NSCS Past Seasons
Our 75th Season: 2010-2011
We celebrated our 75th Anniversary!
- We had a special logo designed for us by Olver Dunlop Associates.
- We performed three exciting concerts, plus sang Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Evanston Symphony Orchestra on March 13, 2011.
- We sang a musical parody celebrating our 75th anniversary!
We had a lot of fun celebrating!
“Ring in the Season”
Julia Davids, Conductor
featuring:
Gary Wendt, Organist and the Joyful Ringers handbell choir of Glenview Community Church
This was our first concert at the Glenview Community Church. Music included “There Shall a Star” from the oratorio Christus by Mendelssohn, Biebl’s moving setting of Ave Maria, Moses Hogan’s exciting Glory, Glory, Glory to the Newborn King, and the American premiere of Creator of the Stars of Night by Canadian composer Jeff Enns. Plus a rousing carol-sing!
“Gala 75th Anniversary Concert and Soirée”
Julia Davids, Conductor
featuring:
Sharon Rich Peterson, piano; and
Corey Grigg, baritone, winner of the NSCS's 2010 Donald Chen Young Artist Award Competition
Click at left to view photos by Robert Dowey!
This fabulous retrospective concert featured music performed by the NSCS from every decade of its existence – from favorite oratorio choruses to classic American compositions.
- Gabriel Fauré: Requiem
- Felix Mendelssohn: Elijah
- Franz Joseph Haydn: The Creation
- Aaron Copland: Old American Songs
- Randall Thompson: Alleluia
- Stephen Foster: Oh! Susanna
- William Dawson: Soon Ah Will Be Done
Plus a piece commissioned from composer Anne Heider for this occasion: Pleasure Tunes My Tongue!
“J.S. Bach’s Mass in B Minor”
Julia Davids, Conductor
Last performed by the NSCS in 1998, this concert was performed with full orchestra and featured soloists:
Sarah Ponder, mezzo soprano
Kurt R. Hansen, tenor
Kevin McMillan, baritone
Music Director Julia Davids shared her thoughts about the Mass:
"I think the B Minor Mass is such an incredible work because it showcases the variety of Bach's compositional style. From grand, complicated, polyphonic 5-8 part fugues to more direct and simple 4 part motets, to lyrical solo work, Bach always uses the meaning of the text as his inspiration. It is truly a monumental undertaking to learn and perform."
The NSCS united its passion for great choral music with an orchestra of Chicago's finest players led by Martin Davids, and world-class soloists.
We were also pleased to present emerging solo singers from Northwestern and North Park Universities featured in soli excerpts, as part of our Donald Chen Young Artist Award program.
Simonetta Pacek, soprano
Sammi Block, mezzo-soprano
Chris Albanese, tenor
Sean Stanton, baritone
John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune reviewed our June 12 Bach Mass in B minor concert! published June 13, 2011 Dorothy Andries of Pioneer Press published an article about our concert on June 9, 2011
