St. Charles Singers — ‘Sacred Spaces’

The St. Charles Singers will conclude its 41st season with a program of sacred a cappella works that the critically acclaimed mixed-voice chamber choir will perform later in the month on its first concert tour in Italy.

Founder and music director Jeffrey Hunt and the St. Charles Singers will travel to Italy June 15 for a tour that will see them singing in sacred spaces in Venice, Padova, Vicenza, and Rome, including Vatican City’s St. Peter’s Basilica.

“Audiences will hear a program of historical and geographical depth and great emotional variety,” Hunt says. “There are moments of quiet contemplation, grandeur, and jubilation. It’s a testament to how sacred music continues to speak to us across the centuries and national borders and through diverse cultures and styles.”

American music

American composers, many with Midwest connections, figure prominently in the program.
The concert’s centerpiece is Aaron Copland’s rarely heard “In the Beginning,” a dramatic depiction of the creation story from the Book of Genesis. “It demands 17 minutes of virtuosic, unaccompanied singing,” Hunt says. Ensemble member Margaret Fox, mezzo-soprano, will be the soloist. This will mark the St. Charles Singers’ first performances of the work.

Grammy-nominated Jake Runestad, a Rockford, Illinois, native now living in Minnesota, based his uplifting “I Will Lift Mine Eyes,” on Psalm 121. The score offers distinctive contrasts between intimate and extroverted moments.

“Give Me Jesus” is American composer, conductor, and educator L. L Fleming’s best-known work. “His arrangement of this deeply moving spiritual is remarkable for its quiet intensity,” Hunt says.

Alabama-born William Dawson’s “Ezekial Saw De Wheel” is an arrangement of an African-American spiritual. It’s noted for its compelling call-and-response character and exhilarating momentum.

From Westmont, Illinois, comes revered choral musician Robert Boyd’s warm and lyrical arrangement of “How Can I Keep from Singing,” an American Christian hymn from the 1860s later popularized as a folk song. Hunt says Boyd’s version “fosters a sense of spiritual resilience and shared optimism.”

Southern California-based composer Shawn Kirchner’s bright “Unclouded Day” combines traditional bluegrass vocal stylings with counterpoint and fugue, building to a thrilling finale.

English entries

England is represented by late-Romantic composer Charles Villiers Stanford and Sir John Rutter, who has written for and conducted the St. Charles Singers on multiple occasions.
Stanford’s lyrical “Beati quorum via” (Blessed are those whose way is blameless) from his “Three Latin Motets,” Op. 38, projects the noble melodies, elegant interplay of voices, and polished harmonies he’s known for.

Rutter’s “Open Thou Mine Eyes” is his original setting of a 17th-century sacred text, with intricate vocal lines.

“We’re immensely proud of and grateful for our long and close association with John Rutter,” Hunt says. “His music and his musicianship are a core part of our identity as a choir.”

Italian inspirations

The program offers works by two early Italian composers.

Giovanni Pierluigi de Palestrina’s “Tu es Petrus” (You are Peter), with its radiant interplay of voices and serene grandeur, is a signature work of the Italian Renaissance. Palestrina’s music was greatly admired by J. S. Bach, who closely studied his scores.
Claudio Monteverdi straddled the formal, disciplined Renaissance approach to composition and the emerging, more emotionally exuberant Baroque style. His poignant “Adoramus Te” (We adore Thee) is a vivid miniature masterwork.

More Continental composers

A graduate of the Paris Conservatoire, Maurice Duruflé blends medieval Gregorian chant with 20th-century French Impressionist harmonies in his 1960 motet “Ubi Caritas” (Where There Is Charity).

Germany’s Felix Mendelssohn wrote his popular Romantic-era motet “Denn er hat seinen Engeln befohlen” (For He Shall Give His Angels Charge) for eight-part choir using verses from Psalm 91. He later made it part of his famous oratorio, “Elijah.”

East Asian artistry

Contemporary South Korean composer Hyo-won Woo’s “Cum Sancto Spiritu” (With the Holy Spirit) is a movement from her “Gloria.” She combines Western musical ideas with the traditional Korean musical scale and rhythmic patterns. “It’s an impressively dynamic setting of a well-known Latin text,” Hunt says.

Tickets and information

Admission to “Sacred Spaces” is $50 for adults, $45 seniors, and $12 students.

Tickets and information are available at stcharlessingers.com or by calling 630-513-5272. Tickets may also be purchased at the door on the day of the concert, depending on availability.

Baker Memorial United Methodist Church
307 Cedar Ave.
St. Charles, Illinois 60174
United States