert are the Kotlyar-Shifrin Piano Duo-Irina Kotlyar and Gregory Shifrin. The duo has won several international competitions and has performed with orchestras around the world, including in Israel, Europe, and the U.S.

Daniel Wallenberg, conductor of the Chorale since 1987, noted, "Although our Chorale is Evanston-based, participants come from as far south as Chicago and far north as Zion and everything in between. Several members have been in the Chorale for more than 15 years, and a few have been members since its inception in 1986."

Summer Sing-alongs

The Chorale welcomes those who love choral singing to join them at two Summer Sing-alongs. On Wednesday, June 27, the group will sing Mozart's Regina Coeli and Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass, conducted by Frank Winkler. On Wednesday, July 25, the sing-along participants will perform Mozart's Requiem, conducted by Daniel Wallenberg. Each sing-along has an optional free rehearsal the day before-June 26 and July 24, respectively-at 7:30 p.m. at the Music Institute's Evanston East Campus, 1490 Chicago Avenue, Room 9. 

Music Institute of Chicago Chorale

The Music Institute of Chicago Chorale is a community chorus that provides an opportunity for adult singers with prior experience to study and perform the best in sacred and secular choral music. Now celebrating its 25th anniversary, the Chorale has one continuing goal: to perform the finest sacred and secular choral music with the highest of standards in a community setting. Under the leadership of Conductor Daniel Wallenberg, the Chorale has developed a wide range of repertoire, including motets, madrigals, part-songs, folk songs, and larger choral-orchestral works by Bach, Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart, Durufle, and many others. Throughout the years, the Chorale has collaborated with local choirs and symphony orchestras and has produced two fully costumed Elizabethan madrigal dinners. In addition, the Chorale has collaborated several times with the Music Institute's voice faculty for concerts of opera and Broadway music.

Chorale conductor Daniel Wallenberg is also on the staff of the Chicago Children's Choir, working with the In-School Chorus and After-School Programs for the Rogers Park and Humboldt Park Neighborhood Choirs, as well as its world-renowned Concert Choir with whom he toured Ukraine and the United States. He is the director of the junior and adult choirs at the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation and the founder and artistic director of "Zemer Am," the Chicago Jewish Choral Festival. A native of Bogota, Colombia, Wallenberg founded several adult and children's choirs while living in Israel.