Chicago Chorale

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Chicago Chorale
Origin Chicago, Illinois
Genres Choral, Classical
Occupation(s) Mixed Choir
Instruments 60 Voices
Website www.chicagochorale.org
Members Conductor
Bruce Tammen

Chicago Chorale is a choral organization in Chicago, Illinois.

About

File:Chicago-chorale-logo.png
Official Chicago Chorale logo

Chicago Chorale offers concerts of notable music. The choir’s repertoire ranges from the sixteenth century to the present. Major performances typically include free, pre-concert lectures on topics related to the program or composers. Outreach is accomplished through community events, such as open rehearsals and interactive sing-a-longs, as well as reprise concert performances in communities outside the city. Chorale performs throughout the Chicago area in venues that are visually and acoustically appropriate to its repertoire; generally speaking, this means concerts are presented in churches, rather than in concert halls. Led by Artistic Director Bruce Tammen.

Conductor

Conductor and Artistic Director Bruce Tammen holds degrees from Luther College, Northwestern University, and the University of Chicago; he has taught voice and directed choirs at Luther College, the University of Chicago, and the University of Virginia. Tammen studied extensively in France with Dalton Baldwin and Gerard Souzay, and for several years studied with Max Van Egmond at Oberlin Conservatory’s Baroque Performance Institute. He has performed several seasons under Helmuth Rilling at the Oregon Bach Festival, and with the Robert Shaw Choral Institute, in Souillac, France. Tammen is baritone soloist on the Telarc/Shaw compact discs Appear and Inspire and Liebeslieder Waltzes.[1]

Performances

Past performances include the Rachmaninoff Vespers (All-Night Vigil, op. 37), Requiems of Herbert Howells, Durufle, Gabriel Faure, Brahms, and Mozart; Frank Martin’s Mass for Double Chorus, Thomas Tallis’ Lamentations of Jeremiah, Handel’s Messiah, Arnold Schoenberg’s Friede auf Erden, and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Mass in B Minor, Magnificat, and Christmas Oratorio, which the choir performed both in Chicago and in Mexico City with the Orquesta del Nuevo Mundo. In 2008 the Chorale performed at the Ravinia Festival with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Erich Kunzel, and in 2011 under Ludwig Wicki. Chorale has appeared three times on WFMT (98.7 FM) radio’s “Live with Kerry Frumkin” and recorded five CDs.[1]

Critical reception

Since its founding in 2001, the choir has already garnered positive critical reception from the Chicago classical community.[2] Mayor Rahm Emanuel recognized the choir's ten-year anniversary and its value as a cultural institution within Chicago.[3] Chicago Classical Review praised the choir's 2011 performance of Baltic music, and placed it on the list of Top Ten Performances of 2011.[4][5] TimeOut Chicago declared recent performances to be ambitious and audacious.[6]Most recently, the choir was given the honor of being named the Top Performance of 2012 of classical music in Chicago. [7]

Membership

There are approximately 60 performers split evenly into four voice parts. Members pay $100 annual dues. Auditions are held annually. Information on both the current members and auditions for new members can be found on the choir's website.[8][9]

Leadership

Chicago Chorale's Artistic Director is Bruce Tammen. The group also has a Managing Director and maintains a Board and an Advisory Board.[10]

References

External links