Chestnut Street Singers Announce 2017-18 Season of Pay-What-You-Wish Concerts

Chestnut Street Singers, Philadelphia's cooperative chamber choir, is proud to announce their 2017-18 season of concerts that will take place throughout the city of Philadelphia and Bryn Mawr. The ensemble will offer three unique programs spanning a variety of repertoire, ranging from Ravel to Ešenvalds, all while celebrating and supporting the stimulating, strenuous endeavor of making music.

The Chestnut Street Singers was formed in 2010, when a handful of Philadelphia choral singers met during an intense snowstorm and decided that they needed more from the local music scene. Hoping for an ensemble featuring challenging repertoire, cooperative musicianship, and innovative programming, they decided to take matters into their own capable hands and founded Chestnut Street Singers. It is the ensemble's mission to offer unique concerts that are accessible to all. As such, all concerts are pay-what-you-wish at the door, or a special season subscription is available.

The ensemble's 2017-18 season begins with The Northern Wild on Saturday, November 18 at the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill and Sunday, November 19 at the First Unitarian Church. The program will explore a fascinating modern repertoire inspired by the visceral feeling of standing in one's native wilderness. The concert will feature songs of earth under foot and sky over head, with music by Sibelius, Tormis, Elgar, and Ešenvalds.

For thousands of years, humans have created stories to chronicle, to educate, to entertain, and to comprehend life. The ensemble's second program, Where the Truth Lies, explores storytelling through song, weaving together some of the oldest narratives of love, loss, and conquest, with music by Ravel, Flecha, Janequin, Holst, and Mäntyjärvi. Performances are Saturday, March 24 at the Historic St. George's Methodist Church and Sunday, March 25 at the First Unitarian Church.

The ensemble closes their season with a program called For Cherishing, performed on Friday, June 1 at the Proclamation Presbyterian Church and Sunday, June 3 at the First Unitarian Church. Part of the human condition is to be rarely satisfied with farewells, if we are even given the chance to say goodbye at all. This program features music of loss and remembrance, viewed from ancient and modern perspectives, featuring music by Ockeghem, Victoria, Parry, Howells, Convery, and Tavener.

Full concert details are below. All concerts are pay-what-you-wish at the door, or individuals can take part in Chestnut Street Singers' Subscription Program, which offers additional benefits. For more information, visit chestnutstreetsingers.org.

DETAILS

Chestnut Street Singers 2017-18 Season

The Northern Wild

Einojuhani Rautavaara - Lähtö
Veljo Tormis - Tasase Maa Laul
Tõnu Kõrvits - Peegeldused tasaest maat (Reflections from a Plain Land)
Veljo Tormis - Helletused
Jean Sibelius - Rakastava
Edward Elgar - My Love Dwelt In A Northern Land
?riks Ešenvalds - Northern Lights
Zoltan Kodály - Mountain Nights (mvt1)
R. Murray Schafer - Sun
?riks Ešenvalds - Stars

Saturday, November 18 at 8 PM
Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill
8855 Germantown Avenue in Philadelphia, PA

Sunday, November 19 at 3 PM
First Unitarian Church
2125 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia, PA

Where the Truth Lies

Works by Ravel, Flecha, Janequin, Holst, and Mäntyjärvi

Saturday, March 24 at 8 PM
Historic St. George's Methodist Church
235 N 4th Street in Philadelphia, PA

Sunday, March 25 at 3 PM
First Unitarian Church
2125 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia, PA

For Cherishing

Works by Ockeghem, Victoria, Parry, Howells, Convery, and Tavener

Friday, June 1 at 7:30 PM
Proclamation Presbyterian Church
278 S. Bryn Mawr Avenue in Bryn Mawr, PA

Sunday, June 3 at 3 PM
First Unitarian Church
2125 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia, PA

ABOUT CHESTNUT STREET SINGERS: Based in Center City, Chestnut Street Singers is a cooperative chamber choir committed to active engagement with musical traditions and their evolution. We seek to illuminate commonalities linking the early Renaissance to contemporary practices, integrating canonical repertoire with lesser-known works and augmenting our musicality with creative and irreverent programming. We are dedicated to presenting polished, engaging performances while still being able to sip wine with our audience.

Besides performing great and sometimes under-appreciated music, our goals are many: we cherish our place in the Philadelphia community and are dedicated to offering concerts that are accessible--both financially and intellectually--to our friends, neighbors, and students; we support the work of young composers and instrumentalists; we celebrate the varied inspirations--sometimes silly, sometimes sexy, sometimes thoughtful, and sometimes all three--of classical music; and we believe that making music together is a stimulating, strenuous endeavor, one worth celebrating and supporting. Find out more at chestnutstreetsingers.org.